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Originally Posted by
Kojip
This Enlightenment can often be maligned by 'spiritual” folks as tantamount to the fall of humanity from grace, and the beginning of environmental disaster.... etc.
Seriously? I don't think I've ever heard that. To be fair, I think very few people who aren't historians or students of history know anything at all about the Enlightenment (European). From my readings - and I do read a fair amount of books about history - the Enlightenment was almost inevitable, philosophically, as Europe cast off the fetters of the middle ages. And, it led to the counter-Enlightenment, and then romanticism, which is probably the longest-lasting and richest artistic movement in history. (It's fair to say that much of romanticism is still at the core of all the arts today, notably the relationship of the artist to society, the search for "pure" art, etc.)
The Enlightenment also led to the freeing of people from the rule of kings. It contributed to the American revolution, was a key factor in the French revolution, and even, indirectly, led to Marx and the revolutions of 1848.