Wednesday, April 2, 2014

What is Enlightenment?


Let's capture this thinking. The conversation that we've had over the past several days has been heavy, but critical for thinking about the reasons belying Revolution and Protest today. Below are links to the Philosophies we analyzed to make sense of the essential question "What are our Rights? Were do they come from?"



What conclusion can we draw? Do these philosophies describe the world we live in today? For this discussion let's be thoughtful about the overlaps we see between the documents. This should help us crystalize our thinking for telling the stories of the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions with some perspective on the thinking that shaped the action.

So what are you waiting for....start discussing.


46 comments:

Bella Piacentino said...

According to these documents, enlightenment is man's ability to live his life to the fullest extent. These documents execute the boundaries in which men can live (kind of ruining the point but if there are no boundaries, there is no civilization).
Speaking of no civilization, the "Declaration of the Rights of Man," approved by the French Assembly says that "a society in which the observation of the law is not assured... has no constitution at all." This connects to Rousseau's "The Social Contract" because you are silently agreeing to conform to a limited freedom to keep society in check.
All of our rights come from these documents. From the Kant (1681) to Vindication of the Rights of Women (Wollstonecraft, 1792), our boundaries of "equality" are stated and outlined. These rights are basically to understand where you stand in terms of social class (because of social class/money there is no equality) and to make sure you do not disturb the peace of a community by stepping outside the white fence of your rights.

Catherine Carsello said...

Enlightenment is someone's ability to be independent/live life to their greatest ability. This was also said in the document "What is Enlightenment" (Kant 1681).
I do think that these philosophies describe the world that we live in today. I think that many people do live life to their greatest ability. One reason that leads me to believe this is people will fight for their rights. If someone is being told that they can't say something, normally you will hear someone say "I have freedom of speech", which is what was stated in one some of the documents.
Also, many women today believe that they are just as strong as men. Women want the same opportunities that men have because they believe that it is not fair. Mary Wollstonecraft wrote the "Vindication of the Rights of Women". This document stated how women are just as strong as men and they are mentally stronger than them too. She fought for the women and people still do this today.
Lastly, many people today think that all men are not equal. I think that all men are equal because as someone said in class, everyone has the same rights, they just choose to use them differently. Someone said this in class after another student mentioned how criminals have less rights than other people such as members of the government.
These are a few reasons why I think that the philosophies describe the world that we live in today.

Nina McManus said...

All of these documents are important in thinking about what rights we all deserve. Kant talks about the need for freedom of religion because to have freedom of religion is to be enlightened. Rousseau says that all men are equal, and in “The Social Contract” he says that a social contract is an agreement among free individuals to create a society and a government. The “Declaration of Independence” says that all men are created equal, and that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are their unalienable rights. “The Declaration of the Rights of Man” says that all men are created equal and that all men have a right to express their feelings and ideas. In “The Vindication of the Rights of Women”, Wollstonecraft talks about women’s rights and how women are equal to men and women have a right to an education.
These philosophies describe the world we live in today. The authors were some of the first people to express ideas of individual, natural born rights. We live in a country where our foundation is based on the statement that “all men are created equal”. Rousseau also talked about all men being equal in “The Social Contract”. Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the first advocates of women’s rights, since her time women have gained more rights and a much higher place in society.

Unknown said...

"Enlightenment" is the attempt to apply principles and reason to every aspect of society. I also agree with Bella and Catie that it is the ability to live life to a person's fullest potential. Enlightenment is also the realization that people should live their fullest life on Earth instead of waiting for the afterlife.
I agree with Catie in saying these philosophies describe the world we live in today. I mean after all, we as American citizens abide by the statements of the "Declaration of Independence" (written in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson and the colonists). One quote that spoke out to me in this document was when it stated "We hold this truth to be self-evident that all men are created equal." We as Americans strive everyday for equality. Another quote that spoke to me was: "...Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury." I believe that some parts of the world are very unstable and these situations occur everyday with governments and citizens.
I also believe the document "Vindication of the Rights of Women" (written by Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792) is a great document that describes our lives today. This is because for the most part, women are treated with equal respect as men are. The fact that this document talks about intellect over toughness is also interesting. Our world has changed in many ways because of the intellectual movements such as the "Enlightenment" and because of these movements, our world is what it is today!

