What was the Enlightenment and how did it change basic Western attitudes towards reform, faith and reason?

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The Enlightenment and how it changed basic Western attitudes towards reform, faith and reason
To be able to draw conclusions about what actually shaped western history, there is a need to know clearly the connections that exist between cultural, social, political, intellectual and political happenings in a given era of interest. One has to understand the wide variety of cultures that led to western civilization and further place them together in a common context. This will help one to understand change over time and make up for the fundamental relationships of different times CITATION Hun09 \p 453 \l 2057 (Hunt, Martin and Smith 453).The enlightenment achieved almost total transformation of Western Europe. The region was set toward reform, making lose the tie n faith to more secular and broad reason. Philosophers were the main contributors of this enlightenment. In the recent past, the year 1997, archaeologists working in Ethiopia discovered fossilized skulls that dated at least 160 000 years from then. These remains were the oldest ever found after the discovery of Homo sapiens. This, as a discovery, raised considerable interest to many scientists as it supported the idea that human beings originated from Africa CITATION Hun09 \p 363 \l 2057 (Hunt, Martin and Smith 363). Early human beings made innovations in technology, religion, trade, and in social organizations. It is these innovations that create a basis of the modern way of life. The modern ways of life, including the emergence of war, may be traced back to innovations of the ancient man. Continuous research provides the world with new information about the past, therefore, enlightening the thinking f how the past relates to the present. Enlightenment was an intellectual movement. The goal of the movement was to understand the natural world, and understand the position of man in this natural world, on the basis of reason while avoiding turning to religious beliefs. The aim was to create an inquiring mind that has the urge to understand and know through reason, reason supported by evidence and proof. Western Europe valued reason as reflected in the philosophic ideas or else what we are referring to as the enlightenment CITATION Hun09 \p 293 \l 2057 (Hunt, Martin and Smith 293). Faith in nature and the belief in human progress were among the most fundamental ideologies of the Enlightenment. The argument was, if people were free to make and exercise their reason, they would be naturally good and would act towards the betterment of others. Education is seen a significant bridge to reason and human progress, other than through faith and attachment to religion. This can be claimed to be one of the reasons why education is seen as a e...