Enlightenment Philosophers

Philosophes

French word for "philosophers".

John Locke

Believed every person was born with a blank mind, and senses, experiences, and environment influenced everything about a person.

Baron de Montesquieu

Believed in three types of government for different sized countries: republic for small, monarchy for medium, and despotism (dictatorship) for large. Also believed in checks and balances.

Voltaire

Believed in deism: God created the universe before disappearing. Against Catholicism but believed in tolerance for all religions.

Denis Diderot

Published the first Encyclopedia (28 volumes) to spark intellectual and philosophical growth.

Cesare Beccaria

Believed punishments should not be exercises of brutality and was against the death penalty.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Believed that people give up rights to the general will of society to receive other benefits. Wrote The Social Contract. Also believed that education should foster natural instincts, not restrict them.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Believed that if a woman could reason, then the woman should have the rights of a man. Founded European and American women's rights movement.

Thomas Hobbes

Believed that absolute sovereignty was the only kind of government that could resolve problems caused by the selfishness of human beings. Also believed in representation and the right of the individual.