![]() ![]() ![]() After all, a movement that evinces skepticism toward the absolutist claims of its own traditional authorities will also be skeptical toward the traditional enmity targeting other cultures and civilizations resulting from those claims. It is not surprising that this should be the case. Moreover, the Enlightenment is an era of intellectual inquisitiveness and openness to other cultures. A close reading of the Enlightenment texts of its main adherents and especially those of Voltaire, who more than any other figure of the 18th century seems to personify the Enlightenment, reveals that the core approach of the Enlightenment was one of skepticism toward claims of absolute knowledge. ![]() There were certainly intolerant strands within the Enlightenment, but as with any other widespread intellectual movement that defines a whole era, there will always be thinkers within it whose approach differs from the mainstream current. ![]() Nevertheless, the Enlightenment is today often seen as a hegemonic movement that sought to impose what it regarded as its truths on the nations in which it developed as well as across the rest of the world. This was reflected in its self-confident literature written in a style that is composed and often brilliantly satirical as well as being of a vigorous clarity that makes it a pleasure to read. It was also an era of relative calm and prosperity in Europe. It was a period in which natural science attained the respect in intellectual circles that it has enjoyed ever since. The 18th century is also known in intellectual history as the Age of Enlightenment. ![]()
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