The modern period has been a period of significant development in the fields of science, politics, warfare, and technology. The modern era discribes the historical timeline after the middle ages. Modern history is often broken into two parts the the early modern period, and the late modern period. The early modern period lasted from c. AD 1500 to around c. AD 1800 and is the time of the renaissance, and age of discovery periods. Now in the late modern period, this combination of events such as, the age of reason, the enlightenment, the romantic, and the victorian era totally changed thinking and thought of modern lives. One of the main effects in modern thinking was the enlightenment. Many aspects of the Enlightenment have influenced the belief of modern life. Enlightenment means belief in the power of human reason and by innovation in politics, religion, and education. The enlightenment developed during the age of reason. Its said that the understanding in the social world can help us improve the living conditions in the world. By looking at the three main aspects of the enlightenment, politics, religion, and education, we can get a better understanding for the modern period.
Politics aren't just in effect for us today. They have been in effect for ages. During the Enlightenment period, new theories about what the human was and is, and about the definition of reality and the way it was perceived, along with the discovery of other societies in the Americas, and the changing needs of political societies all came about. The politics of the enlightenment period help us to better understand the needs of a human, how to form states, and what the best a state could be. These concepts also formed the distinction between government and state.
Religion is another important thing to look at, from the enlightenment period, to better understand the modern era. The enlightenment period often effected christianity. Depending on how much it was effected, there would occur two schools, rational supernaturalism and Deism. The Rational supernaturalist understood the unique role of revelation and differentiated between what could and what could not be rationally established, but they were convinced that revelation could still be defended by reason. And on the other hand you had the Deism which denied the necessity of revelation, by maintaining that after creating the universe, God does not interfere in its day-to-day runnings.
Last but not least education is important to look at, from the enlightenment time, to better understand why they did what they did in the modern era. The educational system played an important role in the transmission of ideas and ideals of the enlightenment. In Europe the education system was still being developed. During the enlightenment and French Revolution the education system really took off. Before the enlightenment the education system was not yet influenced by the scientific revolution.
By looking at the politics, religion, and education of the enlightenment era we can now see why people did what they did during the modern periods. The didn't have all the politics and laws that they had to abide by, the did not have religion playing a role into what they believed, and the certainly did not have the right education playing a role in what they knew. I think that the enlightenment was a good thing to happen because it gave us a better understanding for why people did what they did and why things became what they did.
