T HE E NLIGHTENMENT – 1600 S TO 1780 S Reason  Laws  Progress From Science to Society & Politics

The Scientific Revolution and discovery of natural laws prompted many who were not scientists, and instead were philosophers and writers, to wonder if they could apply the ideas of questioning and natural laws to SOCIETY and GOVERNMENT. The ENLIGHTENMENT was a new intellectual movement that stressed REASON and QUESTIONING and the power of INDIVIDUALS to make conclusions for themselves.

T IME FOR A SELF QUIZ : A RE YOU AN 18 TH CENTURY E NLIGHTENMENT THINKER ? Are you really a 1780s person stuck in 2014? Do you think like an Enlightenment philosophe? (French word for philosopher) Which Enlightenment philosophe are you?? Take this quiz to find out! Number your paper 1-12 and mark whether you agree or disagree with the following statements.

1. I believe that truth can only be discovered through reason logical thinking – for example, the scientific method. Nothing should be accepted on faith alone. 2. I believe that human nature is generally good and people are reasonable. 3. Society and people are constantly improving and moving in a good direction. 4. It is important that people are granted individual rights that the government needs to protect. 5. I enjoy having intellectual conversations in other people’s living rooms - especially about the nature of life and society.

6. I believe that people are a clean slate when they are born and that their experiences and education make them what they are. 7. If the government doesn’t protect your rights, you have the right to overthrow it. 8. The best kind of government is one where there are separate government bodies, like a congress and president, where each branch can “check” the other.

9. Society is actually bad: people are born free with potential, but society chains them down. 10. The best type of government is one that does what most of the people want all of the time. 11. Rights for prisoners are important: torture should nto be allowed and the death penalty abolished. 12. Education, for both men and women, is one of the most important things for human beings.

H OW TO SCORE YOUR QUIZ If you answered I AGREE to the majority of 1-4 you MAY BE an 18 th century Enlightenment thinker. These are some of the key beliefs of the Enlightenment, and many of its outspoken thinkers. Some thinkers, such as Voltaire, were not convinced human nature is good. However, the idea of society progressing and knowledge based on evidence pervade the Enlightenment.

#5 refers to the salons in Paris where intellectuals would meet and share ideas.

If you answered YES to #6 and #7, then you agree with John Locke – optimist of the Enlightenment who thought that people were a blank slate when they were born and that education could make society good. He also had ideas about government that will be used in revolutions across Europe and the world.

If you answered YES to #9 and #10 then you identify with Rousseau – pessimist of the Enlightenment: He believed society chains people down and limits their freedom. He did think, optimistically, the best society is one that responds to the “general will” – what most people want. If we had a “Rousseau style” classroom we would likely not take any DBQs or FRQs (I’m assuming the “general will is against it).

If you answered YES to #8 you got your ideas from Montesquieu who believed in the separation of powers, like our government today.

If you have ideas like #11, you agree with Beccaria who tried to limit the widespread torture that was acceptable as punishment for crimes in the 1700s. #12: ALL Enlightenment thinkers agreed in the need for education, but some were against education for women. Mary Wollstonecraft argued that the need to be educated was important for men and women equally.