Taylor Criniti said...

I believe these philosophies describe the world we live in today. I believe this because some of the documents explain where we get our rights from and how we should live our life. Without rights and people influencing us on how to live, what do we do? These documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, give us our main rights and what we must follow. This is why I believe these philosophies describe the world we live in today.

Daniel Kaufman said...

These philosophies describe only a piece of our world. we all write our answers to this question by our own experience and anywhere that democracy is alive. but the majority of the rest of the world is nothing like what these documents say the world should be. Each document talks about freedom, and equal rights but in places everywhere else you get killed for saying anything that someone higher then you disagrees with. but in our limited American point of view, these documents indeed show us what OUR world is like.

Unknown said...

Enlightenment is a person's being able to live life so it is as full as possible as the documents say. I agree with Catie and Bobby. "We hold this truth to be self-evident that all men are created equal." It is not exactly true. By all men it meant people who are male and white, so not everybody is created equal. Even today, social contract has exceptions to special people (i.e. Mark Zuckerberg was a dropout, created facebook and is not treated poorly. We would be treated by society poorly if we dropped out of school). Rights from these articles are still around today. Enlightenment does not really go away.

Unknown said...

"Enlightenment" is all about equality among men in every aspect.

All of these documents deal mainly with equality. “Since no man has any natural authority over his fellow men, and since force is not the source of right, conventions remain as the basis of all lawful authority among men.”(Rousseau, 1762). This talks about equality stating about how men have no control over each other. Conventions are the basis of all lawful authority and should be what each and every person lives by.

I also want to talk about the equality among women. “I wish to persuade women to endeavor to acquire strength, both of mind and body, and to convince them that the soft phrases, susceptibility of the heart, delicacy of sentiment, and
refinement of taste, are almost synonymous with epithets of weakness, and that those beings who are only the
objects of pity, and that kind of love which has been termed its sister, will soon be the object of contempt.” (Wollstonecraft, 1792) This quote has to deal with women gaining strength to defend themselves both mentally and physically. Men may technically be physically stronger, but women will always be stronger in intellect.

By applying the principles of equality to a further extent, I will use the Declaration of Independence. “We hold this truth to be self- evident that all men are created equal.”( Declaration of Independence, 1776). This quote is oozing with equality among man/people.

I feel like I have proved my point the=at the Enlightenment had to deal mainly with equality and the rights among men.




Unknown said...

The motto for Enlightenment is, " Have the courage to use your own understanding." (Kant 1681) Enlightenment is to improve ones own knowledge independently. A large part of mankind stays minors all of their life because of laziness and cowardice.
In Rousseau 1762 document " The Social Contract" he states, " To find a form of association which may defend and protect with the whole force of the community the person and property of every associate, and by means of which each coalescing with all, may nevertheless obey only himself, and remain as free as before." Rousseau basically talked about how people silently agreed to conform to a limited freedom, so all men would remain equal.
The Declaration of Independence (1776) stated, " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that's among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." The Declaration of Independence reflected the ideas in its eloquent argument for natural rights. We as Americans abide by theses statements every day.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) states, " Man has equal rights of liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression." This document says a society in which observation of law is not assured, has no constitution at all.
Lastly, Wollstonecraft's (1792) " Vindication of the Rights of Women" states, " Women in particular are viewed as weak and wretched." This document basically talks about how men are believed to be stronger than men but in reality women are just as strong as men.
I think that these philosophies describe the world that we live in today. The documents show great examples for how rights paly roles in our lives today as they did in the past.

Unknown said...

Enlightenment is the awakening to believing all humans deserve rights; no matter what background,or social status you come from you deserve rights.

The documents we discussed in class are important to informing people of their rights. They lay them out, and some give opinions on the rights we have. The Declaration of Independence is huge in our world today. Everyone should know their rights, especially because inequality riots and lots of situations are pooping up, where the more information you know regarding your rights as an American citizen, the better

Unknown said...

