- The Enlightenment Although the intellectual movement called The Enlightenment is usually associated with the 18th century, its roots in fact go back much further. But before we explore those roots, we need to define the term. This is one of those rare historical movements which in fact named itself. Certain thinkers and writers, primarily in London and Paris, believed that they were more ...www.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/enlightenment.html