The Enlightenment - Philosophes

Background---The Scientific Revolution(SR) of the 15 & 1600s  resulted in the Scientific Method.

      Used reason via the Scientific Method to test theories    

      and observations to create laws that would govern the 

      physical world

1. Scientific Revolution Leads to the Enlightenment

   1. Logic related to SR encourages Enl. Thinkers to use reason to unlock “natural laws that govern human life

      1. Spec. role of gov’t and human rights

         1. Natural laws- were unchanging principles, discovered via reason that govern all human conduct.

   2. Goal- to solve societal problems 

      1. Kant- coined term Enlightenment

         1. Use human reason to “uncover general laws that shape human behavior”

   3. Enlightenment moves authority from church and Feudal monarchs to citizens and individuals

   4. Power should be held by people (democracy) and not via “divine right”

   5. Church remained important, but western societies moved toward secular governments

2. Hobbes and Locke on the Role of Gov’t

   1. Both Engl. Philosophers who exper. Eng. Civil Wars→ Reached differ. Concl. A/b purpose & role of gov’t

      1. Hobbes- Wrote Leviathan 1651

         1. People “naturally cruel, greedy, Selfish”

         2. W/out a social contract, people in “State of Nature” will fight each other

         3. Life will be “brutish and short.”

         4. State of nature - life without laws of other control, it will end in disaster

      2. Locke Focuses on Natural Rights

         1. People have natural rights and should form governments to protect them

         2. Natural rights are “rights that belonged to all humans from birth” Life, liberty, and property

         3. Locke’s ideal government: has to protect people's natural rights and can be overthrown if it doesn’t. Not an absolute monarchy 

         4. This greatly influenced revolutions everywhere. 

3. The Philosophes

   1. Montesquieu’s Ideas: Dividing Power

      1. Strongly disliked abs monarchy

      2. Studied governments in history in order to form his idea on the best type of government. 

      3. Wanted powers of the government to be divided into legislative executive and judicial

         1. Each branch checks the others and keeps balance
         2. Legislative - creates law, Executive - enforces law, Judicial applies law
         3. This greatly influenced the US

   2. Voltaire’s Ideas: Freedom of Thought

      1. “To say what I think” - freedom of speech
      2. He outwardly spoke and wrote his ideas for the public about justice and thoughts that were controversial at the time and so he was imprisoned. 

   3. Diderot Edits the Encyclopedia

      1. Wanted to change thinking with the Encyclopedia and explained complex ideas

         1. Examples of this are including articles that talked about freedom, education for all, and against traditional religion and religion based leaders. 
         2. Because of these topics the pope and catholics tried to ban the Encyclopedia however 4000 copies were printed

   4. Rousseau Promotes the Social Contract

      1. People are naturally good and innocent but society changes us

      2. Government has too much control over behavior

      3. People should elect governments because of their “general will” 

         1. General will is ”the best conscience of the people”

      4. Good of community over individual

   5. Women and the Enlightenment

      1. Women still had natural rights but they were limited

         1. A small group of women protested this but they were laughed at

      2. Wollstonecraft was a British writer and thinker  Book?

         1. Woman's first duty is to be a good mother but should also be able to decide things for herself and participate with men in life
         2. The only way to do this is through equal education for boys and girls

   6. Enlightenment Thinkers and Slavery

      1. Mostly the natural rights were only applied to white men
      2. Montesquieu and Immanuel Kant - did not support slavery but is acceptable 
      3. Diderot thought slavery was morally wrong

4. New Economic Ideas

   1. Physiocrats made an economic system based of natural laws 

      1. Physiocrats are french economic thinkers

   2. Laissez- Faire Economics: Government cannot interfere very much with businesses, free trade

      1. They rejected mercantilism because the government regulated the economy

   3. Adam Smith

      1. Supported a free market and free enterprise system

         1. A free market is regulated by natural supply/ demand
         2. A free enterprise system is when businesses can compete for customers and profit without the government

      2. Explained how everything business related is connected to supply and demand in his book

      3. Mostly agrees with Laissez- Faire

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