1) The Middle Ages was a period during which the first part was known as the Dark Ages because of a lack of culture and learning. Feudalism was the form of social and economic organization and this period was characterized by the “darkness” of irrationality and superstition. The learning that was available was through the monasteries and education and scholarship were dominated by the church. In contrast, the Age of Enlightenment represented the doctrines of some of the greatest social science and philosophy theorists in history, including Locke, Voltaire, and Kant. The Enlightenment thinkers views history as man’s progressive struggle to develop a rational society and culture. Leading doctrines of The Enlightenment included: reason is man’s main capacity and enables him to think and act correctly; man is by nature rational and good; individuals and humanity can evolve towards perfection; are men are equal with respect to rationality and deserve equality before the law and individual liberty; beliefs are valid based on reason and not church authority or sacred texts or tradition; non-rational aspects of humanity are devalued. While critics like Hegel and Nietzsche would argue against some of these doctrines, The Enlightenment was an extremely significant period of social science and philosophical doctrine that moved away from the superstition and irrationality of the Middle Ages.
2) Hume believed that all knowledge was restricted to ideas or impressions, feeling that the mind was the sum total product of a host of perceptions accumulated over time. Other than what is observable directly, there is no knowledge and he believed that God could not exist because God is only an idea in the mind of man. Kant, on the other hand, opposed Hume’s skepticism and felt that pure reason was of use in understanding the world. However, he challenged Enlightenment thinkers because he did not
...