Enlightenment
Isaac Newton
Minuet
Plague
Gravity
Principia Mathematica
 Period in history between 1600 and 1700
 Europe
 People believed that the darkness of the past was
giving way to new light
 Symbolism of Darkness
 Ignorance, superstition, unproven beliefs
 Symbolism of Light
 Knowledge
 The Renaissance
 Thinkers turned to Ancient Greek and Roman thought
for inspiration
 1600-1700s
 People decided that they could uncover the laws of
nature and come to an understanding of human society
and government
 The Enlightenment is also called the Age of Reason
 Changed history and created the beginning of the
modern world
 Revolutions in science, mathematics and government
The upper class
The lower class
 Nice homes
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
 Every object in the home is
a work of art
 Dressed in silk and lace
 Wore white wigs and
danced the minuet
 Minuet is a slow dance
that involves much
bowing and toe-pointing
 Kings ruled by divine right
Life was hard
Lived in slums
Worked from dawn to dusk
Owned nothing
Less than ½ of babies
made it to adulthood
 Prisons were full
 Torture was legal
 People had no rights
 Not the nobles or the poor
 The middle class
 Merchants, bankers, traders, and skilled craftsmen are
thriving
 Destined to be the leaders of the enlightenment
 Some of the middle class became rich and lived like
the upper class
 Were called Burgers
 Bourgeoisie (boor jwah zee)
 Bourgeois means “town dweller”
 Born of Christmas day in
1642
 Very small
 Very observant
 Spent long hours
observing nature
 Invented mechanical
devices
 Windmill to grind corn
into cornmeal
 Clock powered by falling
water
 Lots of reading
 Absentminded
 Tending sheep
 19 years old
 Cambridge University
 Read books before they were assigned
 Learned about chemistry from a local pharmacist
 The Plague a disease that is deadly and spreads
rapidly
 Newton returns home
 Most productive two years of his life
 Sitting Around
 Discovery of Gravity
 Could the same laws of gravity apply to other parts of
the universe?
 Copernicus
 The earth moves around the sun
 Galileo
 Telescope to prove the theory of Copernicus
 Both Copernicus and Galileo had a hard time trying to
convince people of their ideas
 Gravity
 Falling of the apple keeps the planet in orbit around the
sun
 Sun Stare
 Almost blinded himself
 Experimented with objects and motion
 A body is either at rest or in motion in a straight line
unless acted upon by some outside source
 Invented Calculus
 Newton was very hesitant to release his new ideas
 Very modest and did not like quarrelling
 Mathematical Principles
 Produced after 2 ½ years of solitary study
 Explained the law of gravity and laws of motion in
mathematical terms
 Did not publish it for 20 years
 Publication of the Principia
 One of the most important events in the history of
science and thought
 Newton insisted that his laws were true throughout the
physical world
 All things can be explained through observation and
reason
 Inspired confidence in science and reason
 Natures laws could be understood through inquiry,
observation and calculation
 People began to examine politics, religion and society.
 Newton opened the door to a new understanding of
the world
 First scientist to be knighted by an English queen
 Renѐ Descartes
 Philosophy
 Discourse on
Method
 “Cogito ergo
sum”
 Lived with his grandmother as a young boy
 Mother died when he was one
 Sent to boarding school at the age of 10
 Often Sick
 Allowed to sleep in
 Studied law
 Had no interest in it, expected by his family
 Still enjoyed sleeping in
 Joins the army at age 22
 Becomes fascinated with mathematics
 Writes several papers on the subject
 Joins that Bavarian Army
 Still woke up late and spent a lot of time on his own
 Enjoyed his life until the snow started to fall
 Spent most of his time bundled up and thinking
 Descartes began to use reason to explore the human
condition and his belief in God
 Beginning of modern Philosophy
 Returned to Holland
 Did not punish those who questioned religious or
political traditions
 Holland was the center of the European printing
industry
 Ideas thrived in Holland
 Descartes best known book
 Book comes from his time in the snow covered Bavaria
 Began to question and doubt
 There is one thing that we can all be sure of
 Our thoughts—our existence
 “There is just one thing that is undeniable: I am
thinking. This alone proves my existence.”
 Cogito Ergo Sum
 I think, therefore I am
 “It is not enough just to have a fine mind; the main
thing is to learn how to apply it properly.”
 Promised himself
 “never to accept anything as true if I did not clearly
know it to be so,”
 The truth of the universe can be learned by
observation and reason
 Not just by faith
 Encouraged people to doubt everything except their
own existence.
 Until they proved each thing to be true
 Queen Christina of Sweden invited Renѐ to her court
 Did not excite the 53 year old Renѐ
 The Queen got her way
 Brisk sleigh ride each morning
 Pneumonia after two weeks
 Dies in Sweden
Legacy of Descartes
 Introduced a new way of thinking about what we know
and how we know it
 Father of modern philosophy
 Pessimist
 Authoritarian
 Leviathan
 Behemoth
 Entered Oxford at the age of 15
 Typical college students entered school at 16-18
 After Graduation
 Tutor for the son of a nobleman
 Traveled abroad
 Meets Descartes in France
 England
 Political unrest
 Problems between the king and parliament
 Hobbes fled to Paris
 Ended up tutoring the former kings son, Prince Charles I
 Hobbs observed the political scene in England
 Drew conclusions about the purpose and nature of
government
 Writes a book called the Leviathan
 A sea-monster in the bible that is an all powerful ruler of
the sea.
