6.2 The Enlightenment in Europe

Rights of Everybody

According to John Locke, everyone is born with three natural rights: life, liberty, and property.

Voltaire

François Marie Arouet, under the pen name Voltaire, was one of the most brilliant and influential philosophes. He published more than 70 books of political essays, philosophy, and drama.

Rousseau

Jean Jacques Rousseau was passionately committed to individual freedom. He argued that civilization corrupted people's natural goodness.

John Locke

John Locke, a philosopher, believed that people could learn from experience and improve themselves. As reasonable beings, they had the natural ability to govern their own affairs and to look after the welfare of society. He did not like absolute monarchy, he favored the idea of self-government.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft was a strong advocate for education of women. She published an essay called A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792.

Why might some women have been critical of the Enlightenment?

Some women might have been critical of the Enlightenment because while philosophers advocated for change, they did pretty much nothing to help women and, once again, women were forced to work extra hard to be heard, even in a time of progress and growth.

Montesquieu

The Baron de Montesquieu, other influential French writer, devoted himself to the study of political liberty.

Legacy of the Enlightenment

The Enlightenment brought changes in government, society, religion, economics, education, and general thought in Europe.

Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was a new intellectual movement that stressed reason and the power of individuals to solve problems. Scholars sought new insight into the underlying beliefs regarding government, religion, economics, and education.

Who/what were the philosophes?

The philosophes were the social critics in France. They advocated for reason, nature, happiness, progress, and liberty.

Philosophes

The social critics of the enlightenment in France were called philosophes. Five concepts formed the core of their beliefs: reason, nature, happiness, progress, and liberty.

Social Contract

Thomas Hobbes argued that in order to get law and structure in their bleak lives, citizens had to hand over their rights to a king. This became known as the social contract.