1. The Enlightenment: The Age of Reason
Notebook # 9
Summarize the ideas of Enlightenment that influenced democratic thought and social institutions around the world.

2. A. Background
Enlightenment—a period in history when Europeans came to believe that reason was a better guide than faith or tradition
scientific knowledge was growing & changing the way people thought about the world
political & social thinkers began to apply reason to ideas of government
the thinkers said there was a natural law—law that applied to everyone & could be understood by reason

3. B. New Ideas About Politics
England led the search for natural law
1. Thomas Hobbes
felt humans were selfish & violent
said they could not be trusted to make their own decisions & needed
a strong leader to make
decisions for them (absolute
monarchy)
wrote Leviathan

4. 2. John Locke
said that everyone was born with natural rights—rights belonging to all humans from birth
those rights are life, liberty, &
property
said the purpose of government
was to protect those rights
also said that govts. were based
on a social contract—agreement
between govt./rulers & citizens
wrote Two Treatisies of Government

5. C. French Philosophes 1. Baron de Montesquieu
using England as a guide, he outlined
a structure of govt. for France that had
a separation of powers—power equally
divided among:
a. executive branch—enforces laws
b. legislative branch—makes laws
c. judicial branch—interprets laws & decides if they’ve been broken
this system allowed a checks & balances
wrote The Spirit of the Laws

6. 2. Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet)
blamed church leaders for keeping knowledge from people to keep the church in power
wanted freedom of speech
supported deism—religious
belief based on reason (God
created the world, set it in
motion, & then allowed it to run
itself by natural law)
“I do not agree with a word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

7. 3. Denis Diderot
helped spread Enlightenment ideas by publishing a 28-volume encyclopedia
in it, he attacked superstition & supported freedom of religion

8. 4. Mary Wollstonecraft
claimed that all humans have reason & women should have the same rights as men (work, education, & politics)
wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

9. 5. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
agreed with Locke about protecting property & govt. being based on a social contract
said people are basically good but become corrupted by society
said in an ideal society, people
would make the laws & willingly
obey them
said people need to seek a
balance between reason &
emotion
said children should be taught
civic virtue—duty as citizens
wrote The Social Contract