启蒙运动及其意义.docVIP

The Enlightenment and its Significance Most Chinese people have a knowledge of the May 4th Movement of 1919 as well as the Enlightenment campaign in Europe. As we all know, the Enlightenment made a great influence on European countries even China and Japan. But what was the Enlightenment? When was the Enlightenment? Why could it made such a great difference? And what was its significance? Can we get anything useful from it today? Aude Sapere said, “The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was a time when man began to use his reason to discover the world, casting off the superstition and fear of the medieval world. The effort to discover the natural laws which governed the universe led to scientific, political and social advances. Enlightenment thinkers examined the rational basis of all beliefs and in the process rejected the authority of church and state. Immanuel Kant expressed the motto of the Enlightenment well.” People defined the Enlightenment in many different ways, but the broadest definition was that it was a philosophical, intellectual and cultural movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Reason, logic, criticism and freedom of thought over dogma, blind faith and superstition were stressed. It was a period in history when modern thoughts and reasons began to influence the world greatly. In French the Enlightenment is called the Siècle des Lumières which means ‘light’. It was a strong intellectual movement to provide the necessary conditions, and especially the theoretical tenets, for the bourgeoisie to come to power. The center of Enlightenment center was in France. France Enlightenments leader is Voltaire. His thought has had the enormous influence to the 18th centurys Europe, therefore, afterward person once like this said: “The 18th century was Voltaires century.” At first, the Enlightenment happened in Britain, and then developed to France, Germany and Russia, in addition, countries and so on. Holland, Belgium also had affect