ABSTRACT
Analogous to the growth of liberty of conscience during the Enlightenment was the growth of freedom of speech and writing. As the champions of the Enlightenment aimed to recast the whole of human life to bring it under the rule of reason, they naturally made a vigorous assault on the inconsistencies, inequities, barbarities, and abuses. Except in the matters just described the Enlightenment showed little improvement or change in morals or manners. At all times the complaint of the deterioration of morals has been heard. The most important new element in the moral tone of the Enlightenment is that one deserves and repays the most thoughtful consideration. Under the pressure of material and intellectual forces the ethical theory of the Enlightenment veered from the medieval to the modern standpoint. The great revolt from Christian dogma was followed by a repudiation of Christian ethics.
