1700 – 1900
Enlightenment & 1800s
Reason was turned on authority itself. From Kant to Marx, Darwin to Freud, thinkers remade morality, history, biology and the mind — and handed us the modern world, for better and worse.
The Enlightenment1700s‘Dare to know!’ Reason would free people from ignorance and unfair rule.
Kant1724–1804Showed knowledge needs BOTH our senses and our minds.Romanticismearly 1800sFeeling, imagination, and nature matter as much as cold logic.
Hegel1770–1831Saw history as ideas clashing and combining, step by step.
Kierkegaard1813–1855Insisted that what matters is YOU, the individual — not the crowd.
Marx1818–1883Argued that history is driven by who owns what.
Darwin1809–1882Showed that humans and all life evolved over millions of years.Freud1856–1939Discovered a hidden ‘unconscious’ that drives how we act.
Kant1724–1804Showed knowledge needs BOTH our senses and our minds.Romanticismearly 1800sFeeling, imagination, and nature matter as much as cold logic.Hegel1770–1831Saw history as ideas clashing and combining, step by step.Kierkegaard1813–1855Insisted that what matters is YOU, the individual — not the crowd.Marx1818–1883Argued that history is driven by who owns what.Darwin1809–1882Showed that humans and all life evolved over millions of years.Freud1856–1939Discovered a hidden ‘unconscious’ that drives how we act.