I believe the genesis of reason is universal among humans. Logical thinking is seen in all the products of human culture which archaeology has discovered from the Paleolithic Era. In terms of written prototypes of enlightenment, the earliest in the West seems to be Plato (and the ideas of Socrates embodied therein) in the fourth century BCE, and the earliest in the East seems to be Confucius in the sixth century BCE.

Enlightenment, French siècle des Lumières (literally “century of the Enlightened”), German Aufklärung, a European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries in which ideas concerning God, reason, nature, and humanity were synthesized into a worldview that gained wide assent in the West and that instigated revolutionary developments in art, philosophy, and politics. Central to Enlightenment thought were the use and celebration of reason, the power by which humans understand the universe and improve their own condition. The goals of rational humanity were considered to be knowledge, freedom, and happiness.

he Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was a philosophical movement that took place primarily in Europe and, later, in North America, during the late 17thand early 18thcentury. Its participants thought they were illuminating human intellect and culture after the "dark" Middle Ages. Characteristics of the Enlightenment include the rise of concepts such as reason, liberty and the scientific method. Enlightenment philosophy was skeptical of religion — especially the powerful Catholic Church — monarchies and hereditary aristocracy. Enlightenment philosophy was influential in ushering in the French and American revolutions and constitutions. 

Historians disagree on precisely when the Enlightenment began, though most agree that the Enlightenment's origins are tied to the Scientific Revolution in the 1600s, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Enlightenment culminated in the French Revolution (1789-1799) and was followed by the Romantic period.  

Major figures of the Enlightenment include Voltaire, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Isaac Newton and Thomas Jefferson. 

Enlightenment is a continuous process of the human experience. It started when the first human asked WHY.

It moved on to HOW

And we are here in the 21st century aguing about both.

Enlightenment is the priviledge of not knowing but having the freedom to try to find out.

The Enlightenment, expressed in Europe through changes in perspective and the creation of ideas, came at a period of intense European global expansion and may therefore have been a product of globalisation-thereby not geographic as the question raises. The arrival in Europe through trade and also innovating trade of worldwide products and ideas innovated internal and external enquiry.

Dear Kirk and dear colleagues,

Indeed that is my take as well, on enlightenment, that it is universal. The more we study the human societies in different parts of the globe, the more we find traces of works of reason or enlightenment.

Bogdan Goralski sent me this through messages:

Zara Yacob. He believed in following one's natural reasoning instead of believing what one is told by others. That is said by Wikipedia. I think Enlightenment comes from God but we should follow the tips which we observing comes from everyday life to confirm en enlightenment by own reason. God give us a chance to follow him.

In Europe, it was the return of the crusaders that brought the ideas of the East to the West.

Enlightenment period or the age of reason is usually ascribed to particular regions of the world and tagged with some renowned philosophers as seen in many of the earlier comments. However, I believe in the equality of humans in reasoning and enlightenment. I have reckoned through various readings that the unlocking of knowledge in its highest form happened universally and simultaneously in the diverse regions of the world. It is sad that the early historian writers who were limited in this knowledge in global geographical contexts mostly attributed it to Europe though the renaissance and re-birth of knowledge in the early 16th &17th centuries happened in Africa and other global regions. Best regards

Thought I'd add a file giving a fuller understanding of the Enlightenment as a global rather than European phenomenon.

Dear @ Asaad Ali Karam

Good Day,

Try and put the reference or the source of your response at the end, otherwise it is pure plagiarism and you that since you are a PhD

holder. You should know how to put the citations at the end of your reply.

