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The Enlightenment in Europe

MAIN IDEA

WHY IT MATTERS NOW

POWER AND AUTHORITY A

revolution in intellectual activity
changed Europeans view of
government and society.

The various freedoms enjoyed in

many countries today are a
result of Enlightenment thinking.

SETTING THE STAGE In the wake of the Scientific Revolution, and the new

ways of thinking it prompted, scholars and philosophers began to reevaluate old

notions about other aspects of society. They sought new insight into the underlying beliefs regarding government, religion, economics, and education. Their
efforts spurred the Enlightenment, a new intellectual movement that stressed
reason and thought and the power of individuals to solve problems. Known also
as the Age of Reason, the movement reached its height in the mid-1700s and
brought great change to many aspects of Western civilization.

Two Views on Government

The Enlightenment started from some key ideas put forth by two English political
thinkers of the 1600s, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Both men experienced
the political turmoil of England early in that century. However, they came to very
different conclusions about government and human nature.

TERMS & NAMES

Enlightenment
social contract
John Locke
philosophe
Voltaire

Montesquieu
Rousseau
Mary
Wollstonecraft

CALIFORNIA STANDARDS
10.2.1 Compare the major ideas of philosophers and their effects on the democratic
revolutions in England, the United States,
France, and Latin America (e.g., John Locke,
Charles-Louis Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques
Rousseau, Simn Bolvar, Thomas Jefferson,
James Madison).
REP 3 Students evaluate major debates
among historians concerning alternative
interpretations of the past, including an
analysis of authors use of evidence and the
distinctions between sound generalizations
and misleading oversimplifications.
HI 2 Students recognize the complexity of
historical causes and effects, including the
limitations on determining cause and effect.

Hobbess Social Contract Thomas Hobbes expressed his views in a work

called Leviathan (1651). The horrors of the English Civil War convinced him that
all humans were naturally selfish and wicked. Without governments to keep
order, Hobbes said, there would be war . . . of every man against every man,
and life would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
Hobbes argued that to escape such a bleak life, people had to hand over their
rights to a strong ruler. In exchange, they gained law and order. Hobbes called this
agreement by which people created a government the social contract. Because
people acted in their own self-interest, Hobbes said, the ruler needed total power
to keep citizens under control. The best government was one that had the awesome
power of a leviathan (sea monster). In Hobbess view, such a government was an
absolute monarchy, which could impose order and demand obedience.

Changing Idea: The Right to Govern

Old Idea
A monarchs rule is justified by
divine right.

New Idea
A governments power comes from the
consent of the governed.

TAKING NOTES
Outlining Use an outline
to organize main ideas
and details.
Enlightenment in Europe

I. Two Views on
Government
A.
B.
II. The Philosophes
Advocate Reason
A.
B.

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Lockes Natural Rights The philosopher John Locke held a different, more

positive, view of human nature. He believed that people could learn from experience and improve themselves. As reasonable beings, they had the natural ability to
govern their own affairs and to look after the welfare of society. Locke criticized
absolute monarchy and favored the idea of self-government.
According to Locke, all people are born free and equal, with three natural rights
life, liberty, and property. The purpose of government, said Locke, is to protect these
rights. If a government fails to do so, citizens have a right to overthrow it. Lockes
theory had a deep influence on modern political thinking. His belief that a governments power comes from the consent of the people is the foundation of modern
democracy. The ideas of government by popular consent and the right to rebel against
unjust rulers helped inspire struggles for liberty in Europe and the Americas.

Contrasting
How does
Lockes view of
human nature differ
from that of
Hobbes?

The Philosophes Advocate Reason

Voltaire
16941778
Voltaire befriended several European
monarchs and nobles. Among them
was the Prussian king Frederick II.
The two men seemed like ideal
companions. Both were witty and
preferred to dress in shabby,
rumpled clothes.
Their relationship eventually
soured, however. Voltaire disliked
editing Fredericks mediocre poetry,
while Frederick suspected Voltaire of
shady business dealings. Voltaire
eventually described the Prussian
king as a nasty monkey, perfidious
friend, [and] wretched poet.
Frederick in turn called Voltaire a
miser, dirty rogue, [and] coward.

