Great Thinkers In The Enlightenment
As the most profound and significant intellectual movement since the Renaissance in Europe, the Enlightenment in eighteenth century was never a coincidence, instead it was set in complicated economical, scientific and social context. With the growing power of emergent capitalist industrialism, the new middle class who had known poverty and hardship, and most of whom had obtained their present social statue through hard work, put high value on the virtues of self-discipline, thrift and hard work. For them, to work, to economize and to accumulate wealth constituted the whole meaning of their life. While the old social order dominated by monarchy and churches became a barrier for their pursuit of wealth and higher social statue, as a result, the
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It indicates that in spite of different religious or moral beliefs, different races or civilizations, and different cultures or societies, all human being are essentially the same. One of the great documents of the Enlightenment is the American Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson (1984, p.19): “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights”. It is universally acknowledged that equality at that time was conditional mainly in that black slaves were excluded. And Jefferson himself was a Virginia gentleman who throughout his life owned black slaves. What hurts most is that after great progress of civilization throughout centuries, prejudice and stereotype are still everywhere all over the world. Undoubtedly, discrimination against certain countries such as typical under-developed countries is still pervasive nowadays. Regardless of political context, those countries get massive prejudice and discrimination all the time. It is really a shame. People in developed countries have been receiving best education all their life-time, how can some of them do not understand the commonsense that seeing is believing and how can it be so easy for them to be swayed by biased comments on certain issues. Moreover, conflicts between races have triggered tense hostility among different groups which post threat to the security of ordinary people and the stability of society.Violent attacks in Australia related Islamic groups is a case in point. While most of Australia’s political leaders have urged restraint and respect for those of different faiths, others still have been accused of stoking tensions between Muslims and the broader community. Another example took place in the United States where several black men including a eighteen-year-old young man
It indicates that in spite of different religious or moral beliefs, different races or civilizations, and different cultures or societies, all human being are essentially the same. One of the great documents of the Enlightenment is the American Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson (1984, p.19): “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights”. It is universally acknowledged that equality at that time was conditional mainly in that black slaves were excluded. And Jefferson himself was a Virginia gentleman who throughout his life owned black slaves. What hurts most is that after great progress of civilization throughout centuries, prejudice and stereotype are still everywhere all over the world. Undoubtedly, discrimination against certain countries such as typical under-developed countries is still pervasive nowadays. Regardless of political context, those countries get massive prejudice and discrimination all the time. It is really a shame. People in developed countries have been receiving best education all their life-time, how can some of them do not understand the commonsense that seeing is believing and how can it be so easy for them to be swayed by biased comments on certain issues. Moreover, conflicts between races have triggered tense hostility among different groups which post threat to the security of ordinary people and the stability of society.Violent attacks in Australia related Islamic groups is a case in point. While most of Australia’s political leaders have urged restraint and respect for those of different faiths, others still have been accused of stoking tensions between Muslims and the broader community. Another example took place in the United States where several black men including a eighteen-year-old young man