Key Figures in the Enlightenment Period

John Locke - John's fundamental beliefs lied within the fact that the world presents an "assemblage of particular facts, yielding sensations which our minds then process"(Habib) which allows us to arrive to abstract ideas and general truths. A point that he stressed the most dealt with how language directly connects with human thought and that the utmost care must be heeded. Locke was a staunche opponent of rhetoric, claiming that it abuses language by delighting the listener. Instead he supported the idea that language should be clear; furthermore he insisted calling rhetoric a "powerful instrument of error and deceit." Locke also believed that everything contains two essences, a real essence and an essence perceived as real by the human mind. The basic idea presented by Locke explained that humans merely try to make generalized statements to make things seem true.

Edmund Burke - Burke shared the empiricist view with Locke for the simple fact that he believed that knowledge is gained through experimentation and experience. While others insisted that intuition guided humans, Burke believed that these impulses did not compare to empiracle evidence. He believed that since all humans have the same organs, they must perceive the world the same. The images, pleasures and pains of one man must be the same to another man. He reasoned that while sweetness is perceived as pleasurable and bitterness as unpleasant, a man can acquire a satisfaction through habit. Thus, a preference for a bitter taste can be acquired through repeated exposure.

Mary Wollstonecraft - Wollstonecraft became a proponent of women's rights when she wrote A Vindication to the Rights of Woman which made a case that similarities between women and men make them equal. Mary took a stance against the feudalist nature of society's past and also believed that a monarchy could not effectively rule a nation.

What I gather from these figures is this desire to move society forward. When most people trusted in their own beliefs, some figures came out to explain that everyone holds equality with one another and common sense should be the ruling nature of humanity. Humanity can only progress if they remember their past and base judgments off of what has been proven.