According to the 18 th Century philosopher Immanuel Kant, the “motto” of the Enlightenment was “Sapere aude! Have courage to use your own intelligence!”

According to the 18th Century philosopher Immanuel Kant, the

“motto” of the Enlightenment was “Sapere aude! Have courage to use your own intelligence!”

(Kant, “What Is Enlightenment?”

1784)

Immanuel Kant

The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement in Europe during the 18th century that led to a new world view.

What were the influences on the Enlightenment?

3

How did the Enlightenment affect common

citizens?

Hmmm

The Renaissance, Reformation, and Scientific Revolution all

contributed with new ways of thinking and looking at things.

Roots of Enlightenment Reformation

4

• Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church’s authority and brought on the Protestant Reformation beginning in 1517.

The Scientific Revolution

The Enlightenment grew largely out of the new methods and discoveries achieved in the

Scientific Revolution

The equatorial armillary, used for navigation on ships

Francis Bacon and the Scientific Method

The scientific method

Observation and experimentation

Testable hypothesis

Sir Francis Bacon

Galileo Galilei1564-1642. Italian. Scientist.

Isaac Newton and the Scientific Method

Used the scientific method to make a range of discoveries

Newton’s achievements using the scientific method helped inspire Enlightenment thinkers

Enlightenment Principles

Religion, tradition, and superstition limited independent thought

Accept knowledge based on observation, logic, and reason, not on faith

Scientific and academic thought should be secular

A meeting of French Enlightenment thinkers

Roots of EnlightenmentScientific Revolution

10

You mean, You mean, I’m not the I’m not the center of center of

everything?everything?!!

Galileo facing the Roman Inquisition, apainting by Cristiano Banti, 1857

How did scientific progress promote trust in human reason?

Objectives

How did the social contract and separation of powers affect views on government?

How did new ideas affect society and the economy?

Identify the philosophies of major Enlightenment thinkers such as: John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, Adam Smith.

Scientific Revolution Leads to Enlightenment

1500-1700: European scientists using reason to discover laws of natureVery successful: Planetary movements,

chemistry, vaccine for smallpox, etc.Early 1700’s: If people used reason to

find laws that governed the physical world, why not use reason to discover natural laws?Laws that govern human natureReformers begin studying human nature

and societal problems

Major Enlightenment Ideas

Every social, political and economic problem could be solved through the use of reason

Governments are created to secure an orderly society

Separation of powers is the best way to protect human liberties

All men are created “free and equal”A free market should be allowed to

regulate trade

René Descartes1596-1650. French. Philosopher & Mathematician

René Descartes• Descartes was a French scientist,

mathematician, and philosopher.

• Descartes emphasized human reasoning as the

best road to understanding.

• Like Bacon, Descartes also believed that truth was only found after a

long process of studying and investigation.

“I think, therefore I am”

Our Own Attempt at Skepticism....

René Descartes

Descartes Concludes:Cogito Ergo Sum (“I think, therefore I am”).Meditations on First Philosophy (1639).

The Cartesian Plane

A Mathematical Map of Reality

Enlightenment Thinkers

John Locke

Baron de Montesquieu

Voltaire

John Locke (1632–1704)

The “State of Nature”

Tabula rasa

Locke(continued)

Treatises of Government

Rights

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)

Applied rational analysis to the study of government

Attacked the concept of divine right, yet supported a strong monarchy

Believed that humans were basically driven by passions and needed to be kept in check by a powerful ruler

Social Contract

Thomas Hobbes John Locke•Humans are naturally

cruel, greedy and selfish.

•To escape this “brutish” life people entered into a social

contract.•Only a powerful

government could ensure an orderly

society.•Believed only an

absolute monarchy could keep a society completely orderly.

•Humans are naturally reasonable, moral and

good•Humans have natural rights: life liberty and

property•People form

governments to protect natural rights

•Best government was one with limited power

•If a government violates people’s

natural rights, people have the right to

overthrow government

The French Salon and the Philosophes

Madame de Pompadour

• Madame de Pompadour• Salons: gatherings for

aristocrats to discuss new theories and ideas

• Philosophes: French Enlightenment thinkers who attended the salons

Voltaire (1694–1778)

Most famous philosophe

Wrote plays, essays, poetry, philosophy, and books

Attacked the “relics” of the medieval social order

Championed social, political, and religious tolerance

The Encyclopédie

Major achievement of the philosophes

Begun in 1745; completed in 1765

Frontspiece to the Encyclopédie

The Encyclopédie (continued)

Denis Diderot and Jean Le Rond d’Alembert

Banned by the Catholic Church

Encyclopédie editor Denis Diderot

Deism

Deists believed in God but rejected organized religion

Morality could be achieved by following reason rather than the teachings of the church

Lord Edward Herbert of Cherbury, founder of deism

Deism (continued)

The “great watchmaker”

Thomas Paine

Jean-Jacques Rousseau(1712–1778)

Philosophized on the nature of society and government

The Social Contract

Baron de Montesquieu (1689–1755)

• French noble and political philosopher

• The Spirit of the Laws

Montesquieu (continued)

• Separation of powers

• Constitutional monarchy

Frontspiece to The Spirit of the Laws

Separation of Powers

Baron de Montesquieu: Criticized absolute monarchy and admired British government

British protected themselves from tyranny by dividing powers of government between three branches: legislative, executive and judicial (misconception)

Each branch of government should be

able to ‘check’ the other two

What government does this sound like?

Women and the Enlightenment

Changing views

Role of education

EqualityMary Wollstonecraft Olympe de Gouges

Mary Wollstonecraft

Declaration of the Rights of Man

A Vindication of the Rights of Women

Wollstonecraft (continued)

Education

Women’s rights movement

Title page of Wollstonecraft’s Thoughts on the

Education of Daughters

Olympe De Gouges

Criticized the French Revolution

The Rights of Women

“Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen”

Executed in 1793

“Enlightened Monarchs” Most of Europe ruled by

absolute monarchs Receptive to

Enlightenment ideas Instituted new laws and

practices

Enlightened Monarchs• Frederick II, Prussia

• Catherine the Great, Russia• Maria Theresa, Austria• Joseph II, Holy Roman

Empire• Gustav III, Sweden• Napoleon I, France

Enlightenment and the Economy

Physiocrats rejected mercantilism in favor of a policy called laissez-faire.

Physiocrats were Enlightenment

thinkers who focused on economic reforms

Laissez-Faire: allowing business to operate with little or no government interference

Real wealth comes from productive land not gold and silver

Supported free trade and opposed tariffs

Enlightenment and the Economy

Adam Smith: Free market should be allowed to regulate business activityManufacturing, trade, wages, profits and economic

growth are all linked to the market forces of supply and demand

Where there is demand, suppliers will seek to meet it because there are profits and economic rewards to be had

Smith supported laissez faire, but also believed that a government had a duty to protect society, administer justice, and provide public works.

His ideas lead to very productive economies during the Industrial Revolution (1800’s and 1900’s)

Supply and

Demand

Other Major Enlightenment Ideas for Society

Detested the slave trade and slavery

Deplored religious prejudice

Defended freedom of speech

Attacked divine right theory

Urged education for all

Hated unequal distribution of property

Believed governments should be freely elected

Women’s first duty was to her family

Enlightenment Changes Society

Women: Women were not equal and were criticized for attempting to gain equality

Salons: Men and women gather in living rooms to discuss Enlightenment ideas (chat rooms)

Music: Ballets and operas become popular (Bach, Handel, Mozart)

Art: Baroque gives way to rococo art (simple, elegant and charming)

Literature: Novels become popular (Robinson Cruesoe)