PEACETOPIAN MILESTONES

A holistic movement for a better world
has been evolving throughout history...

1650-1799 -
Age of Enlightenment / Age of Reason

In the 17th and 18th centuries, a movement called the Age of Reason or Age of Enlightenment swept across Europe and the American colonies, changing the existing paradigm by providing a new perspective on the nature of the universe and humanity's place in it. Philosophers, scientists, playwrights and other intellectuals challenged the pervading mindset of the time that was grounded in religious faith and tradition, and instead argued that reason - logical knowledge obtained through a method of scientific inquiry -- should guide one's individual behavior and be the foundation of society's laws and institutions. The ideas of philosophers like John Locke, Baruch Spinoza, Thomas Hobbes, Immanuel Kant and Voltaire, and scientists like Isaac Newton, helped pave the way for the movement in Europe. An important milestone presented by many of the Enlightenment philosophers was the concept of 'natural law' and 'natural rights.' Natural rights are universal rights that apply to everyone, such as equality of all people and the right to life and liberty. Natural rights are not subject to the beliefs, customs or laws of any particular government or society. Over time, these natural rights that all people possess have come to be known as human rights. After the publication of a 35-volume encyclopedia that included articles by hundreds of visionary intellectuals of the Enlightenment, the movement's influence spread across the Atlantic. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and other American founding fathers were greatly inspired by the revolutionary ideas, and these ideals played an important role in the development of the American Revolution, as well as the creation of the American Declaration of Independence and the United States Bill of Rights.