Renaissance World View vs Enlightenment World View: Difference and Comparison

Historically, various reforms, periods, and revolutions have affected the respective country and contributed to the culture and art they have today.

Key Takeaways

1. The Renaissance worldview was characterized by humanism and a renewed interest in classical learning, while the Enlightenment emphasized reason, science, and individual rights.
2. The Renaissance focused on the individual, while the Enlightenment focused on society.
3. The Renaissance was primarily an artistic and cultural movement, while the Enlightenment was a philosophical and intellectual one.

Renaissance World View vs. Enlightenment World View

The renaissance period was mainly focused on arts and literature, contributing to the same. In contrast, the Enlightenment period was mainly focused on science, contributing to the same and similar fields.

Renaissance World View was founded in the Renaissance period after the crisis of the late middle ages, which led to significant changes in art, architecture, literature, and poetry.

Enlightenment World View, or the Age of Reason, is the period followed by the Renaissance World View with the main focus on reason, progress, and scientific use.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Renaissance World View	Enlightenment World View
Began In	It began in the 14th century, first in Italy and then Europe.	It began around the end of the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe.
Main Focus	The main focus was arts, literature, and poetry.	The main focus was intellectual reasoning and science
Contribution	In Areas of architecture, drama, and music.	In the field of science, rationality, and industrialization.
Significant Outcomes	Protestant Reformation	French and American Revolution
Notable Personalities	Leonardo Da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli etc.	Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant etc.

What is Renaissance World View?

The period of the Renaissance is crucial as it made many contributions and even led to the Enlightenment Period in Europe. It has its roots in Italy and then spread to Europe.

The Renaissance worldview is considered the Humanistic World view as this period valued humanity, literacy, and education. Later on, these became the main factors for the discovery of the world.

The following factors led to the end of the Renaissance:

1. Numerous wars taking place in the Italian Peninsula
2. Spanish, German, and French invaders caused Instability.
3. Changes in the economic trade routes.

What is Enlightenment World View?

After the Renaissance comes to the Enlightenment worldview, which was mainly focused on and flourished the field such as science, mathematics, and technology the most.

Following changes and steps were taken during this period:

1. Science was established as the primary source of knowledge, and logical reasoning and thinking were given priority.
2. Human rights were defended, promoting liberty, progress, tolerance, and fraternity.
3. Terminated superstitions and blind faith, books and scripts were written the most during this period.

There were three main concepts of the Enlightenment World View:

1. Reason
2. Scientific Method
3. Progress

It is believed that both the American and French revolutions were the outcomes of the Enlightenment Worldview.

Impact on Society: modern society is the result of the Enlightenment; scientific methods were established, and thinking towards church and religion took a turn and eventually changed.

Main Differences Between Renaissance World View and Enlightenment World View

1. Personalities of the Renaissance Period include Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli, and the Enlightenment Period includes Adam Smith, Voltaire, and John Locke.
2. Renaissance is considered a Religious Revolution, whereas Enlightenment is an Intellectual Revolution.

References

1. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1558/jate.v6i1.69
2. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=bWjUf040CJ0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA21&dq=renaissance+worldview&ots=Xmng8pQh6O&sig=uLVzerDOFQP-X1OZTSlF2roW_iI
3. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=yjCdDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR8&dq=enlightenment+period&ots=rO220xgDP3&sig=LnhRLT84pqHIO2YBc9ENFhlgivc

Last Updated : 11 June, 2023