The Enlightenment DARE TO KNOW!!

The Enlightenment On the heels of the Reformation and Scientific Revolution the Enlightenment took another step to dissolving traditional authority figures and political establishments. Took a scientific approach to politics Based on buzz words like reason, natural law, progress

Important Peeps to Know Immanuel Kant declared that the motto of the new Enlightenment would be “Dare to Know” Kant felt that people should study what really works and what does not and throw away broken institutions Felt that if Newton could discover natural laws that governed nature there should be natural laws that govern society

Others Bernard de Fontenelle: The direct link from scientific revolution to enlightenment Wrote Plurality of Worlds pg 510 A skeptic Pierre Bayle: One of the leading skeptics (people skeptical of religious truths and increasingly more secular) Wanted states to allow freedom of religion Attacked dogmatism, superstition, and religious intolerance Wrote the Historical and Critical Dictionary

More... Travel Literature: Many Europeans read stories of exotic places like Tahiti and Australia and wondered if they were any happier than these “noble savages” Cultural Relativism: People felt they should study other cultures and try to incorporate what is good from them into western thought People began to realize more and more Christianity is one of many major religions which led to more skepticism

John Locke A reaction to the works of Thomas Hobbes and the English Revolution Believed in the social contract which he presented in his book Two Treatises of Government Accepted natural laws of life, liberty, and property (influenced TJ) Thought all people started out with a Tabula Rasa “clean slate” and that the environment molded humans and society

Philosophes and Their Ideas Philosophes: People who tried, through a variety of methods, to spread new ideas Movement of the middle class and nobles.... Even some poor people Cosmopolitan: (not belonging to one part of the world) mix of cultures and ideas Many of the philosophes were motivated by rising censorship in their own countries. They called collectively for freedom!

1 st French Giant Charles de Secondat the baron de Montesquieu: First book Persian Letters criticized slavery, Catholic church, French Government from an outsiders view The Spirit of the Laws Republic for small states Monarchy for middle size states Despotism for large empires Separation of Powers Based on English constitutional monarchy Said there should be a system of checks and balance

2 nd French Giant Francois-Marie Arouet (Voltaire): Loved English culture with freedom of press and religious toleration Father of Deism... Kind of Based on the Newtonian Universe of a mechanic god Wrote Candide and many other satires Pg 516

Giant number 3 Denis Diderot: Critic of Christianity (pg 518) Wrote a 28 volume Encyclopedia (the old school internet)

The New “science of man” Philosophers that applied the scientific method to understanding “natural laws” that govern society The beginning of social sciences David Hume Scottish thinker One of the first pioneers into Western philosophy Helped with an understanding of sociology Claimed that desire is what drives people not reason Against Rene Descartes's dualism claiming that only things experienced can be known Supported Empiricism and Skepticism

New Economics Adam Smith (father of modern economics) One of the heads of the Physiocrats trying to discover natural laws of economy Disproved mercantilism Laws of supply and demand Laissez-faire (let it be) approach with government Famous work Wealth of Nations Says don’t worry about tariffs focus on what you are good at producing Believed source of wealth was LABOR Says government should protect (military) from foreign attack and local (police) and provide means for transport of goods (canals and roads which private could not afford)

Later Enlightenment Baron d’ Hollbach Promoted strict atheism (belief in no god) Focus on Materialism (says people driven by acquiring stuff and pleasure) Marie-Jean de Condorcet Claimed that man was entering a 10 stage of perfection with advancements in science and reason Believed in the progressive movement

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Critical of much of the enlightenment Famous work Origins on Inequality of Mankind pg. 518 Second work the Social Contract (another one) Claimed all people should determine the “general will” and all would be forced to obey for freedom’s sake Critical of English government pg. 519 Romanticism and Emile In his final work claimed that there needed to be balance between heart and mind (desire and reason)

Feminism Marry Wollstonecraft: In her book Vindication of the Rights of Woman said Said men controlling women is no different than monarchs controlling subjects Said that if women could reason then they are able to contribute Said women should have equal rights in educational opportunities, political life, and social standings