The Enlightenment: The
Age of Reason
What factors contributed to
the start of the
Enlightenment?
Factors Contributing to the Start:
The English Civil War
Backlash against Absolutism (In
France mostly)
The Scientific Revolution (Newton
publishes Mathematical Principles of
Natural Philosophy in 1687)
First Major Enlightenment Thinkers?
Thomas Hobbes
Major Work?
View of
People?
View of
Life?
View of
Govt.?
Social
Contract?
John Locke
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just
Powers from the consent of the governed.
That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the
Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and
to institute new Government…”
Create your own “social contract” between
one of the following pairs:
1. You:Your Parents
2. World Studies Students:World Studies
Teachers
3. You:Your Siblings
4. You:Your Friends
5. Mr. McKee:LMHS Students
Five Basic Principles of the
Enlightenment?
Reason: Man can explain all of
life’s mysteries through logic and
thought
Nature: Nature was good and
reasonable. It held all of the
answers for mankind. It gives us
natural law.
Happiness: One who lived by
nature’s laws would be happy
Progress: Society could be
perfected if all mankind used
reason and lived by natural law.
Liberty: Reason would lead to the
freedom of all people
Who were the
Philosophes?
Thinkers who applied
Newton’s methods to all of
society, including politics,
economics, religion, and
science
Major Impacts of the
Enlightenment?
Sparked three revolutions:
American: 1776
French: 1789
Industrial 1700-1850
Impacts: Cont.
Inspires push for social
progress (salons of Paris)
End to slavery
Social equality
Improved education
Impacts: Cont.
Increases Secularism:
Deism = God as “watchmaker”
Builds upon “Humanism” of the
Renaissance
Secular Humanism
Impacts: Cont.
Individualism
Use own reason to judge right and
wrong
Protection of individual rights
Govt. created by collections of
individuals