Final answer:
The Scientific Method is the big idea from the Age of Enlightenment that highlighted the role of reason and logical analysis in shaping human understanding and the world.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Enlightenment and Critical Thinking
During the Age of Enlightenment, the big idea that emphasized the importance of reason, logic, and critical thinking in understanding and shaping the world was b. Scientific Method. Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke, Voltaire, and Rousseau fostered skepticism towards traditional authority and championed the application of scientific methodologies to better understand and improve societal institutions. The scientific method, characterized by structured inquiry and reliance on empirical evidence, underpinned their approach to exploring human nature, society's structure, and the governance of nations.
Promoting ideals such as liberty, equality, constitutional government, and the separation of church and state, the Enlightenment advocated for a rational and secular outlook that questioned the existing norms and superstitions of the time. As Enlightenment ideas spread, they played a crucial role in shaping modern democratic principles and rejecting the idea that monarchs ruled by Divine Right. Instead, thinkers like Rousseau forwarded the concept that legitimate political power derives from the consent of the governed, reflecting the Enlightenment spirit of reason and equality.