The Enlightenment
Sir Isaac Newton
• Born 1642 in England
• Cambridge University
– Studies math and science.
– The invention of Calculus
– The “hated” Professor
Newton
– Proves Kepler’s Laws of
Planetary Motion
– The spectrum, laws of
gravity, planetary physics,
and magic.
Religion and Science
• Newton was a very devout
Catholic.
– Wanted to prove God is in
control of the universe and
had an active role in it.
– He finds out there are
Natural Laws which control
everything. The universe is
run by a set of complex
laws, not God.
The Beginning of the Enlightenment
• If there are rules for how nature
works…….are there rules for how
society/science/math/all of life should
work?
The Enlightenment
• A movement to discover the rules of
nature and society. “Natural Laws”
• Based on these two principles:
– 1. There are laws which govern the universe.
– 2. Humans can discover those laws.
In other words, trying to discover how the
universe works.
John Locke (1632-1704)
• “Tabula raza”, the blank slate.
– “All men are created equal”
• Power comes from the people.
• There is no “natural right” to rule.
– Therefore there should be no Kings.
• The Social Contract
– Government is a contract among people, and
must protect the rights (life, liberty, property) of
the people, if it fails to do so, the people can
change it.
Other Enlightenment Thinkers
• Adam Smith – “The
Wealth of Nations”
Edward Gibbon
• “The Decline and Fall
of the Roman Empire”
Samuel Johnson
James Cook
Mozart and Beethoven
Dennis Diderot
Government Thinkers
• Voltaire – French
– Questioned absolute
monarchs.
– “Popular government
is in itself, less unjust,
less hated, than
despotic power.”
Montesquieu
-French
• Need to separate powers of government.
• Legislative, Executive, Judicial Branches.
• “There is no liberty if the judicial power is
not separated from the legislative and
executive branches.”
Rousseau – Swiss, living in Paris
• In a natural state, we are all
free and equal.
• “Man is born free, yet
everywhere he is in chains.”
• “The government is created
by a contract among the
people, and receives its
powers from them. The
government exists to serve
the people, and when it no
longer does so, the people
may change it.”
Those who listened…..
• Catherine the Great of Russia
Frederick II of Prussia
Those who did not…..
• Louis XV and Louis XVI of France