The Enlightenment
BASIC THEORIES:

Deism: Belief that a rational God created the universe, but then allowed it to
function without interference.

Progress: Idea that science, technology, and/or social organization will
lead to the betterment of society.

Tolerance: Acceptance of other people and ideas associated with
the freedom of thought.

Universal laws: (Classical Mechanics) System of physics founded by
Newton that used the physical “truths” or “laws” to describe motion of
bodies the action of a system of forces. Contrast with the idea of natural
law pertaining to society.

Enlightened Absolutism: Monarchs who accepted the new thinking of
the Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution and ruled not through divine
right, but reason. The monarch is given power by the people to rule rationally.

Social Contract: Agreement by people to enter into a civil society. It binds
people and communities together in giving up some aspects of physical
freedom for civil freedom in being able to act and think both rationally
and morally. Depends how one sees humans in the State of Nature
PHILOSOPHERS:

Newton:
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Locke:
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Montesquieu:
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Diderot:
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D’Alembert:
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Voltaire:
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Rousseau:
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Bacon:
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Hobbes:
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Descartes:
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Gibbons:
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Smith:
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Quesnay: