SSWH13b – Identify the major ideas of the Enlightenment from the writings of Locke, Voltaire, and Rousseau and their relationship to politics and

society.

The Enlightenment(aka The Age of Reason)

Scientific Revolution spurs reassessment of many prevailing ideas

Leads to the Enlightenment – a movement stressing reason and thought

New Ways of Thinking…

Enlightenment Ideas…

Universe is rational & is understood by reasonTruth through reason and observationExperience is foundation of truthHistory as progressHuman beings improved by education Religion has no place in understanding the world

Enlightenment PhilosophyEmphasis on reason

Goal: To improve the world by learning how it operated and making it more efficient

Major Figures:Thomas

HobbesJohn LockeVoltaireMontesquieuRousseauDiderotWollstonecraftBeccaria

Wrote: LeviathanDistrusts man, favors strong, authoritarian

government (ABSOLUTISM) to keep orderPromotes SOCIAL CONTRACT – getting

order by giving power to absolute monarch

Enlightenment Thinkers:Thomas Hobbes, England (1600s)

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

John Locke, England (1600s)2nd Treatise of Government (1688)

(Written to justify the Glorious Revolution)State of nature requires a governmentPeople are naturally good, can govern their own

affairsPurpose of gov’t is protection of life, liberty,

property – man’s natural rightsGod made man. Man is property of God; therefore,

no man can take away the rights of another, because those rights were given by God.

People have right to overthrow unjust gov’t - power of gov’t comes from the people

John Locke

(1632-1704)

Cesare Bonesana Beccaria, Italy (1700s)

Believed laws existed to preserve social order, not to avenge crimes

Worked to reform Justice SystemCalls for speedy trials, greater rights for

criminal defendants

Mary Wollstonecraft, England (1700s)Wrote: A Vindication of the Rights of

WomanArgues women need quality education to be virtuous and useful

Urges women to go into traditionally male professions like politics

PhilosophesMainly French thinkersBelieved people could apply reason to all

aspects of lifeMain ideas: Reason, Nature, Happiness,

Progress, LibertyProgress

3 main themes of human progress: development of new knowledge, overcoming ignorance, overcoming cruelty

DeismReligion should be reasonable & moral; the human

world has nothing to do w/ religionTolerance

Religious tolerance

DeismReligious movementMany of the philosophes followed DeismUniverse is rational, God is rational

Therefore, God can be understood through reason alone

Supreme being as “master watchmaker”

PhilosophesImportant Philosophes

MontesquieuVoltaireRousseauDiderotDavid HumeAdam Smith

Voltaire - Francois Marie Arouet, France (1700s)

Philosopher, targeted the powerful (church, govt.) – challenged preexisting ideas

Fought for tolerance, reason, freedom of religion and speech

Wrote Candide – a satire of society at the time

Montesquieu, France (1750s)

Wrote: On the Spirit of LawsStudied govts. & favored England’s

monarchyFavored separation of powers to keep 1

from controlling govt. (checks & balances, influence U.S. govt.)

Jean Jacques Rousseau, Switzerland (1760s)

• Wrote: The Social Contract• Committed to individual freedoms

• People agreed to give up some freedom in favor of the common good - man good, but society corrupts

• Only good govt. is freely formed by the people – direct democracy

Denis Diderot (1713-1784)Encyclopédie (1751)

“great manifesto” of the philosophe movementCollection of writings from over 100 writersMeant to secularize learning/education

Examined principles: divine right monarchs, union of church & state, & unequal social classes – inspired revolutions!!!

Belief in Progress: Human reason can solve problems

Secular Outlook: Knowledge leads people to question the church

Importance of Individual: Emphasis on individual rights

Legacy of the Enlightenment

Complete the “Who’s Who of the Enlightenment” chart using your notes and sections 2 and 3 from chapter 22 in your textbook.

On the back, in one paragraph, define the term “Enlightened Despot”, and then explain why King Frederick II of Prussia, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II of Austria, and Catherine the Great of Russia were considered to be Enlightened Despots. The subsection titled “The Enlightenment and Monarchy” on p. 638-9 should give you all the information you need to complete this.

Both the “Who’s Who” and the paragraph about the Enlightened Despots will be part of your test day packet.

Your task now…