The Enlightenment

Vocabulary flashcards covering the major thinkers, concepts, works, and terms of the Age of Enlightenment from Chapter 17, Section 2.

philosophe

The French term for "philosopher"; applied to Enlightenment intellectuals who functioned as writers, professors, journalists, economists, and, above all, social reformers.

tabula rasa

John Locke's concept of a "blank mind" or white paper void of all characters at birth, which is furnished and molded strictly through sensory experience and observation.

John Locke

Seventeenth-century English thinker whose work Essay Concerning Human Understanding argued that humans are born with a tabula rasa and shaped by the influences of their environment.

Isaac Newton

Seventeenth-century English scientist who conceived the universe as a giant "world-machine" operating by natural laws, inspiring philosophes to uncover the natural laws governing human society.

Montesquieu

French noble (Charles-Louis de Secondat) who authored The Spirit of the Laws (1748), identifying three types of governments and proposing the separation of powers in government.

separation of powers

A political doctrine in which the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government control and limit each other through a system of checks and balances to secure maximum freedom.

Voltaire

François-Marie Arouet; a Parisian Enlightenment author famous for his criticism of traditional Christianity, his advocacy of religious toleration in Treatise on Toleration (1763), and his defense of deism.

deism

An eighteenth-century religious philosophy based on reason and natural law, which envisioned God as a clockmaker who created the universe, set it in motion, and allowed it to run according to natural laws without divine interference.

Denis Diderot

French writer who edited the 28-volume Encyclopedia, or Classified Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Trades between 1751 and 1772 to "change the general way of thinking."

Encyclopedia

A 28-volume compendium edited by Denis Diderot that attacked religious superstition, promoted religious toleration, and advocated for social, legal, and political reform across Europe.

Physiocrats

A group of French thinkers who, alongside Adam Smith, founded modern economics by claiming that natural economic laws govern human society and that economies prosper when individuals freely pursue their economic self-interest.

laissez-faire

A French economic doctrine meaning "to let (people) do (what they want)," maintaining that the state should leave the economy alone rather than imposing regulatory restrictions.

Adam Smith

Scottish philosopher known as the "father of capitalism"; author of The Wealth of Nations (1776), in which he formulated the doctrine of laissez-faire and limited government to defense, police justice, and public works.

Cesare Beccaria

Philosophe who wrote the essay On Crimes and Punishments (1764), arguing that punishments should not be exercises in brutality and opposing capital punishment as an ineffective and barbaric deterrent.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Late Enlightenment thinker who wrote Discourse on the Origins of the Inequality of Mankind, The Social Contract (1762), and Émile, emphasizing the general will, balanced emotions, and natural education.

social contract

A concept presented by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1762 whereby an entire society agrees to be governed by its general will, compelling individuals to adhere to the community's collective good.

Émile

A novel-form work by Jean-Jacques Rousseau focusing on the education of the natural man, arguing that education should foster and nurture children's natural instincts rather than restrict them.

Mary Wollstonecraft

English author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women who established the foundation of modern women's rights by arguing that because women possess reason, they are entitled to the same education, political, and economic rights as men.

salon

An elegant drawing room in the urban home of the wealthy upper class where invited guests, including writers, artists, aristocrats, and government officials, met to discuss Enlightenment ideas.

Marie-Thérèse de Geoffrin

Wife of a wealthy French merchant who hosted celebrated Parisian salons that became famous across Europe and helped shape literary, artistic, and political opinion.

John Wesley

Anglican minister and founder of Methodism who brought evangelical revival to the lower classes of England through open-field preaching and a focus on personal salvation and good works.

Methodism

An evangelical religious movement founded by John Wesley in England that emphasized a religion of the heart, the assurance of God's grace for anyone, piety, and spiritual contentment over political agitation.

generation

A group of individuals born and living at about the same time; within the Enlightenment, each succeeding generation grew increasingly radical as it expanded upon earlier ideas.

arbitrary

Determined by unrestrained whim or personal authority rather than reason or justice; used by Mary Wollstonecraft to compare the wrongful domination of monarchs over subjects to that of men over women.