Every age likes to think of itself as enlightened, or educated and open-minded. But only one period in Western history has been called the Enlightenment.
Why was that period of time given the name? The Enlightenment, which reached its high point in the mid-1700s CE, was a time when thinkers and writers were exploring new ways to look at the world. They were questioning traditional ideas about government, religion, education, and the nature of human beings. They stressed reason and the power of individual thinking, rather than relying on old, accepted ideas. The Enlightenment, which was also called the Age of Reason, followed a period of remarkable expansion of knowledge, which has been termed the Scientific Revolution. Read on to learn how the Scientific Revolution paved the way for the Enlightenment.