Voltaire

François-Marie d'Arouet

1694–1778Paris, FranceWriter and

PhilosopherCritic Social Activist• Liberty

PhilosophiesFree will existsReligion is a necessary guarantor of

social orderHedonistic moralitySkepticism is goodEmpirical facts• Optimism is ignoring the empirical facts

in

John Locke

August 29th 1632 – October 28th 1704Physician and philosopherWrote many treatisesEmpiricist• Knowledge comes from senses

Liberal• Individuals have rights• Limited governments must protect these

rights

Thomas Hobbes

April 5 1588 – December 4 1679Solely a philosopherWrote LeviathanWalked between Liberalism and

Monarchial Soveriegnty

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

1646–1716 born in Leipzig, Germany1672 Diplomat in Paris 15 Published Books• Discourse on Metaphysics

Four Principles The Principle of the Best•God always acts for the best

Predicate-in-Notion Principle•the notion of the predicate is in some way included in that of the subject.

Principle of Contradiction •“That which involves a contradiction [is] false, and that which is opposed or contradictory to the false [is] true.”

Principle of Sufficient Reason•“Nothing is without reason”•“There is no effect without a cause”

Jean Jacques Rousseau1712- 1778Calvinist GenevaWanted to become a

priest, then an itinerant musician, settled for a tutor

Abandoned his five children in a hospital

Reconverted to Calvinismpolitical philosophy and

moral psychology Criticized philosophers

Lettres Moraleshuman beings are increasingly dependent

on one another for the satisfaction of their needs

human beings are good by nature but are rendered corrupt by society

Philosophers are rationalizers of self-interest, as apologists of tyranny, and as playing a role in the alienation of humanity's natural impulse to compassion

derive their very sense of self from the opinion of others

Religious toleration and fallibility of inquisition

Learning not by lecturing but by experience

Denis Diderot

1713-1784Langres, FranceEncyclopediaWriter• Pensees philosophiques• Lettre sur les aveugles

Philosophies

All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone’s feelings.

Pensees philosophiques• Attacked atheism and received Chritianity

Lettre sur les aveugles• Criticized the conventional morality of the

day• Alluded to the mistress of a minister

Rene Descartes 1596-La Haye, FranceWent to Jesuit collegeGeometry and

AlgebraNew concept of

MatterMeditationes de

Prima Philosophia • 1641

PhilosophiesThe Principles• Proves God’s existence• Unsound evidence

The Meditations• Questions the possibility of knowledge

The Passions• Passions of the soul are mental activities

that can move us to action• Must be controlled

Sir Thomas More

1478-1535London, EnglandLord ChancellorRenaissance

HumanistUtopia• 1516

UtopiaPerfectly orderly, reasonable social

arrangements Communal ownership of landBoth men and women are educatedComplete religious tolerationSlaveryGold not liked, jewelry only for childrenMoney only necessary for commoditiesWelfareNo lawyers

John Stuart Mill

May 20 1806 – May 8 1873Philosopher and economistMember of ParliamentWrote On LibertyUtilitarianism• Anybody can do anything as long as no

harm is caused• Social Liberty• Tyranny of Majority

Major Philosophies

LiberalismSocial ContractsVoltaire walks between these two

ideasIs it the “best of all possible worlds?”Happiness