Final answer:
Travel during the Enlightenment profoundly impacted European worldviews, leading to a challenge of pre-existing beliefs and influencing Enlightenment philosophers like John Locke and Rousseau. Exposure to different cultures and the Scientific Revolution principles fostered a shift towards rationalism and empiricism, greatly contributing to modern political and economic transformations.
Step-by-step explanation:
During the Enlightenment, travel had a significant impact on Europeans' world view. Encounters with different cultures, societies, and institutions during their travels broadened their understanding and challenged their pre-existing beliefs. Discoveries made during these voyages not only provided new goods and economic opportunities that transformed the European economy and strengthened the state's institutions but also brought new ideas and experiences that contributed to a shift in societal and political structures. Europeans came face to face with societies that had different social orders, forms of government, and belief systems, which, in turn, influenced prominent Enlightenment thinkers.
Enlightenment philosophers, such as John Locke, were influenced by these global foundations. Locke's concept of natural rights, for example, was founded upon the belief that individuals inherently possess certain fundamental rights that are not granted by the government but are rather inviolable and universal. Similarly, Rousseau's idea of the general will questioned the legitimacy of hereditary rule and absolutism and argued that the sovereign power in a state lies within the collective will of its people.
The exposure to new worldviews and the principles derived from the Scientific Revolution, such as rationalism and empiricism, engendered a new approach to understanding the world that rejected traditional authorities and embraced the belief in human progress. This newfound global perspective was instrumental in propelling the intellectual and cultural shifts of the Enlightenment, ultimately contributing to the advancement of political and economic modernization and democratization that resonated across the world.