Enlightment is the time when every person is to be equal with different people's rights, beliefs, race, religion and nationality.

The documents we have talked about in class mainly talk about equality in others and to make people have their rights which is what is needed for all nations today. The Declaration of Independence (USA) is what made this country a huge sensation in the world today. This country made people feel that they are aloud to do as they please such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, freedom of etc. It is that time that people these days need to WAKE UP and read what their rights are instead of ignoring it because ignoring the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and the Articles of Confederation won't get you anywhere in life when it comes to equality.

One example for everyone to be equal, we all know that there are wars in the Middle East and Africa but mainly one man is responsible for making Armenians in Syria feel hurt. Erdogan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey does not know that equality is good because of Turkey having really BIG issues with human rights, especially with Armenians and the Kurdish. Since Erdogan is supporting and arming Terrorists in Syria, The Terrorists are attacking an Armenian Town in Syria known as Kessab. Bashir Al Assad, The President of Syria is helping the Armenians in Syria because he knows that equality is needed in every country. I recommend supporting him since he is a great man for making the Armenians in Syria and Armenia itself to feel that they are loved by everyone and to make them also feel equal.

William Whiteley said...

Enlightenment is equality to man and woman no matter what race, religion, or social class they are in. Knowing your rights prevents people from trying to take advantage of you and your rights. Say someone had tried to take away your religion and you did not know that you had the freedom of religion. Wouldn't you feel like you were taken advantage of after you found out that you can worship any way you want? These rights prevent that from happening so the more rights you know the better off you are. By knowing your rights you are creating equality between you and someone who you have never met before.

Unknown said...

According to the documents Enlightment was a period in time when new things were being discovered. Individuals solved many problems during this time. Enlightment was also known as the Age of Reason and it was in the mid 1700's. There were many philosophers who advocated many ideas . Some of those advocations were natural rights , Separation of power and champion of powers. Natural rights stated certain rights in the government. Separation of power was to separate the power with the branches of law. Champion of freedom was a philosopher who wanted evryone to have individual freedom. That was the ideas that went on during enlightment. The person who inspired me the most was Mary Wollstonecraft. She believed in the rigts of women and allowed us to gain those rights today. She wrote a essay on the vindication of women. It was an excellent document to read and I really enjoyed learning about how women are equal to male and she had many valid points. The Enlightment affected our world today because all the music, and artistic styles came from that time. We wouldn't have many things we have today if it was'nt for the enlightment. A lot of ideas were spread during this time and those ideas made our world what it is today. Filled with music, art , different types of government , certain laws, and most important women's rights.

Sofia Verbilla said...

Some of our first basic rights were written in the Declaration of Independence. Most people felt satisfied with these basic rights, but minorities such as women felt they were getting the shorter end of the stick. Mary Wollstonecraft expresses her distaste with how women are portrayed in her document "Vindication of the Rights of Women." The rights expressed in the Declaration of Independence were a somewhat decent start on the way to equality for all people, but unfortunately, it seems our founding fathers only mentioned a select group of people.

Unknown said...

I believe these documents sum up to where we should be independent and equal to one another. We get these philosophies in the world we live in today. For example from "The social contract" where it says that we get peace by meeting and discussing. That is what we do in our government now we discuss this among others creating laws and passing them through to see if they will discuss and make the right decision. All of these documents help make up this world today. It keeps us in place of where we stand on this earth.

Unknown said...

Enlightenment is the rights of all no matter what social class, religion or race you are. Everyone has rights and should know them. Like in the past there were rights that people had to follow. A majority of the rules are what made our lives today. For example, women's rights and the Declaration of Independence. In the past men were known to be capable of everything, but in the end women were known to have equal power as men. The Declaration of Independence is the rules we follow everyday as people. The philosophies basically are our lives now.

Unknown said...

