Enlightment IDs -- AP European History 낱말 카드 | Quizlet

Enlightenment

An 18th-century intellectual movement that stressed reason, individualism, and skepticism toward traditional institutions like absolute monarchy and the Church, seeking to reform society using the principles of natural science.

natural science

The study of the physical world (like physics and astronomy) which, following the Scientific Revolution, provided the model and methodology (reason and observation) that philosophes applied to human society.

Reason

The capacity of the human mind to think logically and rationally; it was championed as the primary source of truth and the standard for reforming society. The underlying causes and motivations that lead to significant events or movements.

Deism

A religious outlook, popular among philosophes, that believed in a rational, non-intervening God who created the universe (the 'watchmaker God') and established natural laws but does not interfere in human affairs.

John Locke

Highly influential English philosopher who argued that government is based on a social contract and exists solely to protect a citizen's natural rights (life, liberty, and property).

humans in a state of nature

Locke's concept of the condition of people before organized government, which he viewed as generally peaceful, governed by natural law, and where people possess inherent rights.

Two Treatises of Civil Gov't

Locke's major work (1689) that rejected the Divine Right of Kings and argued for government based on the consent of the governed and the protection of natural rights. It outlined the principles of natural rights.

Consent of the governed

The principle that a government's legitimacy and moral right to use state power is only justified and lawful when derived from the people or citizens over which that political power is exercised.

natural rights

Inherent, universal moral rights possessed by all people from birth, which Locke defined as life, liberty, and property.

social contract

A theory that political society is established through a voluntary agreement where individuals give up some freedom to a ruler or government in exchange for security and the protection of their natural rights.

right to rebellion

Locke's assertion that if a government acts against the interests of its citizens or violates the social contract by failing to protect their natural rights, the people have the justification to overthrow it.

Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Locke's work that established empiricism and the concept of tabula rasa, arguing that all knowledge comes from sensory experience, not innate ideas.

tabula rasa

Latin for 'blank slate'; Locke's theory that the human mind is born completely empty, and all knowledge and character are formed through experience and education.

religious toleration

The acceptance of people of different religious faiths and practices. Voltaire and other philosophes were key advocates for this policy.

Pierre Bayle

A Huguenot (French Protestant) writer who was a major early proponent of skepticism and religious toleration. His Historical and Critical Dictionary questioned religious dogmatism. He believed in total religious toleration and believed in the freedom of speech against bad governments.

Philosophes

A term for the intellectuals and social reformers of the French Enlightenment (e.g., Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot) who applied reason to the study and reform of society.

Voltaire

The most influential philosophe; a prolific writer who championed freedom of speech, religious tolerance, and the separation of church and state.

ecrasez l'infame

Voltaire's famous signature phrase, meaning 'crush the infamous thing,' referring primarily to superstition, ignorance, bigotry, and the excessive power of the Catholic Church.

Baron de Montesquieu, Spirit of Laws

French philosophe whose The Spirit of Laws (1748) argued that the best way to protect liberty was through the separation of powers (executive, legislative, judicial) in government.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Swiss-born philosophe who emphasized emotion and nature; he argued that society and private property corrupted man and that legitimate government must follow the general will.

Social Contract, 1762

A book that proposed how to form a legitimate government based on the "general will" of the people. Individuals willingly come together to form a community, surrendering some rights for the collective good.

general will

Rousseau's concept of the common good or the interests of the community as a whole; it is what a citizen should obey to be truly moral and free.

noble savage

Rousseau's concept that uncorrupted man in a state of nature is morally pure and happier than civilized man, emphasizing nature's superiority over corrupted society.

Emile

Rousseau's treatise on education, which argued that children should be educated according to their natural stages of development and allowed to learn through discovery and experience.

Denis Diderot

French philosophe and chief editor of the Encyclopedia (1751-1772), a massive collaborative work that compiled and disseminated Enlightenment knowledge to challenge the old order.

Marquis de Beccaria

Italian philosophe who wrote On Crimes and Punishments (1764), arguing for a rational, humanitarian approach to justice, advocating against torture and the death penalty.

Physiocrats

18th-century French economic thinkers (e.g., Quesnay) who believed that wealth was derived solely from agricultural land and who advocated for laissez-faire economics.

Adam Smith

Scottish philosopher and economist whose The Wealth of Nations (1776) defined modern capitalism and argued for a free-market system with minimal government intervention (laissez-faire).

laissez faire

An economic doctrine that opposes government intervention in business and economic affairs; literally means 'allow to do' or 'let it be.'

invisible hand

Adam Smith's metaphor for the self-regulating nature of the marketplace; individual self-interest and competition automatically work to the collective good of society.

salon movement

Informal gatherings, typically held by wealthy women (salonières) in their Parisian homes, which became the main vehicle for spreading Enlightenment ideas among the social elite.

Madame de Geoffrin

A prominent salonière who hosted one of the most famous salons, providing financial support and a meeting place for philosophes like Diderot and Voltaire.

Madame de Staël

A writer and critic who held an influential salon (mostly during the Napoleonic era, slightly later than the high Enlightenment) and was known for promoting Romanticism in France.

Mary Wollstonecraft

English writer and early feminist who challenged the idea that women were naturally subordinate. Her A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) argued for equal education for women.

David Hume

Scottish Enlightenment philosopher known for his intense skepticism and empiricism, arguing that reason alone cannot tell us about the world; our knowledge is ultimately limited to sensory experience.

Immanuel Kant

German philosopher who defined the Enlightenment as 'man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage' (immaturity) and attempted to reconcile the ideas of rationalism and empiricism.

classical liberalism

The political ideology that grew out of the Enlightenment, emphasizing individual rights, laissez-faire economics, constitutional government, and limited government power.

Enlightened Despotism

A system of rule where absolute monarchs (like Frederick II, Catherine the Great, Joseph II) adopted and implemented Enlightenment reforms (e.g., tolerance, legal reform) while maintaining absolute power and resisting political reform.

Frederick the Great

Enlightened Despot of Prussia (r. 1740-1786) who introduced religious toleration, patronized the arts, and streamlined the legal system, calling himself the 'first servant of the state.'

Diplomatic Revolution of 1756

The major reversal of traditional alliances in Europe preceding the Seven Years' War, in which Great Britain allied with Prussia and France allied with Austria.

Catherine the Great

Enlightened Despot of Russia (r. 1762-1796) who corresponded with Voltaire and Diderot and sought to modernize Russia, but expanded Russian territory and ultimately strengthened serfdom.

Pugachev Rebellion

A massive peasant and Cossack revolt in Russia (1773-1775) during Catherine the Great's reign. Its brutality convinced Catherine to abandon any serious reform efforts for the serfs and rely more on the nobility.