Age of Enlightenment

E832

cultural movement historical period intellectual movement philosophical movement

The Age of Enlightenment was an 18th-century intellectual movement in Europe and the Americas that emphasized reason, science, and individual rights, profoundly shaping modern democratic and political thought.

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All labels observed (11)

Label	Occurrences
Enlightenment	208
Age of Enlightenment canonical	127
European Enlightenment	14
Enlightenment era	7
the Enlightenment	3
French Enlightenment	2
Age of Reason	1
Enlightenment (intellectual movement)	1
Enlightenment philosophy	1
Enlightenment rationalism	1
Enlightenment was a coherent movement	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3698 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Age of Enlightenment
Context triple: [Thirteen Colonies, historicalEra, Age of Enlightenment]

A. Gilded Age
The Gilded Age was a late 19th-century period in the United States marked by rapid industrialization, vast wealth accumulation, stark social inequality, and influential business magnates like Andrew Carnegie.
B. War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) was a major European conflict triggered by disputes over the Spanish throne that reshaped the balance of power on the continent and overseas.
C. American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society is a prestigious scholarly organization founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin, dedicated to promoting knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, publications, and meetings.
D. Newton
Newton is a suburban city in Massachusetts known for its residential neighborhoods, strong public schools, and proximity to Boston.
E. Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of infamous 1692–1693 prosecutions in colonial New England where mass hysteria and superstition led to the execution and imprisonment of people accused of witchcraft.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Age of Enlightenment
Target entity description: The Age of Enlightenment was an 18th-century intellectual movement in Europe and the Americas that emphasized reason, science, and individual rights, profoundly shaping modern democratic and political thought.

A. Gilded Age
The Gilded Age was a late 19th-century period in the United States marked by rapid industrialization, vast wealth accumulation, stark social inequality, and influential business magnates like Andrew Carnegie.
B. War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) was a major European conflict triggered by disputes over the Spanish throne that reshaped the balance of power on the continent and overseas.
C. American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society is a prestigious scholarly organization founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin, dedicated to promoting knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, publications, and meetings.
D. Newton
Newton is a suburban city in Massachusetts known for its residential neighborhoods, strong public schools, and proximity to Boston.
E. Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of infamous 1692–1693 prosecutions in colonial New England where mass hysteria and superstition led to the execution and imprisonment of people accused of witchcraft.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (76)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	cultural movement ⓘ historical period ⓘ intellectual movement ⓘ philosophical movement ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Age of Enlightenment ⓘ surface form: Age of Reason Age of Enlightenment ⓘ surface form: Enlightenment
associatedWith	Masonic lodges ⓘ Republic of Letters ⓘ salon culture ⓘ
coreValue	empiricism ⓘ freedom of thought ⓘ individual rights ⓘ progress ⓘ reason ⓘ secularism ⓘ tolerance ⓘ
emphasized	critique of authority ⓘ natural rights ⓘ rational inquiry ⓘ scientific method ⓘ social contract theory ⓘ
endTime	late 18th century ⓘ
field	economics ⓘ education ⓘ philosophy ⓘ political theory ⓘ science ⓘ
hasPart	American Enlightenment ⓘ Enlightened absolutism ⓘ Age of Enlightenment self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: French Enlightenment German Enlightenment ⓘ Scottish Enlightenment ⓘ
influenced	American Revolutionary War ⓘ surface form: American Revolution French Revolution ⓘ Latin American independence movements ⓘ constitutionalism ⓘ human rights discourse ⓘ laïcité ⓘ modern democracy ⓘ modern liberalism ⓘ modern scientific institutions ⓘ separation of powers doctrine ⓘ
influencedBy	Reformation ⓘ Renaissance humanism ⓘ Scientific Revolution ⓘ
legacy	codification of civil rights ⓘ development of modern constitutions ⓘ expansion of public education ⓘ rise of secular states ⓘ
mainRegion	Europe ⓘ North America ⓘ
majorFigure	Adam Smith ⓘ Baron d'Holbach ⓘ Benjamin Franklin ⓘ Cesare Beccaria ⓘ David Hume ⓘ Denis Diderot ⓘ Immanuel Kant ⓘ Jean-Jacques Rousseau ⓘ John Locke ⓘ Mary Wollstonecraft ⓘ Montesquieu ⓘ Thomas Jefferson ⓘ Voltaire ⓘ
majorWork	A Vindication of the Rights of Woman ⓘ An Essay Concerning Human Understanding ⓘ Critique of Pure Reason ⓘ Encyclopédie ⓘ The Social Contract ⓘ The Spirit of the Laws ⓘ The Wealth of Nations ⓘ
opposed	absolute monarchy ⓘ censorship ⓘ divine right of kings ⓘ religious dogmatism ⓘ
startTime	late 17th century ⓘ