The Enlightenment in Europe
KEY IDEA A revolution in intellectual activity changed Europeans’ view of government and society.
New ways of thinking arose in other areas.
· In the intellectual movement called the Enlightenment, thinkers tried to apply reason and scientific method to laws that shaped human actions.
· They hoped to build a society founded on ideas of the Scientific Revolution.
· Two English writers were important to this movement.
1. Thomas Hobbes wrote that without a government, there would be a war of “every man against every man.” As a result, Hobbes said, people formed a social contract—an agreement—in which they gave up their rights so they could secure order and safety. The best government, he said, is that of a strong king who can force people to obey.
2. John Locke believed that all people have natural rights or those of the rights to life, liberty, and property. The purpose of government is to protect those rights. When it fails to do so, he said, people have a right to overthrow the government.
· A group of French thinkers, known as philosophes had wide influence. They had five main beliefs:
1. thinkers can find the truth by using reason;
2. what is natural is good and reasonable, and human actions are shaped by natural laws;
3. acting according to nature can bring happiness;
4. by taking a scientific view, people and society can make progress and advance to a better life; and
5. by using reason, people can gain freedom.
· Three key French thinkers of this time were:
1. Voltaire wrote against intolerance and criticized the laws and customs of France. He advocated freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
2. Baron de Montesquieu made a long study of laws and governments. He thought government power should be separated into different branches. Each should be able to check the other branches to prevent them from abusing their power.
3. Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote strongly in favor of human freedom. He wanted a society in which all people were equal.
· The Italian Cesare Beccariawrote about crime and justice. Trials should be fair, he said, and punishments should be made to fit the crime.
· Many Enlightenment thinkers held traditional views about women’s place in society.
· They urged equal rightsfor all men but ignored the fact that women did not enjoy such rights.
· Some women protested this unfairness. “If all men are born free,” wrote one, “how is it that all women are born slaves?”
· Enlightenment ideas had strong influence on the American and French Revolutions, which came at the end of the 1700’s. They had three other effects.
1. They helped spread the idea of progress.
2. By using reason, people thought, it is possible to make society better. These ideas also helped make Western society more secular—that is, more-worldly and less spiritual.
3. Finally, Enlightenment ideas promoted the notion that the individual person was important.