Enlightenment is a time where people (minors) would get out of being immature and start making their own decisions (Kant 1681). Kant also stated that all of the people should have their freedoms, as long as they play their roles in society. But, the thing is that woman do their part, and still get freedom whatsoever (“ …a profound conviction that the neglected education of my fellow-creatures is the grand source of misery I deplore, and that women, in particular, are rendered weak and wretched by a variety of concurring causes, originating from one hasty conclusion.” Wollstonecraft 1792)

Since the world today is "changed", both men and woman have the right of being "equal". I don't necessarily think this is true because people have more rights and more power when they have money. For example, a person could get of crimes if they have money than a person who doesn't have money. Therefore, I don't think that the rights system is fair because I think that everybody should be truly equal.

Carly Griffith said...

Enlightenment is the action or state of attaining or having attained spiritual knowledge or insight. All of these documents about Enlightenment gives us intake on the world we live in today. It played a major role in the American Revolution. The political ideals of the Enlightenment influenced the American Declaration of Independence, the United States Bill of Rights, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and the Polish–Lithuanian Constitution of May 3, 1791. Kant answers the question in the first sentence of his document "Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity." He argues that the immaturity is self-inflicted not from a lack of understanding, but from the lack of courage to use ones reason, intellect, and wisdom without the guidance of another. In other words this states that a person should be independent, without ones help. We cannot rely on people for our own needs. The Declaration of Independence is what we as Americans go by today. It articulates the fundamental ideas that form the American nation.

Yung Claire said...

"The Enlightenment, a philosophical movement of the 18th century, characterized by belief in the power of human reason and by innovations in political, religious, and educational doctrine."
All of these documents state things about all men and women being treated equally but that's not true. If you served time in prison you are looked at as an evil individual and youll have a hard time finding a job. If you are a homeless person on the street you are looked at as some smelly person that no one will talk to. If you are some rich person that knows everyone and has a lot of money, you are popular and you will get everything you want in life. If there were two people standing on top of a building wanting to jump off, one was a criminal that killed 12 people, the other was just a normal person, which one would we save. Obviously we would save the normal guy, but don't worry because "everyone is treated equally". Now, some of the things on these documents are true, don't get me wrong. But, don't say that everyone is equal when they are not.

Unknown said...

Each document pieced together our rights today. Kant states that we cannot think ourselves. We have to be interdependent with one another in order to think of more advance ideas. Rousseau talks about the general will of people and how it's only able to please one group. This situation is happening in Europe. The people is not pleased with the government. The Declaration of the Rights of Man says mostly all the rights that we have today. We have our rights to certain things and the government is only here to give order and maintain it. Without it, there would be chaos.

Unknown said...

The real definition of enlightenment is when you give someone greater knowledge and understanding about a subject or situation. I agree with Maja and I think that "Enlightenment is the rights of all no matter what social class, religion or race you are." Everyone has rights whether you know them or not. The rights and declarations in class were basically a set of rules we as people NEED to follow in order to have a EQUAL right nation. For example the Declaration of Women's rights is to talk womans quality since men had more rights before it. The Declaration of Independence is a set of rules that keep us an equal civilization.

Unknown said...

Enlightenment is the ability for a man to extend and indicate their own knowledge independently or without the guidance of other people.
I do believe that these philosophies do describe the world we live in today. According to the Kant, to depend on another person's knowledge is denounced to be cowardice and lazy and I think that the world we live in today does define this description in many ways and also simple ways. For example, if we are having trouble defining a single simple word, we would most likely turn to something like google because it's obviously easier and faster to do so. Although I do agree that this is somewhat lazy, but I wouldn't say cowardice is quite the exact word to define this situation. As for Wollstonecraft's document, it was mentioned that beauty has been overshadowed so much that knowledge is drowned down by it to the point that it wouldn't even matter anymore. This can be depicted in many ways that we see in our lives today such as when some people have given up on utilizing their own knowledge but instead taking advantage of other people by using their seduction. For example, there has been many situations where someone would to the extent of marrying someone they have no feelings for whatsoever just for the sake of free money for the rest of their lives. Therefore, these documents, I think, can very much be related to the lives we live in today.

Unknown said...

