The Enlightenment Writers The central ideas of the Enlightenment writers were similar to, yet very different from, those of the writers of earlier periods. Four major Enlightenment writers were Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry. Their main purpose was to write to educate and edify and not so much as to write for aesthetic purposes. Most of their work was designed to convey truth or give sound instruction on such issues of political, social, or economic interest as Benjamin Franklin's “The Way to Wealth.” The writers of the Enlightenment or, better put, die Aufklarung conveyed the ideas