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During the 17th and
into the 18th century the European intellectuals expressed
confidence in reason. Individuals such as Locke, Descartes,
Bayle, Spinoza, Newton, Jefferson, Franklin, Montesquieu, Voltaire,
Rousseau and many more developed new ideas about science, art,
philosophy, politics, economics and religion. The cornerstone of
their ideas lay in reason and the unfettered mind. Everything was
subject to investigation. New theories and laws of science and math
were developed using the scientific method. Deism,
skepticism, agnosticism and materialism became the basis of
religious thought. Psychology was developed and the idea of
humanism ( the belief that we should live up to our human potential)
became a new way of thinking. The social contract was developed and
for the first time governmental powers were limited and subject to
the rule of the people. They believed in universal order,
natural law and human reason. A general sense of
progress, predictability and perfectibility could be achieved
by a scientific and rational approach. Their reasoning and
investigations resulted in great leaps in mathematics, science,
social sciences, laws and eventually culminated in the Reformation,
the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution and our modern
society.
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