ABSTRACT
The second half of the 1700s saw the emergence of three relatively independent value systems within European culture: science, morality/ethics, and art. This intellectual differentiation was connected with three different claims to validity. Science took its stand on the question of truth (whether a claim is correct, in the sense of being true); morality/ethics dealt with normative questions (whether a command is valid, in the sense of being right); and the study of art raised specific aestheticquestions (whether a work of art is beautiful or tasteful). Thus, for example, it was regarded as a mistake to believe that normative and aesthetic questions can be answered by the sciences, and vice versa. Questions about truth (science), right (morality/ethics), and beauty (art) also had to be distinguished from religious questions. The sciences, morality, and the arts gained their independence (autonomy) from religion — the modern age had begun.
