- 1700s/
- Connects to the idea of Deism, in which the universe was created by God and then abandoned; no supernatural controls would be exerted and all things were explainable by reason.
- Enlightenment philosphy dictated that human reason was adequate to solve mankind's problems and, correspondingly, much less faith was needed in the central role of God as an active force in the universe.
- Idea moved from Europe to become the New World's seed of culture, intellectualism, and society.
- Some important Enlightenment writers include Isaac Newton (Principia Mathematica, 1687), John Locke (Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1689), and Renè Descartes, whose basic tenet of philosophical theory existed in the phrase, "I think, therefore, I am."