These are the sources of your response:

https://www.britannica.com/event/Enlightenment-European-history

and

https://www.livescience.com/55327-the-enlightenment.html

Dear Dejenie,

You asked the key questions for humanity: what is mind and what is truth. How to relate them to justice. Yes, apparently, the name of Zara Yacob is not known to the general public and it is unfair. All the European philosophers you mentioned dominate the philosophical consciousness and nothing can be done about it. As well as nothing to do with the fact that English dominates, for example, in the whole scientific literature. It is often said that truth is born in a dispute. But this statement, generally speaking, is erroneous. Because truth can only be born in a dispute by intelligent people, and it is not always born. Reason is necessary, but not a sufficient condition for the birth of truth in a dispute. In this world, the vast majority of people both come to this world unenlightened, and leave it in the same capacity. Is that fair? I dont know. If, for example, they have made their efforts to become enlightened, then this is unfair, and if not, then this is just. Thank God that in this world there are still people like you who put such deep questions. So everything is not lost yet. And thank you for the name Zara Yacob, I confess, for me a new one.

Best regards,

Vladimir

The goal of the enlightenment was to free our minds, by favoring ‘rationality’ over myth and mysticism. Nature became something that was to be controlled by us, quantified, compartmentalized, labeled, manipulated.

https://emergentbydesign.com/2012/01/26/reflection-the-concept-of-enlightenment/

Hi dear,

with the French revolution.

With my best regards!

Adel

Dear @Dejenie, thanks for sharing the answer. Unfortunately, @Asaad did make huge plagiarism, as it was well noticed by dear @Hazim.

What Was the Enlightenment?

"The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was a philosophical movement that took place primarily in Europe and, later, in North America, during the late 17thand early 18thcentury. Its participants thought they were illuminating human intellect and culture after the "dark" Middle Ages. Characteristics of the Enlightenment include the rise of concepts such as reason, liberty and the scientific method. Enlightenment philosophy was skeptical of religion — especially the powerful Catholic Church — monarchies and hereditary aristocracy. Enlightenment philosophy was influential in ushering in the French and American revolutions and constitutions. 

Historians disagree on precisely when the Enlightenment began, though most agree that the Enlightenment's origins are tied to the Scientific Revolution in the 1600s, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Enlightenment culminated in the French Revolution (1789-1799) and was followed by the Romantic period.  

Major figures of the Enlightenment include Voltaire, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Isaac Newton and Thomas Jefferson."

https://www.livescience.com/55327-the-enlightenment.html

The first part was done by pure copy/paste from some of many resources, like Britannica, ScribaEPUB...!!!

This fine research question does not deserve it.

@Mutasem has done plagiarism also! Where is the end!?

" A European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. It was heavily influenced by 17th-century philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, and Newton, and its prominent figures included Kant, Goethe, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Adam Smith."

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/enlightenment

To me enlightenment is an encyclopedia of our life line . In this vast magnitude i have express my small contribution in words which i submit herewith for your kind perusal .This is of course my personal opinion .

Enlightened people have a vision of their life & they consider life is a purpose ,a meaning so to say a god ,s'given gift for which they are also aware & they have accepted that the final journey of their life are not in the hands .In view of this they desire to fulfill the mission of the life in a worthy mode so that they may pass the life in very calm ,quite & pleasurable manner & for their action they pass a pleasurable environment for their family & surrounding .Their life is an example a mission & in their working they play the part of their development which offer a guiding mission for members of human beings.Besides with the knowledge,achievement ,& progressive planned way of life they become example for human beings & in order to encourage they also take recourse to religion,prayer, meditation, & action of their life so that they may pass their life line in worthy mode by offering the example of well many for their action .

The first Homo sapience discovered FIRE was enlightened first in the world.

After we born, we start our observation generally through the eyes of our mother. Then the environment surrounding us show something to us. As an innocent entity of the world, we are very much influenced by that.

But only EDUCATION can give us the actual power of judgement of good and bad. If any person think that everything he taught in his/her childhood days are correct and nothing alternative thoughts come in his/her mind by questioning own idea as "Is it actually correct?' -- in my consideration, he is not having scientific attitude.

Actual enlightenment come by achieving self questioning power - it is my personal idea.

