What is it?

Definition: 'The Enlightenment' has been given many differing definitions but it was, at its broadest, a philosophical movement of the eighteenth century which stressed human reasoning over blind faith or obedience and was thus in contrast with much of the religious and political order of the day, while also encouraging 'scientific' thinking.

Huh?In other words,

during the 18th century, certain thinkers and writers, primarily in London and Paris, believed that they were more enlightened than their compatriots and set out to enlighten them.

Enlighten them about what?Their principal

targets were religion (the Catholic Church in France) and the domination of society by a hereditary aristocracy (or powerful monarch). In other words, the church and the state, who often worked hand- in- hand.

Montesquieu

• Montesquieu, a French aristocrat, writes The Spirit of Laws where he champions freedom and condemns slavery as “unnatural”

• He also describes a constitutional monarchy in which the three branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) are free and independent of one another, creating a system of checks and balances (influencedthe U.S. Constitution)

• In writing the American Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) uses Locke’s ideas that the governed have the right to revolt if their ruler is unjust and that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are inalienable rights

Montesquieu (1689-1755)

Montesquieu - Separation of 3 Powers

Voltaire

• Strong supporter of Freedom of Speech, Thought, & Religion

• Believed Gov’ts should ensure personal freedoms

Desim-- an 18th century religious philosophy based on reason and natural law

Denis Diderot

• Created The Encyclopedia

Enlightenment and the Economy

• Physiocrats rejected mercantilism in favor of a policy called laissez faire.–Physiocrats were Enlightenment thinkers who focused on economic

reforms

• Laissez-Faire: allowing business to operate with little or no government interference–Real wealth comes from productive

land not gold and silver–Supported free trade and opposed

tariffs

Enlightenment and the Economy

• Adam Smith: Free market should be allowed to regulate business activity–Manufacturing, trade, wages, profits and economic

growth are all linked to the market forces of supply and demand

–Where there is demand, suppliers will seek to meet it because there are profits and economic rewards to be had–Smith supported laissez faire, but also believed

that a government had a duty to protect society, administer justice, and provide public works.

• His ideas lead to very productive economies during the Industrial Revolution (1800’s and 1900’s)

Supply and

Demand

Social Contract

Thomas Hobbes John Locke•Humans are naturally cruel, greedy and selfish.•To escape this “brutish” life people entered into a social contract.•Only a powerful government could ensure an orderly society.•Believed only an absolute monarchy could keep a society completely orderly.

•Humans are naturally reasonable, moral and good•Humans have natural rights: life liberty and property•People form governments to protect natural rights•Best government was one with limited power•If a government violates people’s natural rights, people have the right to overthrow government

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• Believed in Popular Sovereignty

• Argued people are naturally good, but society corrupts them through environment, education and laws.

• Published The Social Contract(1762)

Mary Wollstonecraft

• Early spokesperson for Women’s Rights

• Argued the ideals of equality should be extended to women as well as men.

• Governments should extend political rights to women as well

• Women should also enjoy educational freedoms as well

• Wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)

Enlightenment Changes Society

• Women: Women were not equal and were criticized for attempting to gain equality

• Salons: Men and women gather in living rooms to discuss Enlightenment ideas (chat rooms)

• Music: Ballets and operas become popular (Bach, Handel, Mozart)

• Art: Baroque gives way to rococo art (simple, elegant and charming)

• Literature: Novels become popular (Robinson Cruesoe)