Name: _______________________________________________
Date: _____________________
Philosophes Activity
The philosophes were the leading intellectuals of the Enlightenment. They used the methods of the Scientific Revolution and applied them to the spheres of society,
politics and economics with the intention of discovering universal social laws. The philosophes had many differing views and various areas of interest, but they were
united in the belief that using reason to discover these universal laws would lead to the betterment of society.
Use each chapter in Sophie’s World and the internet to conduct research on each philosophe to fill out the information requested in the chart below. Make
use of the resources on the class webpage, your novel, and any other reputable internet source. In your research you should find out some basic information about
your philosophe’s life, their main written work, and the main ideas and contributions this philosophe made to the Enlightenment.
Philosophe
Biography (birth/death,
nationality, profession, etc.)
Example:
Thomas Hobbes
- 1588-1679
- English
- lived during the English Civil War
- became friends with Galileo and
was inspired by his geometric
proofs
Rene Descartes
Baruch Spinoza
Main Work /
Date it was written
Leviathan, 1651
Main Ideas/Contributions
- Men are by nature violent, and their lives are
nasty, brutish and short
- In the state of nature, men live at war with
one another
- Government is necessary and ought to take
the form of a social contract with a strong
absolute ruler against whom men cannot rebel
Additional Notes
John Locke
David Hume
George Berkeley
Immanuel Kant