Age of Enlightenment/Age of Reason (Lecture Notes)

General Characteristics:

1) natural laws of the universe discovered (Galileo--movement of planets, moons, & stars/Newton--law of gravity)
2) natural rights of mankind
3) recognition of man's progress in knowledge, technical achievement, and moral values
4) Deism (God as the great inventor; allows universe to function w/o divine intervention
5) Humanitarianism/Humanism (radically different from pre-destination; centers on human capacity, value, and worth)

Major Changes (Religion/Politics/Economy/Society)

1) Decrease in the monarch system/decrease in the hierarchical system (significant decline in church power and prestige/decrease in belief of God's daily involvement in human affairs)
2) Decrease in focus on God (divine intervention/predestination)/Increase in focus on Man (i.e., Alexander Pope)
3) "The Great  Awakening" (Jonathan Edwards); shift of focus on religious activities/beliefs

Characteristics of Literature

1) Non Fiction
2) Realistic (aims were to instruct, enlighten, and make people think)   
3) The writers of this time period revered the power of reason and deprecated passions and emotions (Reason over Emotion)