Ancient History

Topic A. Reason and Revolution

Define what reason meant to enlightenment thinkers.

Reason can mean several different things or be applied to different things even to enlightenment
thinkers. For enlightenment thinkers, this meant that they were no longer held to what had been
taught to them in the past, they were able to make their thoughts based on observations and
understanding of what they read and study about the world around them. Reasoning applied not
only to the church and religion but to math and sciences as well. Getz and Brooke, 2012 stated,
“Reason,” and as the Enlightenment progressed, reason became not only a tool for understanding
the world but for changing it as well” (sec. 3.3 para. 6). I think it is also important to point out
that reason can also be broken into two types eternal truths and positive truths. Eternal truths are
“absolutely necessary,” and positive truths are those that depend on nature (Reason, 2010).

Explain why reason posed a threat to systems like the Church and monarchy.

The “Age of Reason” became a threat to the Church and monarchy because it sometimes went
against the set laws established by both. The monarchy and the church were closely tied together
form my understanding. Reason gave individuals the ability to make their observations about the
world around them and apply it to their lives. Because individuals were beginning to think for
themselves and make these observations the previous theological explanations and guidelines
were becoming obsolete.

Examine how enlightenment philosophers determined who was capable of reason and who
was not.

It is my understanding through the readings this week that where the enlightenment philosophers
might have had different perspectives on reason. However, they all seemed to have the same
thought of who was capable of reason and who was not. Getz & Brooke (2012) state, “Kant
argued that reason provided true freedom, though most people were too lazy to overcome the
intentional hurdles they erected for their thoughts and lives” (sec. 3.3 par 7). Other philosophers
of the time believed that people were born good and it is only corruption from the institutions
that created ignorance and evil to develop in them (Getz & Brooke, 2012). Kant believed in a
hierarchical society that depicts who is more capable of reason. “Kant wrote, Humanity exists in
its greatest perfection in the white race … The yellow Indians have a smaller amount of Talent.
The Negroes are lower and the lowest are a part of the American peoples” (Bouie, 2018).

Examine either the French, Haitian, or Latin American Revolutions and discuss how the
Enlightenment influenced the Revolution.

This question posed to be more difficult for me to answer. I had a hard time gathering my
thoughts to formulate an answer, but here is my best shot at answering it fully. During the
Enlightenment, the philosophers of the time became increasingly popular. Thomas Pain and his
ideas of liberty and equality became extremely influential to the people of France. Members of
the bourgeoisie created a National Assembly, refusing to endorse the taxes that Louis XVI was

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trying to impose. This National Assembly began to make demands on the king and protest
erupted throughout Paris. Eventually, the king was driven out but corruption continued and so
did the fighting. Equality and rights seemed to be the main focus of the French revolution. (Getz
& Brooke, 2012)

References

Bouie, J. (2018, June 5). The Enlightenment’s dark side: How the enlightenment created modern
race thinking, and why we should confront it, Slate. Retrieved from https://slate.com/news-and-
politics/2018/06/taking-the-enlightenment-seriously-requires-talking-about-race.html

Getz, T. R., & Brooke, J. E. (2012). World history: The human experience from 1500. Retrieved
from https://content.ashford.edu

Reason, (2010). In the encyclopedia of diderot & d’Alembert collaborative translation project (F.
Vo, Trans.). Retrieved from https://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/did/did2222.0001.157

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