The Enlightenment

Chapter 10, Section 2

What was the Enlightenment?

• Enlightenment – an eighteenth century philosophical movement of individuals impressed with the scientific revolution

• Looked to apply reason to everyday life

• Reason, or logical thinking, was used to question and better understand things like government, religion, and education

Thomas Hobbes

• Expressed his views in a work called the Leviathan

• Believed man to be naturally selfish and wicked

• Said people needed a government with the power of a Leviathan

• Strong supporter of the absolute monarchy

John Locke• Every person is born with a

tabula rasa, or blank slate• People are influenced by their

surroundings– Could you create a better

society by changing surroundings to make them better?

• Said people were born with three natural rights: Life, Liberty, and Property

• Criticized absolute monarchy and favored self government

The Philosophes• Philosophe – French word for

philosopher• Inspiration was provided by the

English and their Glorious Revolution

• 5 core beliefs held them together:– Reason – Discovering the truth

through logical thinking– Nature – What was natural was good

and acceptable– Happiness – Urged people to find

well being on earth rather than the hereafter

– Progress – Stressed that society and humankind could improve

– Liberty – Called for the liberties the English had won in their Glorious Revolution and Bill of Rights

Montesquieu• Charles-Louis de Secondat

(1689-1755)• Most significant in the area of

political thought• Wrote On The Spirit of Laws,

which discussed the idea of a checks and balances system

• Believed there should be a separation of powers– Argued England embodied this

with the executive (monarch), legislative (parliament), and judicial (courts) branches

Voltaire• Francoi-Marie Arouet (1694-

1778)• Fought for freedom of thought

and expression• Wrote Treatises on Toleration,

criticizing the Church and pushing for equality of religions

• Was a proponent of deism, or the belief that God had set the universe in motion and was letting it run without interference

Rousseau• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-

1778)• Most famous for social

contract theory– Society agrees to be governed

in exchange for protection

• Said people had become enslaved by the government through this social contract– Man is born free, but society

has put him in chains

• Good government is freely formed by the people

Diderot

• Denis Diderot (1713-1784)

• Wrote a 28-volume Encyclopedia that he hoped would “change the general way of thinking”– It attacked religious

superstition and called for social improvements

Crime and Punishment

• Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)

• Wrote On Crimes and Punishments, criticizing the justice system– Believed punishments

should preserve the social order, not avenge crimes

• He did not agree with capital punishment and promoted the right to a speedy trial

Women’s Rights

• Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)

• Published an essay called A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

• Argued that women needed education as much as men

• Urged women to enter male-dominated fields like medicine and politics

Economics

• Adam Smith (1723-1790)• Wrote the Wealth of

Nations, discussing the Laissez-Faire economic policy– “Let the people do as they

please”

• Government has only three roles– The army– The police– Public works

The Social World

• Salons – elegant drawing rooms in the homes of the upper class

• Writers and thinkers came together to discuss and exchange ideas

Religion

• The Philosophes may have attacked the church, but most people were religious

• 90-95% of Catholics attended Easter services

• Protestant faith were still prevalent

Exit Slip

• Who were the philosophes?

• How were the philosophes influential to the Enlightenment?

• Select and describe ONE of the following:– Cesare Beccaria– Mary Wollstonecraft– Adam Smith