Personal Freedom & Individual Liberty During Enlightenment Journal

I need an explanation for this Philosophy question to help me study.

 

This Journal Reflection 4 assignment focuses on the chapter “The Enlightenment.” Within the chapter, the author compares Enlightenment philosophers with the “humanists of antiquity” such as Socrates and the Stoics. After reading this chapter – and that section specifically – along with reviewing the PowerPoint slides, reflect on the following:

The Enlightenment was a period in which concepts such as individual rights, individual liberty, and equality began to gain popularity. It is no coincidence that the spirit and philosophy behind the American Constitution and Bill of Rights are directly inspired by these Enlightenment principles.

This is a time period in western civilization when human beings begin to seriously contemplate and organize society around the idea that humans are born with personal and individual freedom. This idea became the backbone and foundation of how we interpret democracy and liberty today.

YET, it is precisely in this same time period in history that Europeans began capturing Africans from their homelands and transported them to the Americas to be slaves – the exact opposite idea of personal and individual freedom. Such an ironic and insidious reality.

For this Journal Reflection 4, please respond to the following question:

During the Enlightenment Period, how could it be possible that such beautiful concepts like “personal freedom” and “individual liberty” formed alongside the wholesale practice of capturing and enslaving other human beings – a practice denying millions of that very freedom for the rest of their lives?

Rubric:

Write a minimum of TWO PARAGRAPHS, with a minimum of 5 SENTENCES EACH ONE, drawing from any sources