The Enlightenment revolutionized consciousness by stretching it into the Kantian polarity of "Age of Enlightenment" and "Enlightened Age". Enlightenment means on the one hand a clearly delimited historical epoch, on the other hand a universal process that continues to this day. The Enlightenment accelerated modernization processes like the rationalization of statehood. With her progressive thinking she established the belief in inner-worldly happiness realization and thus gave all cultural, social and political processes a new dynamic. The Enlightenment has European origins, but it worked and works worldwide. The current world contrast between Islamism and Western civilization can therefore be understood as a result of the effects of the Enlightenment.