The Enlightenment

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The Enlightenment
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The Age of Reason

• The Scientific Revolution had been an era of
  questioning old beliefs to discover new truths.
  Philosophers, just like the scientists, wanted to
  learn new truths about human nature. This search
  for truth and new way of looking at the world led
  to a period called the Enlightenment or Age of
  Reason. It was called this because philosophers
  wanted to shine a light on new ways of thinking.

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Roots of the Enlightenment

• The ancient Greeks and Romans had a deep respect
  for reason. Through observation, logic, and
  reasoning, these classical scholars gained
  knowledge about the world around them. After the
  Middle Ages, European scholars rediscovered
  writings of the Greek and Roman cultures during
  the Renaissance.

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Roots continued

• This return to the classical emphasis on
  observation, reason and logic and the
  Renaissance belief in the human ability to
  achieve and to think were the roots of the
  Enlightenment.

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John Locke

• Locke was an English philosopher in the 1600s
  who set the stage for Enlightenment era debate.
  He believed governments got their power from the
  people and that the governments job was to
  protect the natural rights of those people.

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Locke continued

• Locke disagreed with the divine right of kings
  (God gave kings power). He believed that people
  were born with natural rights to life, liberty,
  and property. He also believed that people had
  the right to revolt if a ruler didnt protect
  these rights.

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European Philosophers

• Thinkers known as philosophes started applying
  the scientific method of Francis Bacon to social
  problems. They believed that reason could solve
  every problem that society had. They challenged
  old beliefs about power which threatened the
  church and the monarchs.

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Voltaire

• A French philosophe, Voltaire wrote over 70 books
  in which he spoke out against religious
  intolerance and superstition in the church. He
  also insisted on ideas like freedom of speech and
  insisted everyone had a right to liberty.

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Montesquieu

• The Baron de Montesquieu believed liberty was a
  natural right (like Locke did). He also opposed
  absolute monarchs (Locke didnt). He believed
  governments could become too powerful, so they
  should be broken up into 3 separate branches
  one for making laws, one for enforcing them, and
  one for interpreting themU.S. Constitution
  anyone?

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Rousseau

• Jean Jacques Rousseau believed that democracy was
  the best form of government. People should be
  able to decide how they were governed by voting.
  He also believed that people should create
  governments that protect individual rights and
  the needs of the whole at the same time.

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Your last PowerPoint slide?! Maybe

• Salons

• Summary

• These social gatherings at the homes of the
  wealthy, were places where the eras best
  thinkers, both men and women, would discuss and
  exchange ideas on an equal basis. Often these
  discussions were written up and published so that
  the general public could learn enlightenment
  ideas.

• Enlightenment thinkers believed human reason
  could lead to understanding all issues in life.
• Philosophes believed people had natural rights to
  life, liberty, and property.
• These thoughts influenced many of the founding
  fathers of the U.S.A.