Opplysningens

Opplysningens, commonly known as the Enlightenment, was an intellectual and cultural movement in Europe roughly from the late 17th to the late 18th century. It promoted reason, empirical science, and a critical questioning of traditional authorities—church, monarchy, and inherited privilege—with the aim of improving society through rational inquiry, education, and reform.

Central to Opplysningens were ideas of natural law, progress, and individual rights. Thinkers argued that human affairs should be understood and guided by evidence, observation, and the scientific method rather than superstition or dogma. The movement encouraged secularism, religious toleration, and reforms in law and government, including the separation of church and state, freedom of expression, and advancements in education and public administration. Encyclopedias, salons, coffeehouses, and learned societies facilitated the exchange of ideas and the dissemination of new knowledge.

The Enlightenment encompassed diverse schools and national traditions. In France, Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau engaged in debates about liberty, governance, and social contracts. In Britain, philosophers such as Locke, Hume, and Smith emphasized empirical reasoning and liberal economics. Kant, in Germany, sought to reconcile reason with morality. In Scandinavia and Northern Europe, figures such as Ludvig Holberg in the Danish-Norwegian realm and Anders Chydenius in Sweden-Finland contributed to reforms in education, press freedom, and civil rights, while scientists like Linnaeus advanced natural history within Enlightenment frameworks.

Impact and legacy of Opplysningens were profound. It influenced revolutions, constitutional developments, and modern liberal democracies; it reshaped education systems, science, religious toleration, and the authority structures of state and church. Its emphasis on reason and human progress remains a reference point in contemporary discussions about science, governance, and civil liberties.