Hello,

Notably, the concept of enlightenment was associated with an intellectual and philosophical movement which originated in the late 17th and 18th centuries encompassing a range of ideas which primarily addressed reason as the foundational source of authority and legitimacy. As such, the movement aimed to emphasize reason and individualism rather than tradition. The prominent philosophers of the movement included figures like Kant, Goethe, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Adam Smith , who were one way or the other highly influenced by 17th-century philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, and Newton. The emergence of enlightenment had a drastic influence on various aspects of European life such as politics, philosophy, science , communications and so on.

Best regards,

R. Biria

Enlightenment comes from wisdom that comes from faith and science

Dear Vladimir,

Thank you for your statements. The point I would like to make is to give a wider and inclusive perspective on the genesis of the concept, to bring some unknown or not mentioned philosophers such as Zara Yacob of Ethiopia, that existed earlier than those we habitually being taught.

Regards,

Dear Dickson,

Thank you for your ideas. My point is also to bring light on the lop sided, selective and a specific region presentation of global history and writers of global history. Such issues are very vital as it enables all humans to have a real understanding on the universality of the awareness of enlightenment, that should not be specific to a particular region.

Regards,

Kant suggested that enlightenment comes from freedom. Education is a liberating experience but only when that education is not politically orchestrated.

Education and enlightenment are very expensive but they are far less costly than dogma and ignorance.

Dear colleagues,

Let us see what Kant write :

Kant wrote a century later from Zera Yacob, in Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime (1764): ‘A woman is embarrassed little that she does not possess certain high insights.’ And in Kant’s lectures on ethics (1760-94) we read that: ‘The desire of a man for a woman is not directed to her as a human being, on the contrary, the woman’s humanity is of no concern to him; and the only object of his desire is her sex.’

While Zera Yacob, a century earlier, considered a woman as a coequal intelligent creation by saying about his wife: " she is good natured, intelligent and patient" and as the writer of the article that I have attached its link, Dag Herbjornrud described what Zera Yacob considers of his wife : "a philosophical intellectual peer", contrary to that of Kant who thinks women as only sexual partners.

Regards,

Dear Colleagues, Good Day,

"Enlightenment is always there. Small enlightenment will bring great enlightenment. If you breathe in and are aware that you are alive - that you can touch the miracle of being alive - then that is a kind of enlightenment."

----- Thich Nhat Hanh

Dear K. Karthik,

Thank you for your posts on insightful quotes regarding enlightenment.

Regards,

Dear Adel Oueslati,

The spirit of the question and the link I attached is to observe the wider presence of enlightenment not only in Europe but in other parts of the world as well.

Regards,

Dear colleagues,

It is clear that Zera Yacob displayed a philosophical might and higher understanding of reason in declaring the equality that exists between all humans, men and women alike, including natural caliber to think, reason and solve problems. In all measures, I can say he is one of the pioneers of true liberalism.

It is a virtue and an intellectual imperative to include his name and works in the curriculum of philosophical courses of schools and universities here in America and the world and I and every RG member and lovers of truth will be very glad to see that. I attached further readings on his works.

Regards,

Dear Colleagues, Good Day,

"Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment."

----- Morihei Ueshiba

Dear Griepink,

Well said! Humans should be properly enlightened further. Past and contemporary philosophers should not be the measuring yardsticks of the frontiers of our enlightenment, our use of reason and thinking. The problems we face today in our world in most part are because of our failure to use reason, true reason.

Regards,

Dear Karthik,

Thank you for your quotes of wisdom.

Enlightenment is an awareness and consciousness of a larger domain beyond self over which reason reigns over.

Dear @Dejenie, I was just alerted by Quora about this issue.

I believe I have achieved enlightenment. Where do I go from here?

https://www.quora.com/I-believe-I-have-achieved-enlightenment-Where-do-I-go-from-here

Long discussion is going there.

Dear Ljubomir,

Indeed you have demonstrated with the parameters of measurements an achievement of enlightment, goodness of reason. Enlightment is not universal that is achieved by every person and therefore those who are enlightened have a responsibility to do hard in order mankind reaches that stage in average so that our collective living is more reasonable, appreciated and valued by a wider portion of the human socity.