Essay on the Influence of Isaac Newton on Enlightenment Thinkers

The Enlightenment was a cultural movement stemming from philosophical paradigm shifts concerning changes in both cultural and socio-political dogmas, distinguished by the early modern European era. The culture of Enlightenment portrayed a radical break with the origins of Europe’s past due to the drastic change from a religious-driven world to a scientific basis, with the growth in the humanist movement. The eighteenth-century Enlightenment was hence a crucial moment of change in early modern European history, influenced by a consecutive number of discoveries, reformations, humanist movements, and revolutions- ultimately resulting in the inevitable destruction of the unified, synthetic culture of the early modern European world. It marked the transition from a world in which one simply took what was given, in terms of religion, politics, and a way of life, to a world where it gradually shifted to where a ‘‘man was seen as the architect of his destiny’’ The overruling perception of independence and the freedom of rights of individuals replaced the social hierarchy, aristocratic honor, and the divine right. The Enlightenment is often referred to as the ‘’age of reason’’, as it was set to challenge traditional religious views, provide liberty and freedom, and progress society in ways that will set the nation up for improvement and success, thus marking the eighteenth century as a critical moment of change in early modern European history.

The Enlightenment was a way of thinking that portrayed skepticism in the aspect of religion, challenged the inequity between the Kings and their people, and tried to establish a new system of principles with the application of the scientific revolution. The scientific revolution refers to a certain period spreading approximately from 1500 to 1700. This concept is very familiar in our current era, but the term was only fully understood in the 1940s by historians and famous philosophers who were particularly interested in the history of science. These significant figures stressed the idea of a sudden and dramatic shift in the way Europeans understood and interpreted the physical world in the early modern European period. Their literature upheld the so-called scientific revolution as the triumph of a courageous, rational mind over the irrational, and backward reasoning of the dark early modern era.

In the late 17th century, several well-known scientists like Isaac Newton and John Locke began to challenge the old order. Newton’s laws of gravity explained the world in terms of natural laws beyond spiritual force. In the wake of the political uproar in England, Locke declared the right of individuals to shift to a government that did not believe in protecting the natural rights of life and independence. In response to this, societal norms were starting to change and people were beginning to second guess the existence of a god who could predetermine human beings to eternal damnation and empower a tyrant for a king. Europe was forever transformed by these new ideals. Once devoted Christians began to reposition their faith and believed that the universe determined its course, without the interference of god and his intervention. The scientific revolution movement upheld many discoveries that led to individuals wanting to learn more about the world and the scientific approach behind it, forcing all spiritual and divine philosophies about the universe to become irrelevant. The three major discoveries of the scientific revolution include Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion Galilei’s theories of motion and inertia, and Newton’s findings of the law of gravitation and the understanding of a mechanical world. With several new scientific discoveries being publicized and becoming widespread throughout European society, the accepted Christian understanding of the universe altered. Progressively, thinkers encompassed the scientific paradigm. This paradigm grasps that while God created the universe, science defined and expressed it, and it is through science that enables humans to understand it. Intellectuals began to view the universe as perhaps infinite and full of motion. This paradigm set the tone for Enlightenment philosophy, literature, and the embrace of mankind’s rational thoughts. During the Enlightenment, there was a significant emphasis on scientific procedures, secularisation of learning, religious tolerance, individual liberty, independence, individuality, and universal education. These philosophical concepts clearly show the transition that took place in the European middle ages, previously everybody believed in the same ideals that were engraved in their mind, leaving no room for intellectual thought or individualistic beliefs, further showcasing the critical change in culture in early modern European history.

The Enlightenment served as a collectively driven venture, with scientists in the seventeenth century constructing knowledge that threatened the common societal norms- for instance, Galileo’s perspective on the cosmos had been somewhat ignored and isolated and could be ignored by established authorities. In contrast to this, the Enlightenment was a group-based scheme and built new forms of knowledge as both a social and interactive enterprise. Natural philosophers were keen to explain the entire system of the universe, rather than just discovering new things. Their knowledge covered a wide range of diverse grounds, such as medicine, pharmacology, alchemy, and also theology, philosophy, and law. Thus, further expressing that the scientific revolution is not a revolution in science, but a set of dramatic transformations shifting natural philosophy towards our modern concept of science. A concept striking an uproar in the Middle Ages was the use of mathematics and measurements to acquire a more specific idea of how the world and its parts function. Hence, philosophers started to believe in such observations and personal experiences more than ancient writings and literature that were once considered a staple tool for guidance in the Middle Ages. They relied on specifically conceived experiments to capture a greater understanding of nature’s mysteries, further exposing the drastic change the Enlightenment had on European culture, and marking the eighteenth century as a critical moment of change in early modern European history.

