Age of Enlightenment Test Study Guide

The era in history that influenced the Enlightenment.

The scientific revolution

The areas of study the Enlightenment sought to challenge ideas in.

The natural world and human relationships

The central beliefs of the Enlightenment.

Government, Religion, Economics, Education

How the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment were similar.

Rationalism and empiricism

Reason, rather than emotion or anything else is the most reliable source of true knowledge.

Rationalism

The type of government most Enlightenment thinkers sought to replace.

Absolute monarchy

The event that impacted Hobbes and Locke.

The hanging of Charles I (English Civil War)

Human beings are innately wicked and they need an absolutist ruler over them to keep them in control as they would be brutish without a ruler like that.

Thomas Hobbes' view of human nature

A book by Thomas Hobbes published in 1651, that embodies Hobbes' ideas about society, and how a society needs a Leviathan (an absolute monarch) to function properly.

Leviathan

People existing without a government, and it is about John Locke and Thomas Hobbes.

State of Nature

The type of government Hobbes endorsed.

Absolute monarchy

The social contract is where the right to rule is given by an agreement between people.

Social Contract Theory

Who power is derived from according to Enlightenment thinkers.

The people

Much more positive when compared to Hobbes, where human beings are rational creatures with the ability to take care of themselves and others.

Locke's view of the state of nature

Life, Liberty, and property.

Natural rights according to Locke

People form a government to protect their right to life liberty and property, and if the government isn't doing that, the people should have the ability to overthrow it.

Why people form a government according to Locke

Written by John Locke in 1689 it answers the question of Why do we need a government?

Two Treatises of Government

The idea that the central problem of politics is the protection of rights and freedom.

Classical liberalism

Liberals and conservatives both ask the question of 'How much government intervention is necessary to promote and protect freedom?'

Fundamental question of conservatives and liberals in the United States

Liberalism failed in its success because its given people too much freedom.

Argument of Patrick Deneen's Why Liberalism Failed

France.

Epicenter of the Enlightenment

The separation of powers, so that way the government could be decentralized, like the system of checks and balances we have today.

Baron de Montesquieu's political theory

Known for his satirical work that made fun of clergy, aristocracy, and government, and he supported things like tolerance, reason, freedom of religion and speech.

Voltaire

Known for creating the Encyclopedia, which included articles from Montesquieu and Voltaire. It explained ideas on government, reason, and religion.

Denis Diderot

Believed that people in their natural state were good.

Rousseau's view of the state of nature

Free individuals should come to an agreement to create a society and a government.

Rousseau's theory on government

Direct democracy.

Rousseau's form of government

Social contract agreement (i think constitutional monarchy).

Locke's form of government

A book written by Rousseau, that featured his unique theory on government.

The Social Contract

Primarily concerned with judicial system. He believed that laws were not meant for abuse and that they existed to maintain order. He disagreed with capital punishment and that the degree of a punishment should be based off of the crime's severity.

Beccaria's beliefs/views

Her major work was A vindication on the rights of women, and she believed that women with proper education could become virtuous and useful in male dominated fields.

Mary Wollstonecraft

A hands off approach to economics, where businesses and trade should be with minimal government interference.

Laissez-Faire economics

His major work was the Wealth of Nations and he was a huge supporter of free enterprise and free market.

Adam Smith

Church and Scholarly institutions.

Institutions that pushed back against Enlightenment ideas

They disguised their ideas in fictional works.

How Enlightenment thinkers avoided censorship

Informal social gatherings where topics like literature, philosophy, and the arts were discussed about. Hosted by women and attended by men.

Salons

A lighter, more elegant and charming art style, with pastel colors used.

Rococo Art

They commissioned and hired musicians to play for them.

Middle class contributions to Enlightenment music

Bach, Handel, Mozart.

Enlightenment musicians

Known as Enlightened Despots.

Enlightened absolute monarchs

Fredrick II, Catherine the Great, Joseph II.

Names of the Enlightened Absolute monarchs

He introduced some enlightenment ideas and mixed them with his absolutism philosophy.

Frederick the Great as an enlightened despot

Changed how people thought, leading them to challenge ideas.

Significance of the Enlightenment

England.

Hobbes and Locke's nation location

Austria.

Joseph II's nation location

France.

Epicenter of the Enlightenment location

Paris.

Salons primary location

Russia.

Catherine the Great's nation location