Enlightenment refers to:

Enlightenment refers to:

• A. European religious reform movement.
• B. European intellectual movement emphasizing reason and individualism.
• C. A period of artistic revival.
• D. A political policy of mercantilism.

Answer: (B)

Enlightenment is a European intellectual movement that prioritized reason and individualism, encouraging people to question authority, tradition, and religious dogma. Think of thinkers who used observation, logic, and debate to understand politics, science, and society, laying the groundwork for ideas about rights, governance, and progress. That emphasis on reason and individualism makes this description the best fit. The other options describe different phenomena: religious reform centers on challenging church authority, an artistic revival points to reviving classical arts rather than a broad movement of rational inquiry, and mercantilism is an economic policy aimed at boosting state power through trade, not a philosophy about human reasoning and rights.

Enlightenment is a European intellectual movement that prioritized reason and individualism, encouraging people to question authority, tradition, and religious dogma. Think of thinkers who used observation, logic, and debate to understand politics, science, and society, laying the groundwork for ideas about rights, governance, and progress. That emphasis on reason and individualism makes this description the best fit. The other options describe different phenomena: religious reform centers on challenging church authority, an artistic revival points to reviving classical arts rather than a broad movement of rational inquiry, and mercantilism is an economic policy aimed at boosting state power through trade, not a philosophy about human reasoning and rights.