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The Enlightenmen
tPolitics & Philosophy
Political Enlightenment
Three Themes in the Political Realm
1. Propertyo Central featureo Gives an individual a stake in society
2. Rightso Every individual is entitled to basic rights
simply because they exist
3. Lawo That which makes 1 & 2 worko Guarantees property & rights
Political Philosophes
John Locke1632-1704
Two Treatises of Civil Government (1690)
Locke’s Philosophy• Individual must become a “rational
creature”• Virtue can be learned & practiced• Human beings possess free will
o should be prepared for freedomo obedience should be out of
conviction, not fear
Locke’s Philosophy (cont.)
• Legislators owe power to a contract with the people
• Neither kings nor wealth are divinely ordained
• There are certain natural rights that are endowed by God to all human beingso Life, liberty, & property
• Favored a republic
Baron de Montesquieu
(1689-1755)Spirit of the Law (1748)
“Countries are well-cultivated, not as they are fertile, but as they are free.”
Montesquieu’s Philosophy
• England’s government = model: • The separation of powers
• Executive Power = King • Legislative Power = Parliament• Judicial Power = Courts
• Checks & balances
• Monarchs should be subject to constitutional limits on their power
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
1712-1778
The Social Contract (1762)
Rousseau’s Philosophy
• Tabula Rasa (blank slate)• Best traits of human character are
products of nature• Society corrupts people, therefore,
we must fix society
Rousseau (cont.)• The Social Contract:
o right kind of political order could make people truly moral & free
o Individual moral freedom achieved only by learning to subject one’s individual interests to the “General Will”
Rousseau - Social Contract (cont.)
o Individuals could do this by entering into a social contract - not w/ their rulers, but w/ each otheroThis social contract was derived from
human nature -NOT from history, tradition, or the Bible
o People = most free & moral under a republican form of government with a direct democracy
Philosophical Enlightenment
Marquis de Condorcet
1743-1794
Progress of the Human Mind (1794)
Condorcet’s Philosophy
• Expectation of universal happiness• Individuals guided by reason could
enjoy true independence• Advocated:
o Free & equal educationo Constitutionalismo Equal rights for women
Immanuel Kant1724-1804
Critique of Pure Reason (1781)
Kant’s Philosophy
• Investigated the structure & limitations of reason
• Created a compromise between empiricists & rationalists (experience + reason = Enlightenment)
Denis Diderot1713-1784
The Encyclopedia (1751)
(coauthor: Jean le Rond d’Alembert)
Diderot’s Encyclopédie
• Complete cycle of knowledge that changed the general way of thinking
• 28 volumes• Alphabetical, cross-
referenced, illustrated
Voltaire1694-1778
• François Marie Arouet
• Candide (1759)• Known for sharp
wit that was often critical of the church and state
Voltaire (cont.)• Wrote plays, novels,
poetry, essays, & letters
• Fierce defender of civil liberties, especially:o Religious freedomo Free tradeo Freedom of speech
• Spent time imprisoned in the Bastille
Voltaire’s Words of Wisdom
• “ Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do.”
• “God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.”
• “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”
• “It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong”
• “Love truth and pardon error.”
• “Judge a man by his questions, rather than by his answers.”
• “I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right
• “Men are equal; it is not birth, but virtue that makes the difference.”
Voltaire (cont.)
• Life (video)• Last words