Enlightenment was a period of time in Europe from the 17th to 18th century that encouraged individualized thinking and learning among man to better their individual knowledge. All of the documents contributed ideas and rights to the rights we have in our society today. Improved or different versions of the rights stated in the older documents appear in our "Declaration of Independence". For instance, in the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen", it states, “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good”. While in our "Declaration of Independence", it talks about having equal rights for all people and not just man. WE need rights and rules today to set boundaries to our freedom so that we don't destroy and cause chaos in our society. Without these rights, we wouldn't have any civilization to live in today.

Unknown said...

In my textbook it states that the Enlightenment was a new intellectual movement that stressed reason and thought and the power of individuals to solve problems. All of these documents correspond to the enlightenment because they focus on reason and ideas, that had everything to do with politics, liberty, and human rights. John Locke a philosopher who impacted the Declaration of independence by saying every human being is born free and equal, with three natural rights-life, liberty, and property. The social contract talks about limited freedom in order for society to stay in order. The Kant and Vindication of the right of women both talk about the boundaries of us all being equal. All of these documents validate our rights as people and how much freedom we have, also it developed the rights we have today as citizens. If it wasn't for the enlightenment era and the French philosophers, we wouldn't have had the change in our government and in society today.

Anonymous said...

Enlightenment is the thought of living life within the rights of a human. People like Mary Wollstonekraft wanted to spend life the right way. She did not want to live in a shadow of just being a woman. She wants to live with the mark of being stronger than any man.
I believe that the Enlightenment shaped the world today. Without the Declaration of Independence in 1776, America would be totally different. It gives us the rights that we deserve. All of the documents show that the rights of all humans make the world challenging and worth living.

Daniel Kaufman said...

THIS IS MY REDO POST COULD NOT FIGURE OUT HOW TO TAKE MY OTHER POST DOWN SO GRADE THIS ONE MARRY CHRISTMAS!
These philosophies describe only a piece of our world. we all write our answers to this question by our own experience and anywhere that democracy is alive. but the majority of the rest of the world is nothing like what these documents say the world should be. Each document talks about freedom, and equal rights (vindication of the rights of woma & the decloration of the rights of man) but in places everywhere else you get killed for saying anything that someone higher then you disagrees with. but in our limited American point of view, these documents indeed show us what OUR world is like.

Unknown said...

The Enlightenment is a movement in Europe during the 18th century in which philosophers and thinkers try to put principles to reason and methods to the society. I believe that these documents describe the world today. We have rights, rules, and laws to to give us a sense of order and equality. Kant tells us that the main point of enlightenment is "man's emergence from his own self-imposed nonage." In the document "The declaration of the rights of Man" it says, "men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good". This document states that we can have our rights as human beings today. In the document "the declaration of independence", it states that "...they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that are among these are life. Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." We have the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but we also have laws for the safety of the people and the prevention of chaos.

Unknown said...

I think enlightenment is the way a man choses to live his life. It is the ability to be independent as it said in the document "What is Enlightenment" (Kant 1681). I think his philosophies are used today in our world today. Many people go out everyday and live their lives to the fullest. People now a days are equal. It doesn't matter if you're gay, white, black, what ever. It matters what type of person you are and who you continue to be. I also think that women are stepping up in the world and becoming more independent. We live in a world that women once had no place in. Today women are CEOs and what ever else they want to be. To sum it all up, our rights as individuals depend on what social class you belong to. I believe that people now a days are trying to change their rights more and more.

Unknown said...

I see enlightenment as equality; the right for your voice to be heard no matter what race, gender, social class, or religion. Equality is like a right. Kant(1681) says enlightenment is living life to the fullest. These philosphies do describe the world we live in today. As a matter of fact, all documents we discussed in class deal with equality and thinking about the rights we deserve as American citizens.

From the "Declaration of Independence" (1776) or the "Social Contract" Declaration of the rights of man (1789), we are very aware of the quote that "...all men are created equal". Wollstonekraft (1792) also wanted to spend her life to the fullest. She stood up for women. In our world today, this is greatly impacted. Women have rights just as men do and can live life as we please.


The authors of these documents were one of the very first people to express rights. If women did not have the same rights and freedom of men, I feel intellegent works that women invented would never become into existence.

Olivia Siegel said...



