The European Enlightenment
1650-1800
Objective
SWBAT EXPLAIN HOW SCIENCE LED TO THE
ENLIGHTENMENT
SWBAT COMPARE THE IDEAS OF LOCKE AND
HOBBES
Do Now 12/6/12
 Have your homework out – ready to go over
 Answer the following in your notes:
 What is the Enlightenment?
 How do you think events such as the English Civil
War and the Glorious Revolution sparked new ideas
of the Enlightenment?
Foundations of the
Enlightenment
Impact of the
Enlightenment
BACON and DESCARTES:
Reason & Logic
Growth of Secular Ideas;
Importance of Education
ISAAC NEWTON:
Natural Law
Belief in Progress
HOBBES and ROUSSEAU:
The Social Contract
American and French Revolutions,
Independence Movements
JOHN LOCKE:
Natural Rights—Life, Liberty, and
Property
ENLIGHTENMENT
THOUGHT
Declaration of Independence, Rights
of Man and Citizen, Growth of
Individualism
VOLTAIRE:
Religious Tolerance
U.S. Bill of Rights and
Enlightened Monarchies
MONESTESQUIEU:
Separation of Powers
French, U.S., and Latin American
Constitutions
BECCARIA:
Reform of Criminal Justice System
Abolishment of Torture and
Capital Punishment
The Age of Reason
 Scientific Revolution  Enlightenment
 1700s scientists expanded European knowledge in
Scientific Revolution
 Scientific successes created great confidence in the
power of REASON
 If people used reason to find laws that governed the
physical world, why not use reason to discover
natural laws (laws that govern human nature)
Scientific Revolution  Enlightenment
 With the use of REASON, Enlightenment thinkers
could solve every social, political, and economic
problem
 Two thinkers: John Locke and Thomas Hobbes
 Philosophes – “lovers of wisdom”
 Enlightenment thinkers that applied the methods of
science to better understand and improve society
Enlightenment Thinkers
Thomas Hobbes
1588 - 1679
 Saw English Civil War
 Believes society must be
ruled by absolute monarch
 Humans are nasty and
brutal by nature
 Social contract – give up
freedom for an organized
society
 Leviathan
Enlightenment Thinkers
LOCKE
1632-1704
 Saw Glorious Revolution
 Natural law: use of reason to
study human behavior and create
binding rules of moral behavior
 Divine purpose for humanity
 Life, liberty, property
 Two Treaties of Government
Comparing Locke and Hobbes
Views toward the "state of nature”
 Hobbes
 Locke
 compared the English
 believed that the state of
Civil War to the “state of
nature”, which was
brutal
 his negative view of the
revolution led him to
conclude that society
needed a strong king.
nature was good.
 if governments could not
do as much for people
than they did for
themselves in the state of
nature, then government
could be dismantled.

ABSOLUTE MONARCH
Comparing Locke & Hobbes
Views toward human nature
 Hobbes:
 Locke:
 has a negative view
 the human mind is like a
toward human nature
“nasty, brutal….”;
blank slate.
Comparison and contrast of views on
government
 Hobbes:
 Locke:
 a contract exists between
 government conditional
the king and the people;
but once the king
becomes king, he cannot
be overthrown & obtains
absolute power.
& can be overthrown if it
does not represent the
people
Using your notes & Section 1 packet
 Explain how the leaders of the Scientific Revolution
influenced the philosophes.
 How did the Glorious Revolution influence the ideas
of the Enlightenment?
 How might the Declaration of Independence, the Bill
of Rights, and the U.S. Constitution be considered to
be documents of the Age of Enlightenment?
Do Now – 12/6/12
 Pick up the “Face-off” & Locke and
Hobbes worksheets
 take out your notes on Locke & Hobbes
Face Off – Locke vs. Hobbes
 FIRST – read Hobbes’ & Locke’s quotes and answer
their corresponding questions by yourself!
 SECOND – you will be placed in groups to answer
the bottom 3 summary questions TOGETHER!
 THIRD – read the background on both Locke &
Hobbes


Underline the IMPORTANT information in each section
You will need to use this information to support your “debate”!
Debate
Participate in a CONSTRUCTIVE manner
3 times – 10 points
2 times – 8 points
1 time – 5 points
 times –  points
Questions to think about…
 Why would the basic nature of humans be a topic of
discussion?
 Why would this be important for developing a concept for
an ideal form of government?
 How would these writers have come up with their point of
view?
 How could Locke and Hobbes have such different
conclusions?
 Think about your personal experiences & the role
environment plays in forming YOUR ideas.
Hobbes vs. Locke
 There are three major causes of fighting...
 Competition: People see themselves as in
competition with each other.(invade for gain)
 Diffidence: People lack self confidence and thus
tend to overcompensate for it. (invade for safety)
 Glory: People tend to desire glory. They expect
others to value them as well as they value
themselves. (invade for reputation)
 How can you attain peace?
Conclusion
 Which philosophe did you side with prior to
our class discussion? (Locke or Hobbes)

WHY???
 Do you still agree with his beliefs as strongly
as you once did?

Yes? – explain! No? – Explain!
Objective
SWBAT SUMMARIZE HOW ECONOMIC
THINKING CHANGED DURING THE
ENLIGHTENMENT
Do Now
 How did Locke and Hobbes differ in their views on
the role of government?
 What convinced educated Europeans to accept the
power of reason?
Enlightenment Philosophers and Writers
 Fill out your chart for the following individuals:
 Voltaire
 Montesquieu
 Diderot
 Jean-Jacques Rousseau
 Mary Wollstonecraft
Voltaire
 Francois-Marie Arouet  Voltaire (1694-1778)
 Targeted corrupt officials
 Battled inequality, injustice, and superstition
 Disagreed with slave trade & religious prejudice
 Offended French government and Catholic Church
 Bastille prison twice
 Exiled – forced to leave Paris
 Defended principles of freedom of speech
Baron de Montesquieu
 Charles Louis de Secondat (1689-1755)
 Persian Letters: ridiculed the French government and
social classes
 Criticized absolute power
 idea of separation of powers
 Divide powers among three branches

Legislative, executive, judicial
 Checks and balances
 Studied various governments across Europe and history
 Influenced framers of the U.S. Constitution
Denis Diderot
 Encyclopedias “change the general way of thinking”
 Explained government, philosophy, and religion
 articles from Voltaire and Montesquieu
 Denounced slavery, praised freedom of expression,
urged education for all
 Attacked divine right and other traditions
 Pope  excommunication to any Catholic that read
 Spread Enlightenment ideas
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
 Wrote The Social Contract
 People by nature are good  corrupt by evils of society
 Society = too many limitations on people’s behavior
 Some controls – but should be minimal
 Only governments that are freely elected should impose
these controls
 “general will” - best conscience of the people
 Good of the community should be placed above
individual interests
 Thomas Paine & Marquis de Lafayette adopt this view
Mary Wollstonecraft
 “free and equal” did not apply to women
 natural rights  limited to areas of home and family
 mid to late 1700s women protested this view
 Argued they were being excluded from social contract
 Wollstonecraft accepted women’s duty to be a good




mother
Should be able to determine their best interest without
depending on men
1792: Vindication of Rights of Woman
Equal education for boys and girls
Education would help women participate equally with
men
Questions
 What were the “hot” topics addressed by the
philosophes and published in the Encyclopedia?

To you, which was the most important?
 Which philosophe would you side with? WHY?
Explain.

If it’s a combination – explain what you would include
and what you would eliminate and WHY.
Political Cartoon
 Complete handout
 Answer questions 1 & 2