Aufklarung

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A philosophic movement of the 18th century characterized by alively questioning of authority, keen interest in matters of politicsand general culture, and an emphasis on empirical method in science.It received its impetus from the unsystematic but vigorous skepticismof Pierre Bayle, the physical doctrines of Newton, and theepistemological theories of Locke, in the preceding century. Itschief center was in France, where it gave rise to the skepticism ofVoltaire , the naturalism of Rousseau, the sensationalism ofCondillac, and the publication of the Encyclopedia by D'Alembertand Diderot. In Germany, Lessing, Mendelssohn, and Herder wererepresentative thinkers, while the political doctrines of the leadersof the American Revolution and the speculations of Benjamin Franklinand Thomas Paine represented the movement in America.