Which philosophical movement focused on moving away from religious explanations for world events?

The philosophical movement that focused on moving away from religious explanations for world events is rationalism. This movement, particularly prominent during the Enlightenment, emphasized reason, logic, and critical thinking as the primary sources of knowledge. Rationalists believed that through the use of reason, human beings could understand the world, society, and even morality, independent of religious doctrines.

Rationalism led to significant advancements in various fields, including science, philosophy, and politics, as thinkers like René Descartes and Baruch Spinoza argued for the primacy of reason. This shift paved the way for a new worldview that relied on observable evidence and intellectual deduction rather than theological assertions.

In contrast, the other philosophical movements mentioned did not primarily focus on the rejection of religious explanations. Empiricism, for example, emphasized knowledge gained through sensory experience but did not necessarily negate religious beliefs. Existentialism explored individual existence and personal meaning, often within an absurd or indifferent universe, while Romanticism celebrated emotion and nature, frequently in response to the rationalism of the Enlightenment but not specifically against religion.