The Enlightenment

Question 1

What was the Enlightenment?

Answer 1

A defining intellectual and cultural movement of the 18th and 19th centuries. AKA The Age of Reason

Question 2

3 Basic Characteristics of the Enlightenment

Answer 2

(1) A Confidence in the Powers of Human Reason
(2) Optimism + Belief in Universal Human Progress
(3) Enlightenment Thinkers were Extraordinarily Ambitious and Wide-Ranging

Question 3

The Philosophes

Answer 3

Enlightenment thinkers of France
meaning, “free thinkers” or thinkers unconstrained by religion

Question 4

Voltaire (1694-1778)

Answer 4

Big theme of religious toleration
Critical of established religions, especially Catholicism.
Founder of the fundamental principle of civil liberty: “I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”

Question 5

Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755)

Answer 5

One of the most influential writers of the French Enlightenment. Established notion of the Separation of Powers.

Question 6

The Spirit of Laws (1748)

Answer 6

Montesquieu’s 3 Underlying Forms of Government:
1. Republics - spirit of virtue
2. Monarchies - spirit of honor
3. Despotism - spirit of fear
- Maintaining political stability is key to avoiding despotism
Separation of Powers

Question 7

Separation of Powers

Answer 7

Montesquieu
The solution to create moderation of political systems is to separate power into 3 distinct forms: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.
Most important is the independence of the Judiciary

Question 8

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

Answer 8

Did not conform to the model of the typical enlightenment thinker. Distrusted reason and emphasized emotion and feeling (an early Romantic)

Question 9

The Social Contract (1762)

Answer 9

Rousseau - People live in a state of nature (=Locke); however, society and government are corrupt and the people should be the highest authority. Argued for sovereignty of the people. Introduced the General Will

Question 10

The General Will

Answer 10

Rousseau - consensus of the people, the collective interest. Power does not need to be divided, simply given to the people themselves.

Question 11

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)

Answer 11

Political radical and sharpest critic of Rousseau. Agreed with his political radicalism, but took a different approach to gender. First person to examine the private sphere rather than the public one.

Question 12

A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792)

Answer 12

Placed the husband/father as a dictator of the family. Argued that women have the same capacity to reason as men and that virtue should mean the same thing for men and women. Relations between the sexes should be based on equality.

Question 13

Adam Smith (1723-1790)

Answer 13

Believed the economy was subject to underlying fundamental laws. Economics gets same treatment as politics and other fields. Author of The Wealth of Nations

Question 14

Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776)

Answer 14

Classic expression of Laissez-faire economics. Smith argues if you let things be, general prosperity will be achieved by letting the Invisible Hand do its work.

Question 15

The Invisible Hand

Answer 15

Supply and demand market forces (competition, trickle down, etc.)

Question 16

The Division of Labor

Answer 16

One kind of good can be produced effectively by having a different person complete each stage of production. (think assembly line) Not necessarily less time spent at each stage, but there is a constant flow of production.

Question 17

Catherine the Great (r.1762-1796)

Answer 17

Enlightened absolute monarch of Russia. She moved against medieval institutions (the Church) and attempted to rationalize finances/taxation. Monarch concentrate power, but do not embody the state.