Asher P.2 T.2 Enlightenment Era Synthesis

During the Enlightenment era some believed that high social standing and authoritative family connections were the most important standings in civilization. Soon there were authors and philosophers who shot down that belief because they saw it as shallow and immoral. One of these people was John Locke. Locke was the founding philosopher in England during the Enlightenment era. He believed that all our knowledge comes from experience and since we have limited experience, our knowledge is limited. Because we lack knowledge we must be willing to change ourselves and fix our knowledge gaps. If we think we are better and of higher standing then everyone else we will not allow ourselves room for improvement. Locke informed the public of his viewpoint on this issue through his many papers and through informing his fellow philosophers. Although Locke was brilliant in his work there is no one that could rival Rousseau in the satire of the Restoration society. At first Rousseau only wanted humans to return to the pureness of the natural humans and return to the environment surrounding us. But his ideals expanded to include much more. In his paper discours sur l’origine de l’ine’galite parmi le hommes he harshly criticized the unwholesomeness of the elite and how they should not believe that they were above anyone else. He taught many people that only when the public established a nation would everyone be happy. This new nation would require everyone to have equal social standing. Rousseau once said that, “Fame is but the breath of people, and that often unwholesome.” This quote embodies what all those brave philosophers we attempting to teach people in their era.