Our rights that we have are the Bill of Rights because it is the first ten amendments to the U.S. constitution, which protect citizens’ basic rights and freedoms. The amendments protected basic rights as freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion. The constitution and Bill of Rights marked a turning point in people’s idea’s and government. Both of the documents put enlightenment ideas into practice, which expressed an optimistic view that reason and reform could prevail and that progress was inevitable. The Bill of Rights came from the United States constitution and was written by Thomas Jefferson. Philosophes is a French word for philosophers, they believed that people could apply reason to all aspects of life.
John Locke believed that people could learn from experience and improve themselves. As reasonable beings, they had the natural ability to govern their own affairs and to look after the welfare of society but Locke criticized of the absolute monarchy and favored the idea of self- government. His belief was that a government’s power comes from the consent of the people is the foundation of modern democracy. The ideas of government by popular consent and the right to rebel against unjust ruler helped inspire struggles for liberty in Europe and the Americas. Rousseau believed that the only good government was one that was freely formed by the people guided by the general will of society a direct democracy. His view of the social contract differed greatly from Hobbes because the social contract was an agreement between a society and it’s government but for Rousseau, it was an agreement among free individuals to create a society and a government. Mary Wollstonecraft disagreed with Rousseau that would be secondary to men’s. Also she urged woman to enter the male-dominated fields of medicine and politics and argued woman need education to become virtuous and useful.
I think that the philosophies describe the world that we live today is that it effected How woman have education, have opportunities to decide their job to work and even go to college. Also how we have new technologies and advances to improve our rights, art, music, and our live style we used today.

Unknown said...

I think enlightenment is the choices man can make to be who they wish. It's the opportunity to be independent as it said in the document "What is Enlightenment" (Kant 1681). Kant's philosophies are most definitely used in everyday life today. I think people follow the quote 'Live everyday to the fullest because you never know when it's your last. Though this is true, I believe the quote 'All men are equal', is merely a dream. Though everyone wishes and strives for it to become real, certain obstacles, such as society, don't allow man to reach it. It shouldn't depend on if you like something someone else hates. It's your life, your decisions, and possibly your demise. It shouldn't matter of what you have, it's what you make of it. Though I don't agree with it, I believe your rights depend on where you stand in society.

Unknown said...

The rights that we have are the Bill of Rights which are the first ten amendments. They help us express our self in everyway. For example freedom of speech and freedom or religion. I think they come from the people who support us and the people who are like us.

William Colon said...

I believe enlightenment is the time when we receive our rights in order to speak and be ourselves. We can bear arms to protect. We can also worship the religion we are pleased with. This is a time when we gain freedom.

Unknown said...

Enlightenment is the attempt to try and please everyone and try to make it apply to everyone. But in the end it only applies to one person and it can only please one side of society. Just how Rousseau talks of how it can only please one side or another stating that it can either please "the sovereign to maintain the present form of government" or it pleases "the people to leave the administration to those at present entrusted with it". And I believe this is a strong quote due to the fact that Rousseau is right, not everyone is going to agree with your views. And really enlightenment is a true attempt to make everyone seem happy but it seems to fail in every way. But it really shows how we live today and how views are changed and can only please one side of an argument and all these philosophers paved the way of society

Unknown said...

I think all of these philosophies paved the way for the world we live in today. Starting with Kant (1681) where he states Enlightment is being able to have one's own understanding without another's guidance down to Mary Wollstonekraft (1792), her "Vindication of the Rights of Women" She felt women wanted to be able to have a say in what was going on and women should not be treated as inferior to men. She wanted to see women be able to do what men did and be recognized for their ability not for being weak because they were woman. I think the Rousseau (1762) "The Social Contract" and the Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789)started taking pieces of each document to help people achieve equality for all. A little piece of each document is what we live today. The Declaration of Independence (1776)put it all together and allowed everyone to have a fair say in what they believe, how they act, how government is formed and what is practiced, how they speak, how women are treated equal to men, freedom to pick your religion. This document put everything in a contract which allows us to have equality and freedom for everyone. So yes I do believe these documents are part of our everyday lives in which we now live.

Unknown said...

