The Age Of Enlightenment By Jean Jacques Rousseau Essay

In Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s autobiography, Confessions, he presents a dramatic tell all of his life story. During the eighteenth century, the period, known as the Enlightenment, swept across Europe. Rousseau found himself in the middle of all of it. The Age of Enlightenment was a time when scholars took to science to explain human nature and the world around them. His autobiography reflects how instead of following this trend Rousseau established a kind of counterculture to the Enlightenment. He didn’t revere the work of the present as the highest form of truth, instead choosing to focus on ancient work. As he recalls his youth, Rousseau explains how he was enthralled with the works of the Greeks and Romans. This influenced his style of thinking throughout his life, making him one of the great philosophers of that time, even though his romantic style of philosophy was not popular at the time. His ideas became associated with a movement called the Counter-Enlightenment. A lthough, Rousseau alludes to his Christian faith in his autobiography he presents several ideas that go against the Christian doctrine. Going against the doctrine of the Church became popular with many Enlightened thinkers as they often made new scientific discoveries that undermined Church teachings. But, unlike other philosophers Rousseau turned to nature for explanations rather than hard science. Finding human nature to be an ultimate form of truth. These new kinds of ideas, that Rousseau expresses in hisShow MoreRelatedJean Jacques Rousseau And Mary Wollstonecraft1201 Words   |  5 PagesThe Age of Enlightenment began in the late 17th century and had some key ideas developed by education innovators that changed the way that society views children and education. Many of these ideas stem from the revolutionary work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Mary Wollstonecraft. 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