The Enlightenment

Reason • Natural Law • Hope • Progress

Enlightenment

Discuss:• What comes to your mind

when you think of enlightenment?

Enlightenment• Movement of intellectuals who were

greatly impressed with the achievements of the Scientific Revolution

• How can we understand all life? REASON

• Thinkers hoped to make PROGRESS toward a better society than the one they had inherited

Before We Travel Back to the 18th century . . .

Let’s experience personal enlightenment ourselves!!

The Enlightenment:The Enlightenment:

The Role of IdeasThe Role of IdeasNature: Peace or War?; Nature vs Nature: Peace or War?; Nature vs

NurtureNurture

The Role of IndividualsThe Role of IndividualsA Few Good Men … & a Woman!!A Few Good Men … & a Woman!!

Thomas Hobbes1. Wrote the Leviathan

- Dealt w/ problem of disorder2. Before society organized: state of WAR

- solitary, poor, nasty, brutish & short- Humans guided NOT by reason & morals, but self-preservation

3. To save selves: made a social contract- Agreed to form a st., Leviathan; owe peace & defense- Ruled by an absolute ruler w/ unlimited power- Subjects cannot rebel; crushed if they do- Abs. Power = necessary for order

John Locke1. Wrote Two Treatises of

Govt2. Argued AGAINST absolute

rule of one person3. Before society organized:

- st. of freedom & equality- humans had inalienable natural rights: life, liberty, & property

4. LIKE HOBBES, didn’t believe all was well in st of nature- ppl found it difficult to protect natural rights

John Locke (cont.)5. Agreed: est. govt. to

protect rights (protect property)

6. Contract of mutual obligation- Govt protected rights of people- People would act reasonably towards govt

7. If govt broke contract: people might form new form

8. Supported const’l govt

Mutual Obligation

Laid foundation for US Constitution

Where Do They Differ?

Write: Title your paper, “Locke v Hobbes”

1. Create a flow chart w/ me for Locke & Hobbes using primary sources

2. On which points do Locke & Hobbes disagree? Where do they agree?

3. Which philosopher do you agree with in terms of how a government forms and what the ideal type of government should be?

Locke: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

1. Tabula Rasa- Every person is born w/ a blank mind

2. Knowledge comes from environment, not heredity

3. Learn from reason, not faith

4. If you environment, you can people

Tabula Rasa … Do you Agree?

Debate: Nature vs Nurture• One Side: believes your genetics

shapes who you are• Other side: believes your

environment/experiences shape who you are

Related Issues: Homosexuality, intelligence, schizophrenia, eating disorders, cancer, obesity, child development/parenting, handedness, depression (serotonin)

Vs.

Daily ResponseMankind has a “perpetual and

restless desire for power after power… a man hopes for more… because he cannot assure the power and means to live well, which he hath present, without the acquisition of more.”

• Do you agree?• Examples to support and/or

oppose this contention?

Goals of the Enlightenment

1. By using reason, a perfect society could be created (EX: Using a step- by-step theory)

2. Reason & rationality leads to progress & human happiness (…..Why?)

3. Cast off chains of superstition, bigotry & religious fanaticism (why “chains”?)

4. Rejection of revelation & traditional concepts of knowledge

French Enlightenment Thinkers

• Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot• Key Ideas

- Religious toleration & secularization (Voltaire)

- Observation & criticism are essential (Diderot)

Democrats: For Religious Toleration

Intellectuals: Philosophes

1. Literary people, professors, journalists, economists, pol. scientists, social reformers

2. Nobility & middle class (bourgeoisie)

3. Role of phil. = world (not just discuss it)

4. The Republic of Letters: an informal intellectual community

Q: How did they spread their ideas?? …………..

