About the inquiry

How did the Age of Reason writers influence the people of the 18th century to think differently about themselves and the world around them? How did their writings motivate people to take action to fight for their basic human inalienable rights and even launch violent revolutions for social and political freedoms to achieve it in the 18th century? Do their writings affect us today? If so, how do those writings affect us today? Are there struggles today that can be connected to those revolutions of the past? How much of a role do their writings play in our efforts today to insure equal rights for everyone? Do equal rights really exist in America? If not, where are the inequalities in our society today? These are but some of the questions this inquiry attempts to have young scholars to think about and to try to answer through a detailed study of selected writings of the Age of Reason.