5.1 The Enlightenment

By the middle of the eighteenth century, the intellectual life of Europe underwent a profound transformation that came to be known as the Enlightenment. This movement was not a single event or ideology but a broad and sustained reimagining of how human beings understood reason, authority, and the world around them. It emerged from the Scientific Revolution, when thinkers like Galileo, Newton, and Kepler demonstrated that nature could be understood through observation and rational inquiry rather than divine mystery. The methods of science, which had revealed the laws of physics, were now applied to society, politics, and morality. The result was a redefinition of truth that challenged monarchies, churches, and empires alike.