enlightenment, deism and religion voltaire: “crush the infamous thing”
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Enlightenment, Deism and Religion
Voltaire: “Crush the infamous thing”
Deism God established
universe Seen as
Clockmaker who let his creation run
Proposed non-ritual religion based on REASON
Believed in life after death
Rational morality God’s existence Religious
toleration Attacked Catholic
church and Jewish beliefs as superstition
Enlightened Political thought Hobbes: Leviathan
based on Scientific observation
Universe is mechanical as is politics
Natural Law Idea of Reason of
State vs. Divine Right
Locke: Man rational & born equal
Natural state: harmony with one another
People make contract with government to protect their rights
Adam Smith Wealth of Nations
1776 Positive trade
balance should be promoted by government intervention and tariffs
Economic Theory Allow individuals
to promote their interest freely within the law
This will promote interests of society
People will calculate their chances in market
People motivated by pleasure
Proposed existence of laws supply and demand
“invisible hand” will ensure that all will work out for the best
Laissez Faire/Nature and Economics Laissez Faire
government should not interfere with economy;
Government’s role: army, navy police, judiciary, schools, roads, new trade routes
Exploit nature for good of man—common in all systems
Middle class used his theories to believe that greed benefited society, to escape guilt that Christianity had attributed to it
Smith as Equalizer His ideas leveled society: Hunter-Gatherers Pastoral peoples Agricultural societies Commercial societies Europeans felt superior to all others
and justified imperial domination
Montesquieu Charles-Louis de
Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu 1689-1755
Aristocrat President of
Parlement of Bordeux—inherited from his father
Spirit of Laws 14 years of study Published in 1748 Three types of
government: Republics-virtue Monarchies-
honour Despotism-fear
On Governments: No one system was suitable everywhere Governments should reflect traditions,
economy and religion of a country (despotism suited to hot climates to
force lazy people to work!) Separation of powers: executive,
judicial, legislative—based on English government: King, House of Lords, House of Commons
For France Use ideas of separation of powers
in France: Power to parlements, towns,
aristocracy Counter for monarchy Influenced framers of US Constitution
of 1787 (not so much on Declaration of Independence)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Born in Geneva
1712-1778 Lower class
background Mother died after
his birth Many
psychological problems
Personal Life Wrote Confessions which showed
his problems Paranoid Treated his five children badly Put them in an orphanage Met philosophes of Paris in 1741,
when he moved there
On the Social Contract (1762) “All men are born
free, but everywhere they are in chains.”
Concerned with virtue of people
Political Vision Social contract:
basic law of society Liberty is
obedience to laws that people have accepted
Equality is all equally dependent upon society and not on individuals
Contract should be written by legislator who departs—forces men to be free
Denies that liberty and equality are natural
Wants civil liberty and equality granted by the state
Political vision, continued Rights are those in
the community People give their
natural liberty and equality to community when they join it
Social contract not between government and people, but between people themselves
Best society is participatory democracy: Athens, Geneva
Society depends upon public spiritedness
People are source of legitimate sovereignty: General Will
General Will Principle behind validity of Social
Contract Political society involves total
subjection of every individual to the General Will of the whole.
For Rousseau: General Will not wishes of majority; but what is in their best interest.
Effects of Rousseau’s thought Not popular at first Influential on Jacobins and Robespierre Arguments for democracy and equality
had liberal effect in US and Britain General Will provides framework for
totalitarian governments—do people know what is good for them?
Rousseau and Romanticism Forerunner to romantic period Emile encouraged parents to love their
children (he was bad example) Cult of women readers developed Spread respect for feelings and
common people People inspired by him to look after
their children Began modern humanitarianism
Rousseau’s other ideas Also promoted idea of Noble
Savage in his work Discours sur l’Origine de l’inegalite parmi les hommes of 1755.
Rousseau is contradictory: democracy and totalitarianism
Noble savage and need for education
America and the Enlightenment American thinkers: Ben Franklin
and Thomas Jefferson America as an Enlightened Project Constitution uses many of the
ideas presented here Locke: Life, Liberty, Property Montesquieu: separation of powers
Enlightened Despotism Rulers that embraced enlightened
reforms but strengthened their central absolutist administration at the cost of lesser centers of political power
Marie Theresa and Joseph II of Austria Frederick the Great of Prussia Catherine the Great of Russia
Maria Theresa 1740-1780 Strengthened crown
outside of Hungary Efficient system of tax
collection even from clergy and nobles
Put education under service of crown
Expanded primary education
Limited serf labor
Joseph II 1780-1790 Reduced Hungarian
autonomy Reorganized local
governments German became
official language Religious toleration Internal tariffs
abolished
Joseph’s contributions Built roads and
improved river transport
Uniform law codes Abolished serfdom Personal freedoms
granted to peasants Goal: better
workers
Robot (state work) was abolished
Land taxes imposed upon all members of society
Frederick II 1740-1789 First servant of
the State Allowed freedom
from religious persecution
State benefited economically from foreign workers
Frederick II’s contributions New law codes Rationalization of
existing laws Drained swamps Introduced new
crops Peasants forced
to migrate and paid taxes
Ran state as a military regime
Seized Silesia for Reasons of the state: made it a manufacturing region and imported workers
Prussia emerges as strongest German state
Catherine II 1762-1796 Russia backward
and in need of reform
Assembles 500 delegates to advise her on revisions to law and government
Info gathered: need autocracy
Reforms Limited reforms to
local power of nobility
1777—local governments reorganized
Charter of Nobility, 1785 rights and privileges granted to nobles
Suppressed internal trade barriers
Exports grew Small urban
middle class grows Russian territory
expanded Crimea annexed—
warm water port
1st Partition of Poland 1772 Russia gained
territory along Danube
Austria upset: Frederick II proposes secret plan to split Poland between the three countries
2nd Partition of Poland 1793
3rd Partition of Poland 1795