Enlightenment is the period in history, stretching roughly from the 17th century through the 18th century. This was the time when men realized "it's time to start living life to the fullest!" The Enlightenment was man's emergence from self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance. (Kant)Mary Wollstonecraft shows us the importance of woman's rights. But, all of these document's show why it is important to have rights.

Jade Jefferson said...

In my opinion, the true definition of enlightenment is a person's ability to live their life to the fullest. When I read the definition of enlightenment, I automatically think of women's rights. Women's rights have increased a whole lot. From not having the ability to vote, to now where women are allowed to run for president and have a chance of being elected.
I also think that enlightenment is about freedom. Today we have freedom of speech, religion, race, and so much more. There is not as much segregation and race does not have such a big impact anymore.

Unknown said...

I think the Enlightenment was when people began to believe that everyone was equal and had the same rights. Although many of the things in these documents were true I do not agree with the statement that all men are equal. In the "Declaration of Independence" document it says, "We hold this truth to be self-evident that all men are created equal." and that is just not true. If a wealthy white man who has not committed a crime is in some kind of argument with a man who has served time in jail and is not fairly wealthy at all, most people will side with the wealthy man. Try to tell me that is equality because it surely isn't. Women still are not treated equally. Go to a sporting event and take a look at the referees, 9 out of 10 times they are all men. Women are still looked down upon even though Wollstonecraft wrote this document and brought up the thoughts on women rights. But, I will say that our rights as human beings today have definitely expanded. I agree with Paul, The Enlightenment was an ATTEMPT to make everyone seen happy.

Unknown said...

All the documents and ideas influenced from this term "Enlightenment" all traces back to "What is Enlightenment?" by Kant. Kant expresses how Enlightenment is being independent and using one's own personal guidance and understandings to express their own feelings and thoughts with confidence without being dependent on others. Enlightenment is to be free with rights. The other documents show this definition of Enlightenment. In Mary Wollstonecraft's "A Vindication of the Rights of Women", she argues how women should deserve to be treated just as equally as men and receive education to be just as useful as men. This is related to Enlightenment because without women rights, they cannot be enlightened, for they are not free to express themselves. In the Declaration of Independence, it argues how men are all equal opposing British control and rule. Being free is being enlightened. How can you be enlightened when you are being controlled? In "The Declarations of the Rights of Man", it expresses the same thoughts on equality. In conclusion, all the documents and idea support Kant's idea of what Enlightenment is.
The documents describe the world we live in pretty clearly. For example, Kant stated " When we ask, are we living in an enlightened age, the answer is no. But we live in an age of enlightenment." That describes the age we are in now. We do live in an age of enlightenment because we are still learning to become independent and confident to express our own thoughts and understandings. However, everyone is not quite their yet, for many people are still dependent which keeps them from reaching Enlightenment. Therefore, we do not live in a age of Enlightenment. Our Bill of Rights is Enlightenment. The first amendment shows that we have freedom and rights over religion which is essential for Enlightenment, petition, speech, and protest. The Declaration of Independence is the sole document that makes us all equal which makes us enlightened. Unfortunately, we are still far from becoming an enlightened age, but we are working towards the path of Enlightenment.

Unknown said...

Enlightenment is the ability to live life to the fullest.
I do believe that these philosophies describe the world we live in today. Documents like the Declaration of Independence shaped the USA as we know it. It gives us a guideline on how to live our lives around the rights that this document states. Also, without Mary Wollstonecraft and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, the world would be completely different today. Because of this document, women today get to be treated as equals and can show that we are just as strong as men can be. This is why I believe that these philosophies describe the world we live in today.

Unknown said...

In my opinion these philosophies describe the world that we live in today.Vindication of the Rights of Women (Wollstonecraft, 1792) said women should deserve to have right just as equally as men.Before women not allowed to do certain things and they receive education.But now women believe that they are just strong as men. Women are equal to men and women have a right to an education.All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

Unknown said...

