1. The Philosophes of the Enlightenment
Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Diderot

2. Voltaire Brief History Main Beliefs Important Writings Voltaire
Born in Paris as Francois Marie Arouet in 1694
Know for his humor and wit, Voltaire was imprisoned and later exiled for offending nobles. During his exile in England, Voltaire studied Locke’s philosophy and Newton’s scientific achievements. Voltaire also studied English religious toleration and the constitutional monarchy.
“Fredrick the Great” invited Voltaire to live in Potsdam for three years. He returned to Paris after his stay in Potsdam.
Voltaire died in Paris in 1778 and left behind over 14,000 letters and 2,000 books and pamphlets.
Main Beliefs
Advocate of freedom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom of religion
Opposed absolute monarchy in favor of a republic
Fierce opponent of slavery due to his belief in unalienable rights
Proponent of religious toleration
Voltaire
Important Writings
Letters on the English – Praised their religious and intellectual toleration, and admired its scientific and economic prosperity. Voltaire enjoyed the moderate political atmosphere of England.
Elements of the Philosophy of Newton- This book popularized the thoughts of Isaac Newton across the continent.
Candide- Satirical novel attacking war, religion, persecution, and unwarranted optimism about the human condition.

3. Montesquieu
Born to wealthy family as Charles Lau’s de Secandant, baron de Montesquieu.
Wrote Spirit of Laws which explained that there was no universal law and laws should be adapted for those who they were towards
Beliefs
Believed in three types of governments: monarchy, republic, and despotism.
Believed in a constitution as well as educating people to better the country
Commerce is not to be controlled by the government
Separated governmental power into sovereign and administrative
Separated administrative powers into executive, legislative, and judicial.
Each should be separate but dependent on each other .
Hello, my name is montequieu

4. Rousseau
Rousseau

5. Diderot (1713-1784) Edited the Encyclopedia in 1751 Beliefs:
17 volumes published between 1751 and 1772
Collection of ideas of the time period, introduced to the public mind
Science, contemporary affairs, philosophy, religion, natural history, economics, mathematics, politics, etc.
Objective: “ [to] gather all the knowledge in the world” (Wikipedia)
First publication to include the mechanical arts of machinery and laboring
Beliefs:
Hostile towards slavery
Critical of colonial empires and European domination
Condemned inhumane treatment of Native Americans (forced labor)
Claimed Europeans greed had returned their behavior to barbaric ways, making them inferior to the natives
Equality
Other works:
Pensees Philosophiques-sufficiency of natural religion
Diderot