The Age Of Reason

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was an English-born radical who wrote bestselling political pamphlets in support of the American and French Revolutions. He also designed bridges, revered science, and embraced Deism.

Paine is most famous for his major political treatises. Common Sense (1776), published in the American colonies, argued against monarchy and likely did more to hasten the declaration of US independence from Great Britain than any other pamphlet. The American Crisis (1776-1783) was a series of essays written to bolster sagging enthusiasm for the American Revolutionary War. Rights of Man (1791), published in two parts, offered a spirited defense of the French Revolution, as well as far-sighted proposals for peace and social welfare. Age of Reason, therefore, represents a departure from Paine’s characteristic political focus.

Paine, however, regarded Age of Reason as an extension into the religious realm of principles for which he had argued in the political realm. The leading doctrines of the American and French Revolutions had been rooted in human reason: liberty, equality, natural rights, etc. Paine envisioned a corresponding revolution of faith. He argues for Deism both because he believes it to be true and because he believes it to be consistent with the revolutionary spirit of the age.