The Main Ideas We Associate with the Enlightenment 

The Enlightenment was a period of western history that took place in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was a period of philosophical and intellectual study. There were many new ideas that came out of the period; some were influenced by old ideas and others were not influenced by the old. But what were some of the main ideas we associate with the Enlightenment?

There were many new ideas that came out of the Enlightenment but this essay would be much too long if I covered the majority of them. Some of the main ideas we associate with this period include: reason, skepticism of inherited traditional institutions, and the separation between science and religion. Beliefs such as deism(the belief that God is real but does not intervene in history), became more popular. Also to note, Enlightenment thinkers had more of a confidence towards human nature.

The Enlightenment period was a time of scientific trust, and the leaving behind of certain religious teachings and rituals. Overall this period of history was a time when man began to find his own beliefs instead of just following the beliefs and institutions of the old. Thus, these are some of the main ideas we associate with the enlightenment.