The Age of Reason
Began with the scientists and
philosophers in Europe of the 17th
and 18th centuries
The Age of Reason
• “The Enlightenment”
• Rationalism: the belief that humans
can arrive at truth by using reason
– As opposed to the past and the
reliance on authority, religion, or
intuition
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
• Compared God to a clock maker
• God created perfect mechanism, but
let it run on its own.
• God’s gift to humanity—the ability to
think logically
In the Colonies
• Early Americans had to be
generalists and tinkerers—to make
do with what they had
Smallpox Plague
• Scientific exploration paid off!
• Cotton Mather: religious still but
willing to seek cures
– Borrowed from Turkish physician the
practice of innoculation
– Perspectives and practices changing—
not rigidly only religious/ seeking more
scientific answers
Deism
• Seeking God through nature
• The belief that all people can
discover natural laws through Godgiven power of reason
• The belief that the universe is
orderly
• The belief that humans are good
and “perfectible” through reason
View of God
• Belief that God wants us to be
happy
• Best serve him by helping others
Self-Made Americans
• Rags to Riches (ie, Benjamin
Franklin)
• Writings rooted in reality (pamphlets,
government documents, etc.)