Alexander Pope was an English poet during the eighteenth century. <em>An Essay on Man</em> is one of his most famous works, and a great example of Enlightenment ideas. It is divided in four epistles. It is a great example of Enlightenment ideas because of his attempt to make sense of the universe, and the importance he gives to reason in his structure.
Pope proposes an idea of the universe as an interconnected, organized organism. The idea of systems and mechanisms that work in orderly, predictable ways was favoured during this period, and contributed to fields such as science and mechanics.
This order depends on a hierarchy, where God is at the top, then angels, then humans, then animals and finally plants. The poem places humans above animals and plants in the hierarchy of the universe because of their ability to reason. This appreciation of reasoning is one of the dominant ideas of Enlightenment.
The poem, however, has tones of fatalism, as it places God's will above all else and encourages humans to trust and not question his motives. Although it provides useful insights into the philosophical developments of the period, it remains primarily a poetic work, as opposed to a philosophical one.
