The Enlightenment Philosophers
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The Enlightenment occurred during the 18th century, or the 1700s. It was an intellectual movement that
took place before the American and French revolutions. The Enlightenment grew out of the Scientific
Revolution of 1500s and 1600s. Scientific successes created great confidence in the power of reason. Leaders
of the Enlightenment, called philosohes, felt that the solution to the world's problems could be solved
through rational thought.
A fundamental idea of the Enlightenment was the concept of natural law. If people could use reason to find
laws that governed the physical world, why not use reason to discover natural laws that govern human
nature, such as freedom of expression and independence? Enlightenment thinkers insisted they could solve
every political, economic, and social problem.
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The Enlightenment writers openly questioned long-held ideas about society. They challenged the authority
of absolute monarchs, or a system of government in which a monarch is the only source of power, the union
of church and state, and privileged social classes. They rejected the notion that monarchs ruled by "Divine
Right," or the idea that rulers were chosen by God to rule. They emphasized the importance of the
individual in society and introduced the concept that government should be responsive to the people and
that people had rights.
A. Thomas Hobbes - Hobbes argued that people are naturally cruel, greedy, and
selfish. If not strictly controlled, they will fight, rob and oppress one another. To
escape such a brutish life, people enter into a social contract, an agreement by
which people give up certain freedoms for benefits of an organized society.
Hobbes believed that only a powerful government could ensure an orderly
society. If the ruler was an enlightened monarch, he could ensure order and
compel obedience. Hobbes disagreed with kings who ruled only by divine right.
B. John Locke - Locke was more optimistic than Hobbes about human behavior. He believed that people were
basically reasonable and moral.
To Hobbes' social contract idea, Locke added his theory of natural rights. Natural rights
are rights that belong to humans from birth. These include the right to life, liberty, and
property.
Locke also developed the idea that government should derive its power from the people it
governed. Thus, unlike Hobbes, he rejected absolute monarchy. Furthermore, he added a
radical idea. A government, he said, has an obligation to those it governs. If a government
fails in its obligation or violates the people's natural rights, the people have a right to
overthrow the government. His ideas were the bases of The Declaration of Independence and
the French Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen.
C. Baron de Montesquieu - Montesquieu believed that government should
operate in separate branches: one to make laws, one to carry them out, and one
to interpret them. The separation of governmental powers could prevent
tyranny. He also felt that each branch of government could serve as a check on
the other branches. This is an idea that we call checks and balances. The writers
of the U.S. Constitution included both of these ideas in the document.
D. Jean Jacques Rousseau - Rousseau also believed in the social contract. He
too disagreed with the divine right of kings. Rousseau believed that people are
basically good. Therefore, people, not God, give their government the power. He
explained how individuals give up some of their rights for the common good or
what is best for all society.
Although people surrender some of their rights, they retain their freedom
because government is based upon the consent of the governed. Rousseau put
his faith in the general will, or the will of the majority. Decisions of the
majority, or the general will, would apply to everyone. The majority should always work for the common
good. Unlike many Enlightenment thinkers who put individuals first, Rousseau felt the individual should be
subordinate to the community.
E. Voltaire - Voltaire promoted freedom of thought, speech, and religion. He
strongly promoted religious tolerance. His outspoken attacks offended the
government and the Catholic Church. He bitterly opposed religious
persecution, especially when carried out by governments in the name of
established religion.
F. William Penn - Penn and other Quakers believed that everyone had to seek God in his or her own way.
Penn also thought that religious tolerance would create stronger governments and wealthier societies.
Other English thinkers in the 1600s shared these ideas. But Penn had the opportunity to act on his beliefs.
In Pennsylvania, religious tolerance was the law.
Penn welcomed settlers from all faiths to Pennsylvania. Each of the other
American colonies had established an official church, but Penn did not. He sought
out religious groups suffering in Europe, and invited them to his colony. He even
gave some groups land. Yet religious tolerance did not mean that colonists of all
faiths had equal rights. Only Christians could vote or hold political office. But all
settlers could take part in the social and economic life of Pennsylvania.
On REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT - During Penn’s time, older forms of
government such as the “divine right of kings” were slowly giving way to a belief
that stressed individual rights. In 1681, Penn crafted a government for
Pennsylvania based on these Enlightenment principles. He rejected models of
government that forced laws on citizens against their will. Penn emphasized self-government for the people.
In 1696 the Assembly, an elected body of 36 men with power to accept or reject laws, demanded the power to
make laws. While Penn disagreed, he nevertheless believed strongly in representative government. So he
reluctantly changed the way Pennsylvania was governed. The will of the people was more important to him
than his own ideas about government.
G. William Blackstone - Argued that the king could do no wrong, though he regarded parliament as essential
and endorsed the separation of powers. He was convinced of the superiority of English common law.
Blackstone may be said to have loved humanity and disliked people. He saw nothing wrong with restricting
the vote to property owners because he thought those without property would have too little interest in
public affairs and would be easily mislead. He abhorred the very idea of slavery in England declaring that
anyone brought in slavery to England was immediately freed, but was indifferent to its practice in America.
He flatly declared that “Christianity is part of the laws of England” but stated that
the law of England “gives liberty, rightly understood, that is, protection to a Jew,
Turk, or a heathen, as well as to those who profess the true religion of Christ.” The
philosophy of the Declaration of Independence asserting the “self-evident”
“unalienable Rights” of people granted by “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God”
could have come, and probably did, from Blackstone’s description of the rights of
Englishmen under the British Constitution. The indictment against the Crown, the
bulk of the Declaration, recites many of the absolute rights of individuals covered
by Blackstone including the prohibition of taxation without consent.