The Enlightenment

Objectives You will be able too… Describe the concept of Enlightenment thinkers including Diderot, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Voltaire. Explain how the Enlightenment contributed to the growth of democratic principles of government, a stress on reason and progress, and the replacement of a theocentric interpretation of the universe with a secular interpretation.

Progress and Reason The Scientific Revolution of the 1500s and 1600s transformed the way people in Europe looked at the world. Scientific success convinced educated Europeans of the power of human reason. If people used reason to find laws that governed the physical world, why not use reason to discover natural laws, or laws that govern human nature? The Scientific Revolution led to another revolution in thinking known as the Enlightenment. Through the use of reason, people and governments could solve every social, political, and economic problem.

Two Views of the Social Contract In the 1600s, two English thinkers, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, set forth ideas that were to become key to the Enlightenment. Both men lived through the upheavals of the English Civil War. Yet they came to very different conclusions about human nature and the role of government.

Thomas Hobbes Thomas Hobbes set out his ideas in a work called “Leviathan.” In it, he argued that people were naturally cruel, greedy, and selfish. If not strictly controlled, they would fight, rob, and oppress one another. Life in the “state of Nature”- without laws or other control- would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

Hobbes To escape that “brutish” life, people entered into a social contract, an agreement by which they gave up the state of nature for an organized society. Hobbes believed that only a powerful government could ensure an orderly society. For Hobbes, this government was an absolute monarch, which could impose order and compel obedience.

John Locke Locke believed that peopled were basically reasonable and moral. He believed that people had natural rights, or rights that belonged to all humans from birth. These included the right to life, liberty, and property. In two treaties of Government, Locke argued that people formed governments to protect their natural rights. The best kind of government, he said, had limited power and was accepted by all citizens. Locke rejected absolute monarchy.

Locke Locke set out a radical idea. A government has an obligation to the people it governs. If a government fails its obligations or violates people’s natural rights, the people have the right to overthrow that government. This right to revolution would echo across Europe and around the world in the centuries that followed.

Separation of Power In the 1700s, France saw a flowering of Enlightenment thought. An early and influential thinker was the Baron de Montesquieu. Montesquieu studied the governments of Europe, from Italy to England. He read all he could about ancient and medieval Europe and learned about Chinese and Native American Cultures. His criticism of absolute monarch opened the doors for later debate.

Montesquieu In 1748, Montesquieu published the Spirit of the Laws. In it, he discussed governments through history and wrote admiringly about Britain's limited monarchy. Montesquieu felt that the British had protected themselves against tyranny by dividing the various functions and powers of government among three separate branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial. He felt that the separation of powers was the best way to protect liberty. He also believed in the idea of checks and balances.

The Philosophes and Society In France, a group of Enlightenment thinkers applied the methods of science to better understand and improve society. They believed that the use of reason could lead to reforms of government, law, and society. These thinkers were called philosophes, which means “lovers of wisdom.” Their ideas soon spread beyond France and even beyond Europe.

Voltaire Voltaire used biting wit as a weapon to expose the abuses of this day. He targeted corrupt officials and idle aristocrats. With his pen, he battled inequality, injustice, and superstition. He detested the slave trade and deplored religious prejudice. Voltaire’s outspoken attacks offended both the French government and the Catholic Church. He was imprisoned and forced into exile, even then he continued to defend freedom of speech.

Denis Diderot Another philosophe, Denis Diderot, labored for some 25 years to produce a 28- volume Encyclopedia. His purpose was “to change the general way of thinking” by explaining the new ideas on topics such as government, philosophy, and religion. The Encyclopedia included articles of leading thinkers of the day including Montesquieu and Voltaire.

The Encyclopedia In their Encyclopedia articles, the philosophes denounced slavery, praised freedom of expression, and urged education for all. They attacked right theory and traditional religions. The French government argued that the Encyclopedia was an attack on public morals, and the pope threatened to excommunicate Roman Catholics who bought or read the volumes. Despite these efforts, as many as 20,000 copies were printed between 1751 and 1789 which helped spread Enlightenment ideas through Europe.

Rousseau The most controversial philosophe, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, was a strange, difficult man. Coming from a poor family, he never felt comfortable in the glittering social world of Enlightenment thinkers. Rousseau believed that people in their natural state were basically good. This natural innocence, he felt, was corrupted by the evils of society, especially the unequal distribution of property.

Rousseau In 1762, Rousseau set forth his ideas about government and society in the Social Contract. Rousseau felt that society placed too many limitations on people’s behavior. He believed that some controls were necessary, but that they should be minimal. Additionally, these controls should be imposed only by government that had been freely elected. Rousseau put his faith in the “general will,” or the best conscience of the people. The good of the community as a whole, he said, should be placed above individual interests. Thus, unlike many Enlightenment thinkers who put the individual first, Rousseau felt that the individual should be subordinate to the community. His ideas would help fan the flames of revolt in years to come.

Women and the Enlightenment The Enlightenment slogan “free and equal” did not apply to women. Women did have “natural rights,” said the philosophes, but these rights were limited to the areas of home and family. Mary Wollstonecraft argued that women were being excluded from the social contract itself. She accepted that a woman’s first duty was to be a good mother, but she also felt that a women should be able to decide what is in her own interest and not be completely dependent on her husband.