 Hobbes believed that the government should be like a
leviathan
 Reasons that Hobbes believed the government should
be a Leviathan
 Human “state of nature”
 People are naturally cruel, greedy and selfish
 People have two main desires
 Feel pleasure
 Avoid Pain
 People will do anything to satisfy these desires
 Hobbes was a pessimist
 Pessimist-someone who believes the worst will happen
 Hobbes believed that without government human life
would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”
 People must enter into a social contract
 Give up their freedoms
 Turn them over to a powerful leader or assembly
 Strong leaders, strict laws and stiff punishments would
protect selfish individuals from making war on each other
 Society would be best served by an absolute monarchy
 Absolute Monarchy-an all powerful ruler
 What about Freedom?
 Real human freedom comes from living peacefully
 A strong government protects people from themselves
 1660 The Monarchy is restored
 Prince Charles becomes King Charles II
 Hobbes is able to publish his work without problems
 1665 The Plague
 1666 A great fire in England
 Both of these events turned people back to religion.
 People who spoke out against religion were in trouble
 People wanted to ban the Leviathan and Hobbes
 King Charles II saves the day
 Forbade Hobbes from publishing any new work
 Behemoth
 Presented for publication
 Banned by the king
 Published 3 years after Hobbes’ death
 Most people saw him as a threat to religion
 Ignored by fellow philosophers and scientist
 Continued to submit papers
 Turned away
 Hobbes becomes an angry and bitter man
 Dies at the age of 91
 Put a dark view on human nature
 Presented and authoritarian model of how society
should be organized
 Authoritarian-presented as if from an expert or an
authority
 People are not basically good
 A strong government or leader is necessary to make
the laws for peace and safety
 Essay Concerning Human Understanding
 Tabula Rasa
 Dr. van der Linden
 Parliament
 Radical
 A fine student
 Named a “king’s scholar”
 Scholarship to Oxford
 30 years studying, tutoring and writing
 Studied medicine and became a doctor
 Removed a growth from his friend’s liver
 Saved his life
 Became famous for his writing about human
knowledge and politics
 Every person comes into this world with a mind like a
tabula rasa
 Tabula Rasa—Blank Tablet
 We have no knowledge at birth
 All knowledge comes from experience
 If a child were kept in a place where he never saw any
other color but black and white till he were a man, he
would have no ideas of scarlet or green
 We learn about the world through our senses
 After we experience we compare our new experiences to
previous ones
Hobbes
Locke
 Government should be
 People have natural
all powerful
 People are selfish
 People are warlike
rights
 The rule of a monarch
depends on the consent
of the people
 People become what
they are based on their
experiences
 People who only know fighting and cruelty will likely
be violent and cruel
 Advised parents to treat children with tenderness and
kindness
 They would learn to be kind
 People given the right experiences would be moral and
reasonable
 People are born with certain natural rights
 Life, liberty, and property
 It is the government’s duty to preserve the rights of the
citizens
 Locke also believed that if a government fails to
protect the natural rights of the people that the people
have the right to overthrow the government
 This idea is what inspired the American Revolution
 King James II
 Unpopular ruler
 Catholics in high offices
 People feared the Parliament would be disbanded
 King James was not a fan of Locke
 Locke had sided with the Parliament
 Rumors that Locke supported the overthrow of the crown
 Locke is blacklisted
 Locke flees to Holland
 Dr. Van der Linden
 Completes his Essay Concerning Human Understanding
 Locke meets Prince William of Orange
 Husband of Mary (King James II daughter)
 Locke becomes a supporter of William
 1688 Parliament unseats King James II
 William comes to take the throne
 Locke returns to England was a traveling companion to
Mary
 Had to give up many of their powers to the Parliament
 Parliament called for a Bill of Rights
 Change is called the Glorious Revolution
 No bloodshed or violence
 1688 and on
 No king or queen could rule in England without the
consent of the Parliament
 Locke’s radical ideas became a reality
 Radical –relating to great changes or reform
 Montesquieu
 Clergy
 Limited Monarchy
 The Persian Letters
 The Spirit of Laws
 Charles de Secondat
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Noble
Baron de Montesquieu
Lots of Money
Becomes one of the most important thinker of 18th
century
 Traveled around Europe
 Italy and England
 Read widely
 Ancient and medieval times
 Chinese and Native American cultures
 Observed, studied and reasoned
 Came to a conclusion
 France was in big trouble
 Most of the people were suffering
 Poverty
 Injustice
 Strict social order allowed for no chance for change
 Enforced by the monarch and clergy
 Clergy people who are religious leaders
 Montesquieu goes to Holland
 Publishes the Persian Letters
 “Written” by Usbek and Rica
 Collection of their “writings”
 Criticized the French ruling class
 First letter home
 Usbek and Rica had left their homes in search for
wisdom
 “our purpose is to educate ourselves about the customs
and social arrangements in the West.”
