Scholar Start
Friday, October 24, 2014
Pick up Scholar Start from table
Do Now:
What do you believe the Enlightenment means?
Write your answer on this side.
Objective:
Students will be able to explain the contributions of Enlightenment philosophers to democracy by completing
a gallery walk.
Great Brains of the
Enlightenment
Gallery Walk
Gallery Walk Instructions
• STEP 1: You will be put into groups of 3-4 people.
• STEP 2: Walk around the room and read the placards on the
wall that describe the ideas of the important Enlightenment
philosophers. (5 minutes at each station!!!)
• STEP 3: Complete the corresponding worksheet: Gallery
Walk – Enlightenment Philosophers.
• STEP 4: When you have finished, complete the follow up
questions on the back by using your gallery walk worksheet.
Wrap Up Questions
1. What are the natural rights as
defined by John Locke?
2. What is the social contract?
3. What is meant by “consent of the
governed?”
Station 1: Voltaire
• A French Enlightenment writer and philosopher
• Distrusted democracy
• Voltaire is remembered and
honored in France as a
courageous man who fought
for civil rights
– Right to a fair trial and freedom
of religion
– Fought for the right of free
speech
– He denounced the hypocrisies
and injustices of the ancient
régime
Station 2: Baron de Montesquieu
• Wrote the Spirit of the Law
• Believed that people were not naturally
equal; he thought that women were
inferior and that slavery was acceptable
• He studied many forms of government, which led him to his
idea of separation of powers
• Political power should be divided between three branches of
government with separate, but equal powers
Station 3: Jean-Jacques Rousseau
• Wrote the Social Contract
• Believed that people were born good,
independent, and compassionate (people left
without a government = happiness)
• He thought that society’s institutions (ex.
Schools, arts, media, and government) brought
out the worst in people
• Believed in a “social contract” which is an
implicit agreement among the members of a
society to cooperate for social benefit where
people came together and ruled themselves
with direct democracy
Station 4: Cesare Beccaria
• Most noted essay, "On Crimes and Punishments“
• Beccaria expressed not only the need for the criminal justice system, but also the
government’s right to have laws and punishments
• When one chooses to live in a society, then one chooses to give up some personal
liberties in exchange for the safety and comfort of a society (Social Contract)
• Laws should be enlightened, rational, logical and should
be the greatest good for the greatness number:
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Right to public trial
Right to be judged by peers
Right to dismiss certain jurors
Right against unusual punishments
Right to speedy trial
Right to examine witnesses
Tortured confessions are considered invalid
Right to be informed of accused acts
Station 5: Thomas Hobbes
• Believed that people were naturally
wicked, and said that they couldn’t be
trusted to govern themselves
• He wrote the Leviathan and argued
that a monarch should have complete
control (absolute monarchy)
• He said that democracy couldn’t work
because selfish people would always
put their own interests ahead of the
nation’s
– People should voluntarily give power to a
king who would guide the country
Station 6: John Locke
• Wrote The Two treaties of Government
• He believed that all people could reason
(think) and so they should be allowed to
govern themselves
• He said that governments are formed to
protect the rights of the citizens (these were
life, liberty, and property)
• He said that the power to rule must come
from the consent (agreement) of the ruled
• Locke also said that because women think,
they should be allowed an equal voice
• He believe three key rights are life, liberty,
and property
Station 7: Mary Wollstonecraft
• Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the first women
to call for women’s rights
• Wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women
• She said that women had an inferior role in
society because of the environment in which
they grew up, and not because women were
inherently inferior
• Women (and people in general) could have better lives if the education
system was improved
• She argued that women should be allowed to participate fully in society
• Society oppresses women and the entire structure of society needed to
change before there could be equality