World History / Unit 7: Absolutism, the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
7.5 Enlightenment Thinkers
Notes
The Enlightenment (1700s) applied reason to government, society and human rights.
- Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan, 1651) believed people are selfish and that life without government would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." People should give power to a strong ruler in a social contract.
- John Locke (Two Treatises of Government, 1689) argued people have natural rights to life, liberty and property, and government needs the consent of the governed. If it violates rights, people may overthrow it.
- Montesquieu (The Spirit of the Laws, 1748) called for separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial branches.
- Voltaire defended freedom of speech and religious tolerance.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau (The Social Contract, 1762) wrote "Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains," and argued for government based on the general will of the people.
- Mary Wollstonecraft (A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 1792) argued women deserve equal education.
- Adam Smith (The Wealth of Nations, 1776) supported laissez-faire economics: free markets with little government interference.
Practice
Read the excerpt from Montesquieu (Thomas Nugent translation, 1750): "there is no liberty, if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and executive." This idea most directly influenced:
Montesquieu's separation of powers shaped the U.S. Constitution and others.
Hobbes and Locke disagreed mainly about:
Hobbes favored a strong ruler; Locke said people could replace an unjust government.
A merchant argues that the government should not set prices or limit trade. Which thinker would agree most?
Smith argued that free markets and competition create wealth.
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