Essay On The Enlightenment
Over time, Enlightenment ideals have had an immense impact on contemporary and modern society. The Age of Enlightenment was a time during the 17th and 18th century in which scholars and philosophers began to question traditional ideas about society. Centuries of corruption and exploitation from numerous monarchies and the church, initiated intelligent people to speak out, and thus, the Enlightenment began. This Enlightenment changed the world by promoting new ideas concerning political, economic, and social values. These changes include equality for women, elimination of cruel and unusual punishment, and enforcement of religious toleration.
The Enlightenment sparked the idea of the promotion of legal and social rights for women equivalent …show more content…
The Enlightenment elaborated on the controversy of whether or not certain punishments were barbarous. One man, named Caesare Beccaria yearned to abolish malevolent punishments. “Is the death penalty really useful and necessary for the security and good order of society? Are torture and torments just, and do they attain the end for which laws are instituted” (Beccaria). Beccaria essentially sought for just indictments of respective crimes, as opposed to death and torture. In modern society in the US, the eighth amendment protects the citizens from undergoing cruel and unusual punishments as a way to indict someone for committing a crime. However, in certain places, cruel and unusual punishments still exist. Many terrorist groups will perform beheadings or lynch people, as a way of punishment. In the Philippines, “... a Malaysian kidnap victim was beheaded by Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines on Tuesday after a large ransom demand was not paid, two military officials said.” ( ). Due to the failure of the Philippine government to make payment to the militants, they responded by punishing a man, which they kidnapped, by means of execution. The Enlightenment was able to essentially revoke the cruel and harsh punishments imparted upon people, however, only to a certain extent, as in certain parts of the world, hellish punishments still
The Enlightenment sparked the idea of the promotion of legal and social rights for women equivalent …show more content…
The Enlightenment elaborated on the controversy of whether or not certain punishments were barbarous. One man, named Caesare Beccaria yearned to abolish malevolent punishments. “Is the death penalty really useful and necessary for the security and good order of society? Are torture and torments just, and do they attain the end for which laws are instituted” (Beccaria). Beccaria essentially sought for just indictments of respective crimes, as opposed to death and torture. In modern society in the US, the eighth amendment protects the citizens from undergoing cruel and unusual punishments as a way to indict someone for committing a crime. However, in certain places, cruel and unusual punishments still exist. Many terrorist groups will perform beheadings or lynch people, as a way of punishment. In the Philippines, “... a Malaysian kidnap victim was beheaded by Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines on Tuesday after a large ransom demand was not paid, two military officials said.” ( ). Due to the failure of the Philippine government to make payment to the militants, they responded by punishing a man, which they kidnapped, by means of execution. The Enlightenment was able to essentially revoke the cruel and harsh punishments imparted upon people, however, only to a certain extent, as in certain parts of the world, hellish punishments still