A new centre was set up to promote the idea of the Age of Enlightenment: the Centre Condorcet.
One can find encouragement in the optimism of the Age of Enlightenment. People enjoy the multiple benefits of science, reason and humanism, and the continuing achievements of modernity, though they tend to forget how it was before; modern views and ways of living are rooted in the Enlightenment philosophies of the 18th century.
Among many Enlightenment in Europe, the Nicolas marquis of Condorcet was a unique figure who still can motivate and inspire those concerned about the Common Good.
He was an ardent defender of the equality of man and woman. He was a fierce opponent of injustice, of forced labour, slavery and the death penalty. He proclaimed equal rights for black and Jewish people. Overall, his work was perhaps more innovative and inclusive than that of many others in his time.
The Schepers-Lijnen Fund has sponsored the preparatory work for the establishment of this new think tank in Brussels, www.centrecondorcet.eu
