The Enlightenment is one of the most important periods in modern history. The ideas offered during this time directly impact and influence the massive political revolutions that swept much of the world in the century that followed and those revolutions directly influence our world today. Salons and reading clubs and coffee houses emerged as centers of discussion, and there were a lot of discussions because there were a lot of people who wanted to challenge the status quo. And the new printing press made the wide and fast spread of those ideas and challenges possible. The Enlightenment was an outpouring of ideas from a vast number of men and women. For this essay select one Enlightenment figure and address the following questions: What were his or her main contentions? What are the flaws and merits of those ideas in your opinion? And in a conclusion address the following: To what degree are those ideas still around today? Have we embraced them or changed them? Have they made our world today a better place?
