Ideas & principles: Liberty (from State and Church), progress (through reason and invention), reason (scientific rigour), tolerance (especially religious tolerance), fraternity (especially in nationalistic contexts. Francis Bacon (father of empiricism), Rene Descartes, Isaac Newton (greatest mathematician of his age, developed scientific method, calculus, astronomy (gravity). Thomas Hobbes: political philosopher, "pessimistic" - people motivated by self-interest. "Social Contract". Liberty as a important principle for human conduct. Selfishness. John Locke: political philosopher, Tabula rasa, Identity, Social Contract, Liberty, Rights. "Optimistic".
Liberty: inherent rights, Social contract between the people and its rulers, US Constitution, Individual liberty, Bill of Rights (1689) - f.ex. right to free speech.
Progress: Striving towards improvement became a central tenet of the epoch. New technologies were central in this movement. Progress became a matter of ideology.
Reason: Logic, rationality, evidence, fact, science, scepticism
Tolerance: to endure something of which you disapprove. Deism (God may exist, but not as someone who created everything in 6 days. Creation = holy and sacres. The Bible - not the only source). Atheism on the rise. Peaceful coexistence.
Fraternity and Nationalism. Masonic lodges, royal Society, Political parties. "Brotherhood" as a general concept.
Texts: clarity of diction, orderliness of sentence structure. Words that refer to the brain or the process of thinking. Words that play upon the metaphors of light and darkness.
The dark side of the Enlightenment: Many Enlightenment projects ended up producing as much misery as relief. The Industrial Revolution; changed the physical landscape, the demographic distribution, the walth and imperial strenght of Britain The Atlantic Slave Trade.
