Scholars from Yale University and the University of California-Los Angeles share their thoughts on the period in the 18th century known as the Enlightenment. This European intellectual movement involved the exchange of many new beliefs and ideas about government, politics, philosophy, and the arts. Man's ability to reason, understand his surroundings, and improve his life were all core aspects of this period. Leading figures of the Enlightenment movement are discussed, as well as the upheaval caused by the new reasoning versus the "old" Christian theology.