1. The Enlightenment

2. Enlightenment (Age of Reason)
Enlightenment thinkers believed that human progress was possible through:
the application of scientific knowledge & reason to the issues of law & government

3. Enlightenment (Age of Reason)
The Enlightenment:
Applied reason to the human world, not just natural world
Stimulated religious tolerance
Fueled democratic revolutions around the world

4. Enlightenment Thinkers & Ideas
Thomas Hobbes
Leviathan
Humans exist in a primitive “state of nature”
Humans consent to government for self-protection
The state must have central authority to manage behavior

5. Enlightenment Thinkers & Ideas
John Locke
Two Treatises on Government
People are sovereign
Monarchs are not chosen by God (“divine right”)
Social Contract
Consent to government for protection of natural rights to life, liberty & property

6. Enlightenment Thinkers & Ideas
Montesquieu
The Spirit of Laws
The best form of government includes a separation of powers

7. Enlightenment Thinkers & Ideas
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The Social Contract
Government is a contract between the rulers & the people

8. Enlightenment Thinkers & Ideas
Voltaire
Religious toleration should triumph over religious fanaticism
Separation of church & state

9. Influence of the Enlightenment
Political philosophies of the Enlightenment fueled revolutions in the Americas & France
Enlightenment ideas influenced:
Declaration of Independence (T. Jefferson)
US Constitution
Bill of Rights