When Lester G. Crocker refers to the status quo, he is referring to the belief that nothing in society should change. Many people during the Enlightenment, mainly the Church, did not think that any elements of society or the economy should be reformed. One reason for this is that the Enlightenment focused on science and scientific reasoning. If followers of the Church started using scientific reasoning, then many of the beliefs and teachings of the …showed first 75 words of 295 total…

…showed last 75 words of 295 total…in themselves, and how to obtain more followers. The Church wanted people to live not for themselves, but for a something that there was no solid proof that it existed. This way the individual would never think for himself or do anything to better himself, only to better his relationship with a mythical being. The philosophes believe that man should live to better his existence on earth, no to better his existence in the after-life.