Ap Enlightenment Thinkers

Thomas Hobbes

Believed that humans were naturally selfish, wicked, and evil. We give up freedom in exchange for an organized society, wrote Leviathan
English philosopher – worked for the Cavendish family and traveled Europe, meeting Galileo and Descartes.
Humans are selfish and absolute monarchy was the best way to rule.
Leviathan, 1651

John Locke

Believed people are naturally good, are born free and born with natural rights (life, liberty, property). Govt. is to protect our natural rights, wrote
English philosopher
Influenced by Descartes and Bacon
Govt. exists to preserve life, liberty and property. Two Treatises of Government (1689)
Advocate of religious toleration
People are born a blank slate (tabula rasa)

Montesquieu

Believed power should be separated through 3 branches of govt. (legislative, executive, judicial). Checks and Balances: branches should be able to stop the other from abusing powers
(1689 – 1755) and Political Thought
Persian Letters, 1721
Attacks on traditional religion and slavery, advocacy of religious toleration and reason
The Spirit of the Laws, 1748
“Separation of powers”

Rousseau

Believed people are born free and equal. Govt. must have people's permission to rule. People agree to give up some freedoms for the common good (social contract)
Swiss-born philosopher, writer, and political theorist.
Treatises and novels inspired leaders of the French Revolution
The Social Contract (1762) and the Discourse of the Origin of Inequality (1755)
People are generally good but become corrupted by society
Legitimate government only comes from consent of the people

Marry Wollstonecraft

Believed women are born free & equal. Women can decide what is in their own interest without depending on their husbands. Equal education for girls & boys is the only way women can participate equally with men, wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women

Voltaire

French philosopher
(1694 – 1778) and the Enlightenment
Philosophic Letters on the English (1733)
Indictment of French absolutism
Criticism of traditional religion and intolerance
The Calas affair
Treatise on Toleration, 1763
Deism

Denis Diderot

Wanted to change the general way of thinking by explaining ideas on topics such as govt., philosophy, & religion, wrote 28-vol. Encyclopedia which included articles by leading "thinkers"

Condorcet

French philosopher and mathematician
Influenced by Turgot and Voltaire - Vie de M. Turgot 1786 and Vie de Voltaire in 1789.
Educated at a Jesuit college
Advocate of educational reform, women’s rights, religious toleration, legal reform such as the abolition of slavery and equal rights for women.

Cesare Beccaria

Italian criminologist, influenced by Montesquieu
Govt. policy should seek the greatest good for the greatest number.
Against torture and secret proceedings, and brutal punishments. On Crimes and Punishment, 1764.

Adam Smith

Scottish Economist
Rejection of mercantilism in favor of supply and demand
laissez-faire economics
The Wealth of Nations, 1776
Promotion of free trade
Government has only three basic functions
Protect society from invasion
Defend individuals from injustice and oppression
Keep up public works

David Hume

Scottish philosopher, historian, economist
Influenced by Newton and Locke
No reality is possible; there can be no knowledge of anything beyond experience.
Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals –human morality and sympathy.