RESEARCH LINKS For more on

Voltaire, go to classzone.com

196 Chapter 6

The Enlightenment reached its height in France in the

mid-1700s. Paris became the meeting place for people who
wanted to discuss politics and ideas. The social critics of
this period in France were known as philosophes
(FIHLuhSAHFS), the French word for philosophers. The
philosophes believed that people could apply reason to all
aspects of life, just as Isaac Newton had applied reason to
science. Five concepts formed the core of their beliefs:
1. Reason Enlightened thinkers believed truth could be
discovered through reason or logical thinking.
2. Nature The philosophes believed that what was
natural was also good and reasonable.
3. Happiness The philosophes rejected the medieval
notion that people should find joy in the hereafter and
urged people to seek well-being on earth.
4. Progress The philosophes stressed that society and
humankind could improve.
5. Liberty The philosophes called for the liberties that
the English people had won in their Glorious
Revolution and Bill of Rights.
Voltaire Combats Intolerance Probably the most brilliant
and influential of the philosophes was Franois Marie
Arouet. Using the pen name Voltaire, he published more
than 70 books of political essays, philosophy, and drama.
Voltaire often used satire against his opponents. He made
frequent targets of the clergy, the aristocracy, and the government. His sharp tongue made him enemies at the French
court, and twice he was sent to prison. After his second jail
term, Voltaire was exiled to England for more than two years.
Although he made powerful enemies, Voltaire never
stopped fighting for tolerance, reason, freedom of religious
belief, and freedom of speech. He used his quill pen as if it
were a deadly weapon in a thinkers war against humanitys
worst enemiesintolerance, prejudice, and superstition. He
summed up his staunch defense of liberty in one of his most
famous quotes: I do not agree with a word you say but will
defend to the death your right to say it.

Vocabulary

Satire is the use of

irony, sarcasm, or
wit to attack folly,
vice, or stupidity.

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Montesquieu and the Separation of Powers Another influential French writer,

the Baron de Montesquieu (MAHNtuhSKYOO), devoted himself to the study of

Analyzing Issues
What advantages did
Montesquieu see in
the separation of
powers?

political liberty. Montesquieu believed that Britain was the best-governed and most
politically balanced country of his own day. The British king and his ministers
held executive power. They carried out the laws of the state. The members of
Parliament held legislative power. They made the laws. The judges of the English
courts held judicial power. They interpreted the laws to see how each applied to a
specific case. Montesquieu called this division of power among different branches
separation of powers.
Montesquieu oversimplified the British system. It did not actually separate
powers this way. His idea, however, became a part of his most famous book, On the
Spirit of Laws (1748). In his book, Montesquieu proposed that separation of powers would keep any individual or group from gaining total control of the government. Power, he wrote, should be a check to power. This idea later would be
called checks and balances.
Montesquieus book was admired by political leaders in the British colonies of
North America. His ideas about separation of powers and checks and balances
became the basis for the United States Constitution.
Rousseau: Champion of Freedom A third great philosophe, Jean Jacques
Rousseau (rooSOH), was passionately committed to individual freedom. The son

of a poor Swiss watchmaker, Rousseau won recognition as a writer of essays. A

strange, brilliant, and controversial figure, Rousseau strongly disagreed with other

Laws Protect Freedom

Laws Ensure Security

Both Montesquieu and Rousseau believed firmly that fair

and just lawsnot monarchs or unrestrained mobsshould
govern society. Here, Rousseau argues that laws established
by and for the people are the hallmark of a free society.

While laws work to protect citizens from abusive rulers,

Montesquieu argues that they also guard against anarchy
and mob rule.