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The significance of humanist movements in the Middle Ages was a critical aspect of the Enlightenment period, humanism is a rationalist outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to humans rather than divine or supernatural matters. It acts as a crucial catalyst in driving the shift in change from a religious philosophy to an independent and individualistic-driven world in Early European history. Isaac Newton and Ben Franklin were two major humanists of the Enlightenment, they reacted in contradiction to the religious dogmatism of the late seventeenth century. The religious rigidity of the time was categorized into three main domains- Protestant scholasticism by Calvinist divines, Jesuit scholasticism, and finally, the theory of the divine right of Kings in the church of England, these three main domains had instigated the English Civil War. The Enlightenment ignored this regimented religious dogma. Rational leaders of the Enlightenment deemed themselves as fearless influential figure who would ultimately assist the world in transforming into a progressive society from a dreadful, long period of cynical tradition and apostolic tyranny. These intellectual leaders eventually simmered persistent religious views to only essential religious practices that were only ‘’rationally’’ protected. These included basic moral practices and a few universally grasped beliefs about god. The period of the Enlightenment also went to the extreme that resulted in atheism, which was barely even heard of in Europe’s past, before the Enlightenment. Thus, religion was essentially exiled from the public sphere, additionally conveying the crucial and sudden shift in change in early modern European history.

Humanism during the Enlightenment continued to gradually develop, becoming a central movement in capitalizing on the new European era in the time of the Middle Ages. Humanism acted as a facilitator of a series of notions about the nature, competencies, and values of individuals. It suggests the perspectives in, history, philosophy, anthropology, ethics, and politics, based on the human being as a crucial referential mechanism. Humanism stresses the importance of an individual’s perspective which is dedicated to the importance and interests of humans. It also suggests that reason and independence are the two main basic rights of human subsistence. Many fundamentals of humanism have been demonstrated in philosophical views, such as Marxism and existentialism. Therefore, humanism is portrayed as a major contributing factor to change in the eighteenth century, it serves to be a critical moment in the alteration of European society during the Enlightenment.

The protestant reformation played a highly influential role in the uprising of the Enlightenment and the changing ordeals in religious teachings that occurred in the Middle Ages. The Protestant Reformation was a major 16th century European movement aimed initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Its religious aspects were supplemented by ambitious political rulers who wanted to extend their power and control at the expense of the Church. Martin Luther is a critical figure in this Reformation period, due to his lack of belief in god and his difficulties in understanding the importance of god as a spiritual figure in his everyday life, he eventually separated himself from the catholic church. The supporters of the Enlightenment did not fully eliminate the role of god in their lives, but they denied that god had any clear and critical involvement in their lives. Individuals believed that god created the universe, but it stopped there, they believed everything else in life was up to them only, with no religious beliefs and guidance being portrayed in their mind anymore. Religious thought in the Enlightenment tried to demolish traditional religious views, Christianity, and shape a new foundation of religion that was centralized on an Earthly fundamental.

Ultimately, the culture of Enlightenment exposed a radical break with the origins of Europe’s past due to the drastic change from a religious-driven world to a scientific basis, with the growth in the humanist movement and the protestant reformation. The eighteenth-century Enlightenment was hence a crucial moment of change in early modern European history, influenced by a consecutive number of discoveries, reformations, humanist movements, and revolutions- ultimately resulting in the inevitable destruction of the unified, synthetic culture of the early modern European world. It served as a drastic and somewhat destructive shift in a religious-based world, then progressed into a scientifically proven driven world. Several key significant influencers turned the Middle Ages from a traditional religious-driven society into a more Earthly and scientific scenario- including intellectuals, philosophers, and historians. Literature and changing philosophies also led to a more humanistic way of life and gave individuals a sense of independence and freedom that they previously never had before in the Middle Ages.