 The Persian Letters are a hit
 Readers read them out loud
 Rica and Usbek revealed harsh truths
 Not a problem because the were “Persian Citizens”
 “The king is a great magician”
 Able to convince people that paper was money
 If he runs low on money he can just print more
 Presto
 Everyone could become rich
 Description of the life of a court nobleman
 Trying to “conceal the fact that he has nothing to do by
looking busy”
 People began to figure out the Montesquieu was the
writer of The Persian Letters
 The Spirit of Laws
 Writes about what he has learned about governments
around the world
 Praises the British government for limiting the power of the
Monarchy and protecting the rights of the people
 A country must limit the power of its ruler
 Or any branch of government
 Separation of Powers
 Monarch
 Make laws
justice
 Executive
Courts
 Enforce
Parliament
 Each branch of government should be able to
check the power of the other two
 Checks and balances
 Montesquieu attacks slavery
 “The most shocking violation of human nature”
 As logical as enslaving someone because they
have a “short or long face”
 Powers
 Did not suggest extreme social changes
 No rebellion or democracy
 Peaceful and modest reforms
 This would give people happier lives
 The ideal monarch
 Listens to his people
 Held in check by the parliament and courts
 Bastille
 Voltaire
 Pseudonym
 Censorship
 Candide
 Philosophes
 The Bastille
 Once a military fortress that protected Paris
 4 years before Montesquieu
 Francois Marie Arouet
 Place in prison for writing verses making fun of the
French Government
 Uses the Pseudonym Voltaire
 Pseudonym-”pen name” used by an author in the place of
their real name.
 Examined society and launched a battle to improve it
 Targeted Greedy official
 Lazy noble
 Evil institutions
 Slavery
 Religious prejudice
 Used humor and sarcasm to point out social wrongs and
demand change
 Montesquieu comments were ignored
 He was a noble
 Voltaire’s comments were not allowed
 He was a commoner.
 Released from the Bastille
 In trouble again
 Offended a powerful young noble
 Challenged him to a duel
 2 choices
 Go to jail
 Flee to England
 Voltaire goes to England
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
3 years
Studies the philosophy of Locke
Studies the science of Newton
England has the answers
France is in trouble
 In regards to England
 “In this country it is possible to use one’ mind freely and
nobly, without fear or cringing.”
 Freedom of expression
 “My trade is to say what I think”
 Refuses to be silenced
 Publishes again in France
 Candide
 “Arrest Voltaire, Burn his book”
 Increased his popularity
 Voltaire flees to Paris again
 Buys and estate at Ferney
 Near the border of Switzerland and France
 Voltaire continues to write books, plays, pamphlets,
and letters.
 Sharp voice against censorship
 Censorship- the act of removing or holding back
anything thought not right for people to see or hear
 Lots of visitors to Ferney
 “I do not agree with a word that you say, but I will defend
to the death your right to say it!”
 Set an example for free thinkers to follow
 Philosophes
 Lovers of wisdom
 Discussed and debated ways to achieve a fairer society
 Wrote books and pamphlets
 Published Encyclopedia
 Summed up the major idea and discoveries of the
enlightenment
 The message of the Enlightenment took a long time to
reach all people
 Once it had there was no turning back
 Declaration of Independence
 Thomas Jefferson
 Benjamin Franklin
 Diplomat
 James Madison
 1776
 Colonists decided that they could no longer tolerate
Britain’s Rule
 Taxation without representation
 Tried to do demonstrations and protests
 Declaration of Independence
 Written by Thomas Jefferson
 Attacks Tyranny
 Calls for freedom
 Well suited for the task
 Private tutors in school
 Law Degree
 Spent a lot of time studying and reading
 Jefferson’s interests
 Fossils from Native American mounds
 Collected books
 Observed life
 How to make it better
 Invented
 Storm windows
 Clock that could tell the day of the week and hour
 All men are entitled certain natural rights
 Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
 Idea from John Locke
 The government has the duty to preserve the citizens
natural rights.
 If not protected the citizens should change or replace
the government
 The government gets it’s power from the people
 These Ideas led to the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and
the American Revolution of 1776
 The American Philosophe
 Spent most of his time seeking knowledge
 Studied, experimented, invented things, and traveled
 Had correspondence with European philosophes
 Added to the world’s store of knowledge
 Poor Richards Almanack
 “Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead”
 “A fish and visitors smell after three days”
 Aimed at helping people improve themselves
 Helped Jefferson write the Declaration of
Independence
 Scientist
 Invented the Lightning Rod, Bifocal glasses
 Diplomat to France
 Diplomat– a person in government whose work is
dealing with governments of other nations
 Seeking support for the revolution
 James Madison
 Studied and observed
 Officials can only govern with the consent of the people
 “Father of the Constitution”
 To promote the general welfare
 1789 The United States Constitution becomes a law of
the land.
 Most of the ideas of the Constitution and Declaration
of Independence were inspired by Enlightenment
Thinkers