This module introduces students to the Enlightenment, an intellectual movement that swept across 18th century Europe heralding a wave of social, cultural and political change. Enlightenment philosophers and social commentators sought to harness the power of reason to improve the world around them, encouraging their fellow men (and, in some cases, women) to throw off the shackles of feudalism and religious extremism. They worked together to expose the abuses of Ancien Régime church and state, culminating in the triumph of reason and universal human rights enshrined in the American and French Revolutions. Yet the Enlightenment has also proved deeply divisive, with historians arguing bitterly about its impact at the time and about its legacy for later generations. Students will study the principal features of Enlightenment thought, seeking to understand what Enlightenment writers considered was wrong about the world around them – and what they hoped to do about it.