The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment Defined The Enlightenment philosophes sought to make laws to explain people and the political world
Thomas Hobbes Believed that man was greedy and evil Life without law (state of nature) was short, chaotic, brutal
Thomas Hobbes Social contract: ruler’s job was to provide security and order Subject’s job was to give up rights and obey ruler in order to live in a safe place Promoted absolutism 1651 wrote The Leviathan
John Locke Believed that man was generally good and reasonable with some temptation to bad State of nature was chaotic and unsafe
John Locke Social contract: Ruler’s job was to protect life, liberty, property Subject’s job was to overthrow ruler if the ruler became abusive Promoted a constitutional monarchy (limited) Wrote Two Treatises on Government in 1790
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Believed that man was good and corrupted by civilization State of nature was good and that government made it bad
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Social contract: Believed the best government was the one that governed the least Believed in majority rule (general will) Wrote Social Contract in 1751
Voltaire French Enlightenment philosophe Promoted freedom of speech Was imprisoned for this belief Wrote Candide
Montesquieu French philosophe – wrote The Spirit of the Laws Promoted the idea of separation of powers Not all government power should be in the hands of one person or one branch of government US used this model for government
Diderot French philosophe Wrote a series of Enlightenment essays about abolishing slavery, free speech… The multivolume book was called Encyclopedia
Thomas Jefferson American Enlightenment thinker Wrote The Declaration of Independence based on many Enlightenment ideas such as those of John Locke (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness)
Impact Enlightenment ideas helped to develop individualism and equal rights. Led to some revolutions around the world Some of these revolutions resulted in government based upon the ideas of the Enlightenment such as, Great Britain and the United States.