PRIMARY SOURCE

PRIMARY SOURCE

I . . . therefore give the name Republic to every

state that is governed by laws, no matter what
the form of its administration may be: for
only in such a case does the public interest
govern, and the res republica rank as a
reality. . . . Laws are, properly speaking,
only the conditions of civil association. The
people, being subject to the laws, ought to
be their author: the conditions of the society
ought to be regulated . . . by those who come
together to form it.
JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU, The Social Contract

It is true that in democracies the people seem

to act as they please; but political liberty
does not consist in an unlimited freedom.
. . . We must have continually present to
our minds the difference between
independence and liberty. Liberty is a
right of doing whatever the laws permit,
and if a citizen could do what they [the
laws] forbid he would be no longer
possessed of liberty, because all his fellowcitizens would have the same power.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU, The Spirit of Laws

DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTIONS
1. Analyzing Issues Why should citizens be the authors of societys laws, according
to Rousseau?
2. Making Inferences Why does Montesquieu believe that disobeying laws leads to a
loss of liberty?

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Enlightenment thinkers on many matters. Most philosophes believed that reason,

science, and art would improve life for all people. Rousseau, however, argued that
civilization corrupted peoples natural goodness. Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains, he wrote.
Rousseau believed that the only good government was one that was freely formed
by the people and guided by the general will of societya direct democracy.
Under such a government, people agree to give up some of their freedom in favor
of the common good. In 1762, he explained his political philosophy in a book
called The Social Contract.
Rousseaus view of the social contract differed greatly from that of Hobbes. For
Hobbes, the social contract was an agreement between a society and its government. For Rousseau, it was an agreement among free individuals to create a society
and a government.
Like Locke, Rousseau argued that legitimate government came from the consent
of the governed. However, Rousseau believed in a much broader democracy than
Locke had promoted. He argued that all people were equal and that titles of nobility should be abolished. Rousseaus ideas inspired many of the leaders of the
French Revolution who overthrew the monarchy in 1789.
Beccaria Promotes Criminal Justice An Italian philosophe named Cesare

Bonesana Beccaria (BAYKuhREEah) turned his thoughts to the justice system. He

believed that laws existed to preserve social order, not to avenge crimes. Beccaria
regularly criticized common abuses of justice. They included torturing of witnesses
and suspects, irregular proceedings in trials, and punishments that were arbitrary or
cruel. He argued that a person accused of a crime should receive a speedy trial, and
that torture should never be used. Moreover, he said, the degree of punishment should
be based on the seriousness of the crime. He also believed that capital punishment
should be abolished.
Beccaria based his ideas about justice on the principle that governments should
seek the greatest good for the greatest number of people. His ideas influenced
criminal law reformers in Europe and North America.

Major Ideas of the Enlightenment

Idea

Thinker

Impact

Natural rightslife, liberty, property

Locke

Fundamental to U.S. Declaration of Independence

Separation of powers

Montesquieu

France, United States, and Latin American nations use

separation of powers in new constitutions

Freedom of thought and

expression

Voltaire

Guaranteed in U.S. Bill of Rights and French Declaration of

the Rights of Man and Citizen; European monarchs reduce or
eliminate censorship

Abolishment of torture

Beccaria

Guaranteed in U.S. Bill of Rights; torture outlawed or reduced

in nations of Europe and the Americas

Religious freedom

Voltaire

Guaranteed in U.S. Bill of Rights and French Declaration of

the Rights of Man and Citizen; European monarchs reduce
persecution

Womens equality

Wollstonecraft

Womens rights groups form in Europe and North America

SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Charts

1. Analyzing Issues What important documents reflect the influence of Enlightenment ideas?
2. Forming Opinions Which are the two most important Enlightenment ideas? Support your answer with reasons.

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Women and the Enlightenment

Drawing
Conclusions
Why do you
think the issue of
education was
important to both
Astell and
Wollstonecraft? .