Enlightenment is equality for all people. And in the articles we learned about in class, there wasn't equality for all people. Mostly for women. Women used to be restricted from doing certain things that men did. Therefore I don't agree with the statement "all men are equal". Because to me it is not true. Even today, it may say that all people are suppose to be treated equally , but it's not true. That is why I think the Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments) was created. For the people who felt that there was inequality and wanted to do something about it.

Zoie Thomas said...

Enlightenment is almost the same as someone who has lost their faith being shown a miracle by God himself. Enlightenment opens ones eyes to the world and makes everything easier to see. More advancement in the world have been made with the help of Enlightenment. Enlightenment is survival and strength.

India Fenner said...

In the analysis “The Abolitionists”, two abolitionists I most highly respect are Frederick Douglas and William Lloyd garrison Douglas (1818-1895) the one of a slave woman and unknown white man spent his early years with his grandparents during slavery. As Douglas grew up he witnessed exposition of the brutal b grew older he e as a slave. As he grew older he moved to Baltimore with a man where he learned to read. When he learned to read the first words he learned were “Abolition and Abolitionists”. Continuously, with his life he married and continued to read and go to organization at a black church. His actions during the abolitionist movement were clear. Douglas attended abolitionist meetings. His beliefs were to end slavery and be a part of Anti-slavery society. Douglas became a lecturer for a long part of his life. During his lifetime he came across the other abolitionist whom I also highly respect; William Lloyd Garrison.
Garrison inspired Douglas at Bristol anti-slavery society annual meeting. Garrison (1805-1879) an American abolitionist journalist, known to be the editor for the abolitionist newspaper. Garrison who was also part of the Anti-slavery movement, actions was plan and simple. For example, since Garrison was the liberator for the news paper he was determined to be heard about Anti-slavery until the civil war was over. In his papers he spoke out eloquently and passionately against slavery and for the rights of America's black inhabitants. Garrison beliefs were to have African Americans have the same equal happiness and freedom as whites. Continued in his life garrison continued to strive for freedom of blacks that he advocated the immediate emancipation of all slaves and believed blacks should be equal in every way to the country's white citizens. They, too, were Americans and entitled to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
Since both garrison and Douglas were determined to abolish slavery I believe if they were to watch Modern Slavery in the TED talk, they would be highly distinguished. I believe they would maybe take action there also and want to help the journey. It was said that it was 27 million people enslaved today which is double the amount of the Atlantic slave trade. This estimate is an outrage because instead of reducing the amount of slaves it’s doubling and for both abolitionist to fight all their lives to end slavery in America I can’t imagine how they would strive t end it in Uganda. In my opinion I’m amazed because as much as I know about slavery I wouldn’t image it to double after these centuries of trying to abolish slavery. I believe it continues because Americans are distracted b with life in America and wouldn’t care much about a country if it’s not theirs. I believe it continues because not as many people pay attention to Uganda they would rather worry about celebrities embarrassing their selves and new songs and dances, instead of the life someone just like them.

Brian Clark said...

Enlightenment is equality to man and woman no matter what race, religion, or social class they are in. It is important to know your rights because if someone is trying to preach what they believe in center city they cannot be told to stop or be arrested for it, because we have the freedom of speech, and religion. Another right we have is, if a war is going on right near your house a solider cannot just come in and use your house for shelter or cover. The U.S also has the Bill of Rights, which are the first ten amendments. One of the amendments states that is you are brought to court for any crime you have the right to a lawyer. The ten amendments also states that we have the right to bear arms, so if someone every breaks into your house you have a weapon to defended yourself with.

andrew ragni said...

The Google definition for enlightenment is a European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. It was heavily influenced by 17th-century philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, and Newton, and its prominent exponents include Kant, Goethe, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Adam Smith. This definition is perfect. It speaks to the fact that this time was a period where people worried and thought about their own feelings instead of a tradition viewpoint. People began to think different and you can see that they influenced each other. It starts with Rousseau, who believes in independence and self rule, he forms a social contract. Then the declaration of independence is formed and and man finally gets the freedom he worked so hard for. Following this, you see woman begin to speak and they want their freedom too! This Enlightenment was like wildfire and it spread fast! People wanted freedom and this Enlightenment changed thinking and took away that old school traditional way of thinking.