The Enlightenment Flashcards
What year did the Enlightenment Start?
1700’s and was also known as The Age of Reason
What did Enlightenment Philosophers believe?
- Society would improve if reason and natural laws were used
- The government got their power from people and not God
- Democracy (a gov. where people had a say)
What did the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution both encourage?
The spread of new ideas and the use of reason
Who was John Locke?
A philosopher who believed in natural rights (Life, Liberty, Property)
He also believed that people had the right to overthrow their gov. if they failed to protect these rights
Who was Baron de Montesquieu?
A philosopher who believed in the separation of powers (Legislative, Executive, Judicial)
Who was Voltaire?
A philosopher who believed in freedom of speech and religion
Who was Rousseau?
A philosopher who believed in the Social Contract
(people worked for the good of society)
What did the Enlightenment cause?
-Political Revolutions in the US, France and Latin America b/c of John Locke’s belief that people can overthrow their gov.
- Enlightenment Despots (King/Queens who believed in Enlightenment ideas and ruled using those ideas
