Enlightenment thinkers proposed that human reason, coupled with empirical study of the physical world, would lead to progress—the advancement of science and the improvement of the human condition. Kant proposed that reason alone could guide individuals to identify ethical codes.

The application of reason, in this way, would usher the human race toward a moral society in which each individual could enjoy the greatest freedom. However, this work of reasoning out the moral code could not be carried out by individuals but societies over a period of generations.

Post-structuralism — views supporting the idea that the world cannot be interpreted through preexisting structures because there are no such existing structures; the idea that the universe is a…. Postmodernism — the philosophical perspective that there is no absolute truth to the universe, leaving no grand objective narratives to categorize and structure the world (as in modernism) but…. Psychoanalysis — the attempt to cure mental illnesses by uncovering the unconscious elements that are said to be the foundation of human behavior. Self-criticism — term for a method of public self-analysis proposed by Mao Tse-Tung as a means to achieve personal and societal improvement.