The term Enlightenment is used to refer to intellectual and social developments in the 18th century. The underlying force was an increasing belief in the scientific approach to attaining knowledge, as opposed to the medieval reliance on religion and tradition. The more successful science became, the more intellectuals began to see the scientific method as a way to organize society. With respect to clinical psychology, the Enlightenment was characterized by a new approach to mental illness and the treatment of the mentally ill, who became seen as ailing patients in need of help in specialized institutions
