1. Enlightenment

2. Enlightenment People began to change their thinking.
Thought they lived in an “enlightened” age.
Human behavior can be studied logically & rationally and through reason.
Astronomy and anatomy included.
Started studying the social sciences
Move closer to understanding how things work.
1st time in history when people think things will continue to get better.
Condition of humans could steadily improve.

3. Math and Science
New importance is developed, stemming from the Renaissance.
Wanted to explain everything scientifically or mathematically.
Even if it had nothing to do with mathematics or science.
Applied theories of Newton and Descartes

4. Voltaire Francois Marie Arouret (1694-1778)
Known as Voltaire
“The Elements of the Philosophy of Newton”
1738 in English
Stimulated interest in Science
Stimulates funds for research

5. Enlightenment Some places didn’t change as fast.
Poor goals and priorities
Alchemy
Process to turn lead into gold
Chemistry
Joseph Priestly (English)- identifies oxygen
Antoine Laurent Lavoisier
Identified elements for fire and water
Encyclopedia developed ( )
Denis Diderot- Frenchman that wanted all the important fields to be known.

6. Enlightenment and Religion
Voltaire
“Philosophical Letters on the English” (1734)
“Destroy the infamous thing.” (Christianity)
Claimed religion was evil
Diest
Believed creator didn’t interfere.
Other attacks on Christianity from philosophers like Pierre Bayle
“Natural History of the Earth” ( )
Georges Louis Leclerc & Comte de Buffon
Didn’t use Genesis

7. Enlightenment and Economics
Current system was Mercantilism
Government would set prices
Physiocrats
Opposed government intervention in the economy
Adam Smith, “The Wealth of Nations”
Let economy work itself out.
“laissez faire”

8. Enlightenment and Government
Thomas Hobbes, “Leviathan”
Social Contract with an absolute ruler.
John Locke- Englishman
“Essay on Civil Government” (1690)
Idea of a contract between the ruler and the ruled.
Argued we start off as “blank slates” which does not describe inclination for war.
Also explains how all men are created “equal”.
Proposed Natural Rights
Proposed owning land and that people should have to put something into the land rather than just buy the rights.
“life, liberty, and the pursuit of property.”

9. Salons Informal social gatherings.
Extremely important because it brought people to share ideas and discuss subjects.
Helped fuel the Enlightenment
Started by noblewomen inviting friends for poetry readings.
Middle-class women then began holding salons.

10. Enlightenment in America
The Enlightenment was really influential in America.