Reason and critical thinking

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement of the 18th century. It encouraged the rational examination of ideas, the spread of knowledge and criticism of arbitrary power and intolerance.

Some major figures

Voltaire, Montesquieu and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are among the writers associated with the Enlightenment. Their ideas differed, but they informed debates on freedoms, the organisation of power and sovereignty.

Key takeaway: the Enlightenment helped shape the intellectual context of the French Revolution. Montesquieu is particularly associated with thinking on the separation of powers.