1. Vocabulary for Absolutism and Enlightenment Unit
Mr. Condry’s Social Studies Class

2. Absolute Monarchy
Rule by one person, usually a king or a queen, whose actions are restricted neither by written law or custom

3. Absolutism
the acceptance of or belief in absolute principles in political, philosophical, ethical, or theological matters.

4. Divine Right of Kings
the doctrine that kings get their authority from God, not from their subjects.

5. The Enlightenment
a European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition.

6. The Social Contract
an implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection.

7. Consent of the Governed
the authority of a government should depend on the consent of the people

8. Scientific Revolution
 refers to the rapid advances in European scientific, mathematical, and political thought

9. Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
French philosopher and writer born in Switzerland; believed that the natural goodness of man was warped by society; ideas influenced the French Revolution

10. Thomas Hobbes ( )
English materialist and political philosopher who advocated absolute sovereignty as the only kind of government that could resolve problems caused by the selfishness of human beings

11. John Locke ( )
English empiricist philosopher who believed that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience

12. Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755)
French political philosopher who advocated the separation of executive and legislative and judicial powers

13. King Louis XVI ( )
king of France from to 1792; his failure to grant reforms led to the French Revolution; he and his queen (Marie Antoinette) were guillotined

14. Voltaire ( )
was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher. Wrote about the freedom of religion, freedom of speech and separation of church and state.