The Age of Revolutions (ca. 1650-1812)
Term | Definition |
|---|---|
Thomas Hobbes (British 1588) | Believed that all humans are inherently evil and that without government life would be brutish and short. People had to give their rights over to a powerful ruler and sign a social contract. This was because he grew up in a war |
John Locke (British, 1632). | People can learn from experience and improve themselves. All people are born with three natural rights: life, liberty and property. |
Barón de Montesquieu (French, 1689) | Separation of powers would keep any individual from gaining total control of the government. |
Voltaire (French, 1694) | Wrote books against intolerance, prejudice, and superstition. Here is a quote: “I do not agree with a word you say but will defend to the death your right to say it.” (supported Deism) |
Jean Jacques Rousseau (French, 1712) | Good governments are driven by the ‘general will' of society (supported Deism) |
Cesare Beccaria (Italian, 1738) | Laws exist to preserve social order and the degree of punishment is determined by the serious of the crime. |
Mary Wollstonecraft (British, 1759) | Women, like men need to be virtuous and useful. |
Jean Salas | A Protestant man that was tortured and executed because someone said he killed his son because he wanted to convert to Catholicism |
The Enlightenment | A new Intellectual movement that stressed reason and thought and the power of individuals to solve problems (also the age of reason) |
Philosophe | The social critics in France during this period in time |
Absolutism | Dictatorship and monarchy |
Divine Right of Kings | Monarchs get their authority from god and cannot be held accountable by their subjects |
Liberty vs. Freedom | Freedom means you can act without external restraint |
Natural Rights | John Locke’s idea: Every man has the right to freedom and property (also influenced the Declaration of Independence) |
Deism | God exists and creates a universe with it’s own natural laws |
Social Contract Theory | People live together in a society that supports moral and political rules of behavior |
Free Will | Connected to the social contract theory |
State of Nature Real name of the Statue of Liberty | Thinking device that helps philosophers see how humans have developed over time Liberty Enlightening the World |