THE ENLIGHTENMENTBrief background and its legacy today

QUESTION

What is the Enlightenment?

KEY FIGURES IN ENLIGHTENMENTSCIENCE

Newton and Galileo

KEY FIGURES IN ENLIGHTENMENTTHOUGHT Thomas Hobbes

Nationality: English Major Work: Leviathan Contribution: the

nature of society (all men are brutish). Idea that men must forfeit some personal freedoms for the benefit of having a strong ruler who maintains a peaceful and orderly society.

 

KEY FIGURES IN ENLIGHTENMENTTHOUGHT

John Locke Nationality: English Major Work: An

Essay Concerning Human Understanding 1690

Contribution: Blank slate theory, natural rights and the idea that man has the right to overthrow a ruler who does not protect those rights.

KEY FIGURES IN ENLIGHTENMENTTHOUGHT

Voltaire Nationality:

French Major Work: Contribution:

tolerance; freedom of speech and religion.

KEY FIGURES IN ENLIGHTENMENTTHOUGHT

Montesquieu Nationality:

French Major Work: The

Spirit of the Laws 1748

Contribution: separation of government, checks and balances.

KEY FIGURES IN ENLIGHTENMENTTHOUGHT

Rousseau Nationality:

French Major Work: Emile

or On Education 1762

Contribution: Noble Savage, ideas on education, social contract, the General Will.

KEY FIGURES IN ENLIGHTENMENTTHOUGHT

Adam Smith Nationality:

Scottish Major Work:

Wealth of Nations 1776

Contribution: capitalism, the invisible hand

KEY FIGURES IN ENLIGHTENMENTTHOUGHT

Mary Wollstonecraft

Nationality: English

Major Work: A Vindication of the Rights of Women 1792

Contribution: women’s rights

KEY FIGURES IN ENLIGHTENMENTTHOUGHT

Cesare Becarria Nationality:

Italian Major Work: Of

Crime and Punishment 1764

Contribution: opposed the use of torture

ANSWER The Enlightenment, also called the Age of Reason or the

Age of Rationalism, was a period during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when European philosophers stressed the use of reason as the best method for learning the truth. Such philosophers as Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) and Voltaire (1694–1778) in France and John Locke (1632–1704) in England pondered aspects of education, law, social theory, superstition, and ignorance. Hallmarks of the Enlightenment include the idea that the universe is systematic though vast and complex; the belief that men and women are capable of understanding the universe; and the philosophy of Deism. According to Deism, God created the world and natural laws, then withdrew from involvement in the workings of the universe. During the Enlightenment extensive intellectual activity took place, including the publication of several encyclopedias