The philosophes challenged many assumptions about government and society. But they often took a traditional view
toward women. Rousseau, for example, developed many progressive ideas about education. However, he believed that a
girls education should mainly teach her how to be a helpful
wife and mother. Other male social critics scolded women for
reading novels because they thought it encouraged idleness
and wickedness. Still, some male writers argued for more
education for women and for womens equality in marriage.
Women writers also tried to improve the status of women.
In 1694, the English writer Mary Astell published A Serious
Proposal to the Ladies. Her book addressed the lack of educational opportunities for women. In later writings, she used
Enlightenment arguments about government to criticize the
unequal relationship between men and women in marriage.
She wrote, If absolute sovereignty be not necessary in a state,
how comes it to be so in a family? . . . If all men are born free,
how is it that all women are born slaves?
During the 1700s, other women picked up these themes.
Among the most persuasive was Mary Wollstonecraft, who
published an essay called A Vindication of the Rights of
Woman in 1792. In the essay, she disagreed with Rousseau
that womens education should be secondary to mens. Rather,
she argued that women, like men, need education to become
virtuous and useful. Wollstonecraft also urged women to enter
the male-dominated fields of medicine and politics.
Women made important contributions to the Enlightenment in other ways. In Paris and other European cities,
wealthy women helped spread Enlightenment ideas through
social gatherings called salons, which you will read about
later in this chapter.
One woman fortunate enough to receive an education in
the sciences was Emilie du Chtelet (shahtlay). Du
Chtelet was an aristocrat trained as a mathematician and
physicist. By translating Newtons work from Latin into
French, she helped stimulate interest in science in France.

Mary Wollstonecraft
17591797
A strong advocate of education for
women, Wollstonecraft herself received
little formal schooling. She and her
two sisters taught themselves by
studying books at home. With her
sisters, she briefly ran a school. These
experiences shaped much of her
thoughts about education.
Wollstonecraft eventually took a
job with a London publisher. There,
she met many leading radicals of the
day. One of them was her future
husband, the writer William Godwin.
Wollstonecraft died at age 38, after
giving birth to their daughter, Mary.
This child, whose married name was
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, went on
to write the classic novel Frankenstein.

RESEARCH LINKS For more on Mary

Wollstonecraft, go to classzone.com

Legacy of the Enlightenment

Over a span of a few decades, Enlightenment writers challenged long-held ideas
about society. They examined such principles as the divine right of monarchs, the
union of church and state, and the existence of unequal social classes. They held
these beliefs up to the light of reason and found them in need of reform.
The philosophes mainly lived in the world of ideas. They formed and popularized new theories. Although they encouraged reform, they were not active revolutionaries. However, their theories eventually inspired the American and French
revolutions and other revolutionary movements in the 1800s. Enlightenment thinking produced three other long-term effects that helped shape Western civilization.
Belief in Progress The first effect was a belief in progress. Pioneers such as

Galileo and Newton had discovered the key for unlocking the mysteries of nature in
the 1500s and 1600s. With the door thus opened, the growth of scientific knowledge
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seemed to quicken in the 1700s. Scientists made key new discoveries in chemistry,
physics, biology, and mechanics. The successes of the Scientific Revolution gave
people the confidence that human reason could solve social problems. Philosophes
and reformers urged an end to the practice of slavery and argued for greater social
equality, as well as a more democratic style of government.
A More Secular Outlook A second outcome was the rise of a more secular, or

non-religious, outlook. During the Enlightenment, people began to question openly

their religious beliefs and the teachings of the church. Before the Scientific
Revolution, people accepted the mysteries of the universe as the workings of God.
One by one, scientists discovered that these mysteries could be explained mathematically. Newton himself was a deeply religious man, and he sought to reveal Gods
majesty through his work. However, his findings often caused people to change the
way they thought about God.
Meanwhile, Voltaire and other critics attacked some of the beliefs and practices
of organized Christianity. They wanted to rid religious faith of superstition and fear
and promote tolerance of all religions.
Importance of the Individual Faith in science and in progress produced a third

outcome, the rise of individualism. As people began to turn away from the church
and royalty for guidance, they looked to themselves instead.
The philosophes encouraged people to use their own ability to reason in order to
judge what was right or wrong. They also emphasized the importance of the individual in society. Government, they argued, was formed by individuals to promote their
welfare. The British thinker Adam Smith extended the emphasis on the individual to
economic thinking. He believed that individuals acting in their own self-interest
created economic progress. Smiths theory is discussed in detail in Chapter 9.
During the Enlightenment, reason took center stage. The greatest minds of
Europe followed each others work with interest and often met to discuss their ideas.
Some of the kings and queens of Europe were also very interested. As you will learn
in Section 3, they sought to apply some of the philosophes ideas to create progress
in their countries.

