Enlightenment Thinkers Vocab

Adam Smith

Scottish philosopher and economist who is considered the father of modern economics

John Locke

English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the “father of liberalism”

Voltaire

the pen name of Francois-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), a French writer whose work is often taken as a model of the Enlightenment’s outlook; noted for his deism and his criticism of traditional religion

Deists

a person who believes in a creator God who set the universe in motion but does not intervene in its affairs

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Swiss philosopher, composer, writer, and botanist whose ideas on social contract, popular sovereignty, and human nature heavily influenced modern politics and education

Thomas Hobbes

English philosopher, scientist, and historian who is considered a founder of modern political philosophy

Mary Wollstonecraft

wrote the Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Montesquieu

French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher; principal source of the theory of separation of powers