Enlightenment Institutions

• Salons• Academies• Masonic Lodges• Newspapers• Coffee Houses• “Public Opinion”• Forbidden

Literature18th century English coffee house

3 French Giants

1. Montesquieu• Idea: Separation of Powers2. Voltaire• Idea: Deism/Religious

Freedom3. Diderot• Idea: Encyclopedia

Montesquieu1. Wrote, “The Spirit of the

Laws”2. 3 types of govt:• Despotism (for lg states)• Republics (for sm states)• Monarchy (for med. States)

**Favored const’l monarchy3. Importance of checks &

balances• Need a separation of

powers• Need checks & balances

Montesquieu Analysis

On your own paper, identify to the following:1. Author, Title of work2. Document Information• 3 things the author said that you think are

important• Why you think the document was written• Evidence in the document that helps you know

why it was written (2 quotes, highlight/underline document)

• What audience you think the document was intended for

• Two things the document tells you about life in Europe at the time the document was written.

Voltaire: The Major Figure

1. Wrote, “Treatise on Toleration”

2. **Stressed rel. toleration3. “All men are brothers

under God.”4. Deism: denies

interference of the Creator w/ the laws of the universe

5. Universe is a clock: God is clockmaker who created it, ppl act according to natural laws

Criticized

Voltaire, “A Plea For Tolerance & Reason”

WRITE & PARAPHRASE (underline unfamiliar words, too)

“Of all religions, the Christian ought doubtless to inspire the most tolerance, although hitherto the Christians have been the most intolerant …”

“Is each citizen to be permitted to believe and to think that which his reason rightly or wrongly dictates? He should indeed, provided that he does not disturb the public order; for it is not contingent on man to believe or not to believe, …”

Ok, … So What’s Deism??

1. God created world, but, religion must be moral, rationalistic, & natural; denies interference of the Creator w/ the laws of the universe.

2. Moral argument for the existence of God, … without God morality is not possible, therefore, God must exist.- “If God did not exist, we must invent God!”

3. Voltaire: It’s not possible to theoretically demonstrate the immortality of the soul, and yet without the immortality of the soul, morality is not possible.

Diderot1. Condemned Christianity

(fanatical & unreasonable)2. Created the Encyclopedia• Purpose: To the general

way of thinking• Intended as a compilation

of all knowledge• Many articles in it

attacked religious superstition & supported religious toleration

• Sold to many; spread ideas

Note: Attention to Detail

Adam Smith: Discuss

•What does “survival of the fittest” mean to you??

•Examples??

Adam Smith1. Father of modern

economics2. Laissez-faire: “to

let alone”- Govt should leave the economy alone

3. Wrote, “The Wealth of Nations,” 1776

4. The state shouldn’t interfere with economic matters

Q: Is this more ‘republican’ or ‘democrat’?

Laissez-FaireTHINK & WRITE: • Identify & list the ways in which

your government does not follow a policy of laissez-faire but chooses instead to intervene in the economy.

• Do you think your lives are better or worse because of government intervention?

• How many young people could afford an education if their families had to pay for their schooling directly from their

own funds?

Adam Smith (cont.)Government’s 3 Basic Roles:1. Protect society from

invasion - The army

2. Defend citizens from injustice- The police

3. Keep up certain public works, such as roads & canals, that private individual couldn’t afford

**Thus, the state should stay out of the lives of individuals

Smith’s Modern Impact• What guides the

economy then?- The freeplay of natural economic forces- The “invisible hand” (competition)

• Capitalism!!- The government should stay out!- Lower taxes!- Survival of the fittest!!

Profit Incentive

Impacts (cont.)• Idea: private

enterprise would stimulate fair distribution of the wealth in a country

DISCUSS:Do you think this is

true? Why or why not? Have you seen this in the United States?

Vs.

Govt’s Role: You Decide!!

Debate: The Role of Government2 Sides: Do you support or oppose

Adam Smith’s vision of government?• If supporting, you should identify

reasons why the government shouldn’t go beyond the bounds cited

• If opposing, you should identify other areas in which government might play a legitimate role.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• Criticized property:Criticized property:

““Man is born free & is Man is born free & is everywhere in everywhere in chains.”chains.”

