EnlightenmentImportant philosophers, ideas, and

connections to modern society

WICKED SMART PEOPLE!

• Shaped British and other European societies’ philosophies

• Influenced government, trade, and social structures– Are men inherently good?– Why are we here?– What should the role of government be? – Will government ever truly represent the people’s

interests?

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)

• A philosopher and political theorist whose 1651 treatise Leviathan effectively kicked off the English Enlightenment.

• The controversial Leviathan detailed Hobbes’s theory that all humans are inherently self-driven and evil and that the best form of government is thus a single, all-powerful monarch to keep everything in order.

John Locke (1632–1704)

• Believed that men are all rational and capable people but must compromise some of their beliefs in the interest of forming a government for the people. Natural rights – life, liberty, property

• Man has the right to overthrow a ruler who does not protect those rights

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

• French philosopher and scientist • Revolutionized algebra and geometry • Made the famous philosophical statement

“I think, therefore I am.” • Developed a deductive approach to philosophy

using math and logic in connection with problem solving

Baron de Montesquieu (1689–1755)

• Separation of government• Checks and balances

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)

• Believed that man was at his best when unshackled by the conventions of society.

• The Social Contract (1762) conceived of a system of direct democracy in which all citizens contribute to an overarching “general will” that serves everyone at once.

Adam Smith

• Capitalism • The invisible hand– Market metaphor: marketplace will self-regulate;

individuals can make profit and maximize it without the need for government intervention

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)

• Women’s rights • A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792),

in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education.

• Suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason.

Cesare Becarria

• Italian criminologist, jurist, philosopher and politician

• On Crimes and Punishments which condemned torture and the death penalty

Music Links

• Aretha Franklin, “Respect”• ZZ Top, “Bad to the Bone”• Beatles, “Revolution”• Pink Floyd, “Money”