from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Aufklaumrung \Auf"kl[aum]*rung\, n. [G., enlightenment.]
A philosophic movement of the 18th century characterized by a
lively questioning of authority, keen interest in matters of
politics and general culture, and an emphasis on empirical
method in science. It received its impetus from the
unsystematic but vigorous skepticism of Pierre Bayle, the
physical doctrines of Newton, and the epistemological
theories of Locke, in the preceding century. Its chief center
was in France, where it gave rise to the skepticism of
Voltaire, the naturalism of Rousseau, the sensationalism of
Condillac, and the publication of the "Encyclopedia" by
D'Alembert and Diderot. In Germany, Lessing, Mendelssohn, and
Herder were representative thinkers, while the political
doctrines of the leaders of the American Revolution and the
speculations of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine
represented the movement in America.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]