SECTION

ASSESSMENT

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
Enlightenment

social contract John Locke

philosophe

Voltaire

Montesquieu

Rousseau Mary Wollstonecraft

USING YOUR NOTES

MAIN IDEAS

CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING

2. Which impact of the Enlight-

3. What are the natural rights with

6. SYNTHESIZING Explain how the following statement

enment do you consider most

important? Why? (10.2.1)
Enlightenment in Europe

I. Two Views on
Government
A.
B.
II. The Philosophes
Advocate Reason

which people are born,

according to John Locke? (10.2.1)

reflects Enlightenment ideas: Power should be a check

to power. (10.2.1)

4. Who were the philosophes and

7. ANALYZING ISSUES Why might some women have been

what did they advocate? (10.2.1)

5. What was the legacy of the

Enlightenment? (10.2.1)

A.
B.

critical of the Enlightenment? (10.2.1)

8. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS Were the philosophes optimistic

about the future of humankind? Explain. (10.2.1)

9. WRITING ACTIVITY POWER AND AUTHORITY Compare the

views of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau on government.

Then write one paragraph about how their ideas reflect
their understanding of human behavior. (Writing 2.2.b)

CONNECT TO TODAY PRESENTING AN ORAL REPORT

Identify someone considered a modern-day social critic. Explore the persons beliefs and
methods and present your findings to the class in a brief oral report. (Writing 2.3.b)

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Using Primary Sources

European Values During

the Enlightenment

CALIFORNIA STANDARDS
10.3.7 Describe the emergence of
Romanticism in art and literature
(e.g., the poetry of William Blake
and William Wordsworth), social
criticism (e.g., the novels of Charles
Dickens), and the move away from
Classicism in Europe.

Writers and artists of the Enlightenment often used satire to comment on European
values. Using wit and humor, they ridiculed various ideas and customs. Satire allowed
artists to explore human faults in a way that is powerful but not preachy. In the two
literary excerpts and the painting below, notice how the writer or artist makes his point.
A PRIMARY SOURCE

B PRIMARY SOURCE

Voltaire

Jonathan Swift

Voltaire wrote Candide (1759) to attack a philosophy called

Optimism, which held that all is right with the world. The
hero of the story, a young man named Candide, encounters
the most awful disasters and human evils. In this passage,
Candide meets a slave in South America, who explains why
he is missing a leg and a hand.

The narrator of Gullivers Travels (1726), an English doctor

named Lemuel Gulliver, takes four disastrous voyages that
leave him stranded in strange lands. In the following
passage, Gulliver tries to win points with the king of
Brobdingnaga land of giantsby offering to show him
how to make guns and cannons.

When were working at the sugar mill and catch our finger
in the grinding-wheel, they cut off our hand. When we try to
run away, they cut off a leg. I have been in both of these
situations. This is the price you pay for the sugar you eat in
Europe. . . .
The Dutch fetishes [i.e., missionaries] who converted me
[to Christianity] tell me every Sunday that we are all the
sons of Adam, Whites and Blacks alike. Im no genealogist,
but if these preachers are right, we are all cousins born of
first cousins. Well, you will grant me that you cant treat a
relative much worse than this.

The king was struck with horror at the description I had

given of those terrible engines. . . . He was amazed how so
impotent and grovelling an insect as I (these were his
expressions) could entertain such inhuman ideas, and in so
familiar a manner as to appear wholly unmoved at all the
scenes of blood and desolation, which I had painted as the
common effects of those destructive machines; whereof, he
said, some evil genius, enemy to mankind, must have been
the first contriver [inventor].

C PRIMARY SOURCE

William Hogarth
The English artist William
Hogarth often used satire in
his paintings. In this
painting, Canvassing for
Votes, he comments on
political corruption. While
the candidate flirts with the
ladies on the balcony, his
supporters offer a man
money for his vote.

1. What is the main point that

Voltaire is making in Source A?
What technique does he use to
reinforce his message?

2. What does the kings reaction in

Source B say about Swifts view of
Europes military technology?

3. Why might Hogarths painting in

Source C be difficult for modern
audiences to understand? Does
this take away from his message?

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