During his upbringing the French Aristocracy ruled with an iron fist, but at the same time the Enlightenment Movement was spreading ideas about the equality and basic rights of man and the importance of reason and scientific objectivity. ... In "Candide", the novel ridicules a number of Enlightenment Period philosophies, it showed how the Enlightenment was nothing like a uniform movement. Candide's setting takes place during the Enlightenment Era; "The Enlightenment" is the name for a movement that encompasses a wide variety of ideas and advances in the fields of philosophy, science, and ...

• Word Count: 1280
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In a way, it might have begun with the Age of Enlightenment and its drive toward a mastery of nature and society, with human reason at the center of everything, since which rationality had been considered the key to justice, morality, control, organization, understanding and happiness. ...

• Word Count: 2695
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: Undergraduate