Oops, I guess I caught you there on the wrong foot, brother!
Let me contribute my 2 cents worth ...
- Enlightenment: "[A] philosophical movement of the 18th century marked by a rejection of traditional social, religious, and political ideas and an emphasis on rationalism" (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10 ed., 2002, p. 384).
- Rationalism: "1: reliance on reason as the basis for establishment of religious truth. 2a: a theory that reason is in itself a source of knowledge superior to and independent of sense perceptions. b: a view that reason and experience rather than the nonrational are the fundamental criteria in the solution of problems" (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10 ed., 2002, p. 967).
Okay, I guess so far that were not even MY 2 cents I have contributed ...
But it may become apparent from the above two definitions that the period of
enlightenment in Europe was also a time when a shift occurred in society away from class-thinking towards an awareness of values--which we hold dear in Freemasonry (brethren on the level)--which have found (at least one) culmination in the French Revolution (1789-99) where the idea(s) of "liberte - egalite - fraternite" (liberty - equality - brotherhood) brought about long-awaited social change.
(This is how I would summarize what I learnt back in school in Switzerland in the "good old days.")
How about these ideas for a start?
Bro. Markus