The Super Enlightenment
Or maybe just rather the century of education
The real historical age of enlightenment, according to Europeans:
an intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. It was heavily influenced by 17th-century philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, and Newton, and its prominent figures included Kant, Goethe, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Adam Smith.
The 1900s could maybe have passed for the century of super-enlightenment, if it weren’t for the fact that mankind used its new knowledge to kill humans on an industrial scale. That’s the opposite of enlightenment.
However, no other (prior) century saw as much innovation, opportunities and funding toward the education of so many people, as the 20th century did.
For lack of a more discerning criteria and description, the 1900s can pass for the biggest “philosophical” century since ancient times.
