What movement of the 1700s exalted rational thinking and critical reasoning?

The movement that exalted rational thinking and critical reasoning in the 1700s was the Enlightenment. Enlightenment thinkers believed in the power of human reason to understand and improve the world, promoting ideas such as liberty, progress, tolerance, and individual rights. Key figures of the Enlightenment included Voltaire, john Locke, and Immanuel Kant.