The Enlightenment
The beginning of the Enlightenment
 Enlightenment
 Isaac Newton
 Minuet
 Plague
 Gravity
 Principia Mathematica
The beginning of the Enlightenment
 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
What started the Enlightenment
 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
Climate of Western Europe
 The upper class
 The lower class
 Nice homes
 Life was hard
 Every object in the home is a
 Lived in slums
work of art
 Dressed in silk and lace
 Wore white wigs and danced
the minuet
 Worked from dawn to dusk
 Minuet is a slow dance that
involves much bowing and
toe-pointing
 Kings ruled by divine right
 Owned nothing
 Less than 1/2 of babies made
it to adulthood
 Prisons were full
 Torture was legal
 People had no rights
A new class was developing
 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
 Bourgeosie (boor jwah zee)
 Bourgeois means 鍍own dweller�
Isaac Newton
 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
Isaac Newton in College
 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
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
Newton Questions the World
 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
Principia Mathematica
 Mathematical Principles
 Produced after 2 1/2 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
Legacy of Newton
 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
 Renѐ Descartes
 Philosophy
 Discourse on Method
 “cogito ergo sum”
Renѐ Descartes
 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
Descartes in the Army
 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
Life after the Army
 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
Discourse on Method
 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 and 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.”
Descartes continued
 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
The end of Descartes
 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
Thomas Hobbes
 Pessimist
 Authoritarian
 Leviathan
 Behemoth
Thomas Hobbes
 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
Hobbes is Heard
 Hobbes 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
The 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 都olitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short�
Solution to the Problems Presented
by Hobbes
 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
Things quiet down in England
 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
The end of Hobbes
 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
The Importance of Hobbes
 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
John Locke
 Essay Concerning Human Understanding
 Tabula Rasa
 Dr. van der Linden
 Parliament
 Radical
John Locke
 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
Locke on Knowledge
 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 vs. Locke
 Hobbes
 Locke
 Government should be all
 People have natural rights
powerful
 People are selfish
 People are warlike
 The rule of a monarch
depends on the consent of
the people
 People become what they are
based on their experiences
Philosophy of Locke
 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
Revolution
 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
Dr. Van der Linden
 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
Meanwhile back in Holland
 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
Conditions set for the return of
William and 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'sradical ideas became a reality
 Radical 睦elating to great changes or reform
The Enlightenment in France
 Montesquieu
 Clergy
 Limited Monarchy
 The Persian Letters
 The Spirit of Laws
The Baron
 Charles de Secondat
 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
Baron de Montesquieu
 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
 展ritten� by Usbek and Rica
 Collection of their 努ritings�
 Criticized the French ruling class
The Persian Letters
 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 Report on the King
 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
Montesquieu strikes again
 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
Montesquieu's The Spirit of Laws
 Monarch
 Executive Powers
 Parliament
 Make laws
 Courts
 Enforce justice
Montesquieu's plan for change
 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
Quiz
1.
What was Charles de Secondat’s pen name?
2.
What book did he write making fun of the French
Government?
3.
Where were the visitors from, in the previously mentioned
book?
4. # 1 believed that for a successful democracy power had to be
separated and limited (True or False)
5.
What made the king a magician?
The Enlightenment in France
 Bastille
 Voltaire
 Pseudonym
 Censorship
 Candide
 Philosophes
Francois Marie Arouet
 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.
Voltaire
 Examined society and launched a battle to improve it
 Targeted Greedy officials
 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.
The adventures of Voltaire
 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





3 years
Studies the philosophy of Locke
Studies the science of Newton
England has the answers
France is in trouble
More Voltaire
 In regards to England
 “In this country it is possible to use one’s 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
Thoughts from Ferney
 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!”
Legacy of Montesquieu and Voltaire
 Set an example for free thinkers to follow
 Philosphes




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
The Enlightenment in Action
 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
Thomas Jefferson
 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
Declaration of Independence
 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
Benjamin Franklin
 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
More Benjamin Franklin
 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
An Enlightened Government
 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