Enlightenment Age of Reason

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Enlightenment (Age of Reason)
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Thomas Hobbes

• Leviathan 1651
• Felt the horrors of the English Civil War
  convinced him that all humans were naturally
  selfish and wicked
• Social contract- in order to escape a bleak life,
  people gave up their rights to a strong
  rulerthey gained law and order
• He felt that a government as an absolute monarchy
  was the right choice

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John Locke

• He believed that people could learn from
  experience and improve themselves
• Three natural rights
• Life
• Liberty
• Property
• Foundation of modern democracies

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Philosophes (French)

• Reason- absence of intolerance, bigotry, or
  prejudice in ones thinking
• Nature- was good and reasonable
• Happiness- those who lived by natures law would
  find well being
• Progress- belief that society and humankind could
  be perfected
• Liberty- society should be set free

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Voltaire

• Francois Marie Arouet
• Published more then 70 books
• Made frequent targets of the clergy, aristocracy,
  and the government
• Twice sent to French prison
• Fought for tolerance
• Exiled from France, later returned

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Montesquieu

• (MAHN-tuh-SKYOO)
• Devoted himself to the study of political liberty
• Felt that England was the best government of his
  time
• Power should be a check to power
• Separation of powers

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Major ideas of the Enlightenment

• Locke- natural rights (life, liberty, property)
• Fundamental to US Declaration of Independence
• Montesquieu- separation of powers
• France and US use it
• Voltaire- freedom of thought, religion, and
  expression
• Guaranteed in US Bill of Rights

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Mary Wollstonecraft

• Wrote an essay called A Vindication of the Rights
  of Woman in 1792
• Believed that woman should be educated like men