The foundational principle of Enlightenment thinkers from Locke to Hume to Kant (not to mention their student Thomas Jefferson) was that the legitimate purpose of the state was to preserve ...

The Enlightenment provides a touchstone for our understanding of modern history and, not least, for our sense of the current moment. More than two centuries ago, a shift in outlook sought to throw ...

Some of the Enlightenment's proponents may have been racist, but the solution was built in. Some of its proponents were, but the solution was built in.

Steven Pinker’s new best-selling book “Enlightenment Now” has excited the reading public. Bill Gates has called it “my new favorite book of all time.” As he has in previous work, Pinker ...

Sarah Perry's novel, Enlightenment, recently received a Booker Prize nomination.It follows the relationship between two friends, with a 30 year age difference, as they confront the role of the ...

Today the Enlightenment and Thomas Jefferson were disappeared from Texas. Here’s a live blog from this morning’s hearings at the Texas State Board of Education. (Emphasis mine.) 9:30 – Board ...

Enlightenment (Age of Enlightenment) An intellectual movement which began in England in the seventeenth century, but then spread to have eventual influence over all sections of the world.

There's no one definition of enlightenment. The Buddhist principle is defined by some as "a state of perfect knowledge or wisdom, combined with infinite compassion," while other schools of thought say ...