The Enlightenment

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…with leisure to read, the philosophes opposed the old scholastic learning of the universities, mocked the clergy, and denied the Christian mysteries. They expressed confidence in science and reason, called for humanitarian treatment of slaves and criminals, and played a cat-and-mouse game with censors. Dedicated to freedom of thought and person, the combined these liberal values with secular orientation and a brief in future progress. The philosophes helped shaped, if not define, the modern outlook.