Counter-Enlightenment

The Counter-Enlightenment was a movement that emerged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as a reaction to the ideas of the Enlightenment. While the Enlightenment emphasized reason, science, and individual rights, the Counter-Enlightenment challenged these ideas, emphasizing tradition, religion, and societal hierarchy. Thinkers in this movement believed that human nature was not perfectible through reason alone and that cultural, spiritual, and moral values were essential to social stability. They critiqued the Enlightenment’s optimism about progress and often promoted more conservative, religious, or nationalist perspectives as necessary for societal order.