Q: What does he Q: What does he mean?mean?

• Questioned Questioned emphasis on emphasis on reasonreason alonealone

**Ex’s of “chains” **Ex’s of “chains” that bind people??that bind people??

Rousseau: Social Contract (1762)

1.1. About the About the General WillGeneral Will

Q: What’s that?Q: What’s that?

2. Proposed a pol. solution 2. Proposed a pol. solution to the tension betw. to the tension betw. The individual & societyThe individual & society

- Based on the - Based on the consentconsent of the governedof the governed

- - General WillGeneral Will: the guide : the guide to social progress & to social progress & good governmentgood government

3. Wrote: 3. Wrote: Social ContractSocial Contract

The Social CompactThe Social Compact

1.1. What is the “social compact”?What is the “social compact”?• ““Each man, in giving himself to all, gives Each man, in giving himself to all, gives

himself to nobody.”himself to nobody.”• ““Each of us puts his person & all his Each of us puts his person & all his

power in common under the supreme power in common under the supreme direction of the direction of the general willgeneral will … each … each member as an indivisible part of the member as an indivisible part of the whole.”whole.”

2. It’s a 2. It’s a collective collective body body In the US, we In the US, we citizens are citizens are indivisibleindivisible parts parts of the wholeof the whole

Rousseau: EducationRousseau: Education1. Wrote Emile2. On the “education of

the natural man”3. Education: should

foster, not restrict, children’s natural instincts

4. Hypocrite!!• Sent own children to

orphanages, where many died @ a young age

5. Women: “naturally” different from men

• Role: wives & mothers

Valued Valued EducationEducation

Female Female InferioriInferiorityty

Rousseau: You Decide• Rousseau argues that govts & laws are

made to protect private property but in fact enslave the people who created them.

1. Do you feel your govt protects your property (both body & material things)?

2. Do you feel enslaved by your govt?3. What reasonable alternatives do you

see to having a strong central govt?4. How might have Rousseau’s ideas have contributed to the creation of socialist ideas in the 19th century?

Mary WollstonecraftMary Wollstonecraft

1.1. Founder of Founder of modern European modern European feminismfeminism

2.2. For the rights of For the rights of womenwomen

3.3. Wrote: Wrote: Vindication Vindication of the Rights of of the Rights of WomenWomen

4.4. Two Problems w/ Two Problems w/ Enlightenment Enlightenment thinkersthinkers

Two Problems with Two Problems with Enlightenment ThinkersEnlightenment Thinkers

1.1. Many opposed the arbitrary power of Many opposed the arbitrary power of monarchs over their subjects (subjects monarchs over their subjects (subjects obeying the monarch)obeying the monarch)

• Then why must women obey men?Then why must women obey men?

2. Enlightenment was based on an ideal 2. Enlightenment was based on an ideal of reason in ALL human beingsof reason in ALL human beings

• If women have reason, then they, too, If women have reason, then they, too, are entitles to the same rights that are entitles to the same rights that men have.men have.

Effects of the Effects of the EnlightenmentEnlightenment

Implications are revolutionary … Implications are revolutionary … WHY?WHY?

• Proposed belief that men ought to Proposed belief that men ought to be ruled by LAWS, not rulersbe ruled by LAWS, not rulers

• The philosophes argued that social The philosophes argued that social progress & political freedom were progress & political freedom were restrained by the state & the church restrained by the state & the church & didn’t reflect man’s natural & didn’t reflect man’s natural goodnessgoodness

• Belief in progress & man’s ability to Belief in progress & man’s ability to solve problemssolve problems

French RevolutionFrench Revolution

• Most important Most important result of the result of the EnlightenmentEnlightenment

• No single cause No single cause for itfor it

• Takes place in Takes place in phasesphases