1. Enlightened Philosophies

2. Enlightenment  The Enlightenment was an 18th century philosophical movement of intellectuals who were greatly impressed with the achievements of the Scientific Revolution  Enlightened thinkers hoped that by using the scientific method they could make progress towards a better society  Reason, natural law, hope, and progress were common words to the thinkers of the Enlightenment.

3. Physiocrats  They were a French group who were interested in identifying the natural economic laws that governed human society  They maintained that if individuals were free to pursue their own economic self- interest, all society would ultimately benefit

4. Salon  Salons were elegant drawing rooms of the wealthy upper class’s great urban houses  Guests would engage in conversations about the new philosophical ideas  The salons brought writers and artists together with aristocrats, government officials, and wealthy middle-class people  The women who hosted the salons found themselves in a position to sway political opinion and influence literary and artistic taste

5. John Locke  In his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he says that every person is born with a tabula rasa or blank mind and that people were molded by their experiences  If environments were changed and people exposed to the right influences, people could be changed and a new society created.

6. John Locke

7. Montesquieu  In his famous work The Spirit of the Laws (1748), he identified 3 basic types of governments: republics despotism monarchies  He discussed the separation of powers in which the executive, legislative, and judicial powers of the gov’t limit and control each other in a system of checks and balances  This system provides the greatest freedom and security for the state because it prevents one person or branch from gaining too much power

8. Montesquieu

9. Voltaire  He wrote Treatise on Toleration in 1763 in which he criticized Christianity and supported religious toleration  Voltaire believed in deism which was an 18th century religious philosophy based on reason and natural law and the idea that God had created the universe and allowed it to run without his interference, according to its own natural laws

10. Voltaire

11. Denis Diderot  He edited the Encyclopedia, or Classified Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Trades, a 28 volume collection of knowledge from 1751 to 1772  Many of its articles attacked religious superstition and supported religious toleration and called for social, legal, and political improvements that would lead to a better society

12. Denis Diderot

13. Adam Smith  He wrote The Wealth of Nations (1776) and he advocated the idea of laissez-faire and said that the state should not interfere in economic matters  Smith said the gov’t should have 3 basic roles: protecting from invasion, defending citizens from injustice, and keeping up public works

14. Adam Smith

15. Cesare Beccaria  In his essay On Crimes and Punishments (1764), he argued that punishments should not be exercises in brutality  he also opposed capital punishment because he didn’t believe it stopped others from committing crimes.

16. Jean-Jacques Rousseau  In The Social Contract (1762), he discussed his concept of the social contract that said an entire society agrees to be governed by its general will  Liberty is achieved by being forced to follow what is best for the “general will” b/c the “general will” represents what is best for the entire community

17. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

18. Mary Wollstonecraft  In A Vindication of the Rights of Women, said that the power of men over women was wrong and argued that because women have reason, they are entitled to the same rights as men in education, as well as economic and political life

19. Mary Wollstonecraft