1. Enlightened Absolutism

2. Absolutism Kings (sometimes Queens) that can do whatever they want
No one to check their power
churches, legislatures, or social elites

3. What is Enlightened Absolutism?
Monarchs who embraced Enlightenment principles - rationality
Tended to allow:
religious toleration
freedom of speech and the press
right to hold private property
promoted the arts, sciences, and education

4. How is Enlightened Absolutism different?
Based on how far they embraced the Age of Enlightenment
Catherine the Great rejects the concept of the social contract

5. Philosophes Intellectuals Believed in natural rights for all people
Examples: Diderot & Voltaire
Believed in natural rights for all people
Believed that enlightened rulers were to establish and preserve these natural rights
Don’t think the people can do it on their own