22 Questions AP Euro Topic 4.3 The Enlightenment Terms/Names (Amsco Bolded) (copy)

The Enlightenment

Enlightenment

an 18th Century movement that emphasized using logic and reason as guides to solve the world's problems.

rationalism

belief in reason and logic as the primary source of knowledge

empiricism

the belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation

Thomas Hobbes

believed that people are born selfish and need a strong ruler to control them, first to propose the idea of a Social Contract.

John Locke

English philosopher who advocated the idea of a "social contract" in which government powers are derived from the consent of the governed and in which the government serves the people; also said people have natural rights to life, liberty and property.

natural rights

the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and property

social contract

An agreement between the people and their government signifying their consent to be governed

philosophes

a term for Enlightenment thinkers.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A French man who believed that Human beings are naturally good & free & can rely on their instincts. Government should exist to protect common good, and be a democracy. Wrote The Social Contract

Mary Wollstonecraft

British feminist of the eighteenth century who argued for women's equality with men, even in voting, in her 1792 "Vindication of the Rights of Women."

Voltaire

French philosopher and writer whose works epitomize the Age of Enlightenment, often attacking injustice and intolerance. Big on free speech.

Denis Diderot

Philosopher who edited set of books called the Encyclopedie, an attempt to collect "all known knowledge" into one set of books.

Encyclopedie

edited by Diderot, it was a compilation of all the available knowledge - historical, scientific, technical, religious and moral

Montesquieu

French political philosopher who advocated the separation of executive and legislative and judicial powers. Wrote The Spirit of Laws

Cesare Beccaria

believed that punishment should fit the crime, in speedy and public trials, and that capital punishment should be done away with completely. Wrote On Crime and Punishments

coffeehouses

places that helped promote the spread of Enlightenment ideas by hosting discussions on the issues of the day.

salon

a social gathering of intellectuals and artists, like those held in the homes of wealthy women in Paris and other European cities during the Enlightenment

deism

Belief that God is a watchmaker; God existed and had created the world, but that afterwards He left it to run by its own natural laws.

atheism

Belief that God does not exist

baron d'Holbach

said humans are only machines and have no free will. He was a devout atheist who believed religion was driven by fear, and controlled people and their reason. People put too much trust in the Church, and relied on it instead of knowledge and reason.

David Hume

Scottish philosopher whose sceptical philosophy restricted human knowledge to that which can be perceived by the senses

skepticism

A philosophy which suggests that nothing can ever be known for certain.

John Wesley

English clergyman and founder of Methodism

Methodism

A religion founded by John Wesley. Emphasized an intense personal salvation and a life of thrift, abstinence, and hard work.

physiocrats

This was the group of economists who believed that the wealth of a nation was derived solely from the value of its land

laissez-faire

Policy that government should interfere as little as possible in the nation's economy.

Francois Quesnay

A Physiocrat that said natural economic laws governed society. Wealth could increase by agriculture alone because all other activities were unproductive. The state revenue should come from a single tax as well as natural supply and demand.

Adam Smith

Scottish economist who wrote the book Wealth of Nations. He is the main proponent of what would become known as Capitalism.

capitalism

an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

Marquis de Condorcet

An early champion of social science and human rights. His advocacy of women’s rights was extreme even among Enlightenment thinkers in the salon. Demanded equal education and political rights.