Enlightenment Philosophers
Revised from: www.jordan.dpsnc.net/teacherpages/caharon/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/enlightenment-thinkers.doc
Introduction: The Enlightenment was an eighteenth century movement among writers and intellectuals that was
inspired by the Scientific Revolution and classical readings from Greece and Rome. The writers of the Enlightenment
applied the scientific method of observation, and investigation to problems they found in society. They challenged
traditional authority and encouraged the improvement of society through the use of reason. Most tried to improve
the relations between society and the government, believing all men had natural liberties and believed the power of
government should come from the governed. Below we will take a look at some of the most important Enlightenment
thinkers.
Thomas Hobbes
During the 1640’s, Thomas Hobbes witnessed the upheaval of a civil war in England. As a result he became convinced that
if people were left alone without government they would constantly fight among themselves. In 1651, he published his ideas in
Leviathan. According to Hobbes, to escape the chaos of their natural state, people entered into a contact in which they agreed to
give up their freedom to a ruler who guaranteed peace and order. The best government, Hobbes said, like Machiavelli, was one
in which the ruler had absolute power. Hobbes insisted once people enter into such a contract, they could not rebel, even if they
thought the ruler was a tyrant. Hobbes’ theory therefore supported the rule of absolute monarchs.
1. What event allowed Hobbes to come up with this theory?
2. What book did Hobbes publish?
3. What did Hobbes believe people had to do to escape the chaos of their natural state?
4. What kind of government did Hobbes advocate for?
5. What couldn’t people do once they entered a contract with the ruler?
6. Hobbes supported the rule of what kind of people?
John Locke
In 1690, John Locke published Two Treatises on Government. Locke agreed with Hobbes that the purpose of government was
to create order in society. He also saw government as a contract between the ruler and the ruled. However, Locke’s other ideas
about government differed greatly from those of Hobbes. Locke had a more optimistic view of human nature than Hobbes did. He
thought people were basically reasonable and would cooperate with each other. Moreover, Locke argued that rulers could stay in
power only as long as they had the consent of those they governed. If a ruler were a tyrant, he or she had broken the contract. The
people then had the right to rebel! Locke also presented important ideas that will lead to the creation of democracy. He believed
people had natural rights, including the right of life, liberty, and property. Government was responsible for protecting these rights,
he said, but its power should be limited. After his death his ideas became popular in North America and France, and are adopted
by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence.
1. What book did John Locke publish?
2. How did Locke’s view on human nature differ than Hobbes?
3. Locke believed rulers could stay in power as long as who gave them consent?
4. Locke believed people could rebel against whom if the contract was broken?
5. Other ideas by Locke led to the creation of what form of government?
6. According to Locke, what were the three natural rights of people?
7. Who took Locke’s ideas, using them for the Declaration of Independence?
Baron de Montesquieu
Born to a noble family, the Baron de Montesquieu was a keen student of government. He read the works of government.
He read the works of Newton and Locke. In The Spirit of Laws, he discussed various forms of government. Montesquieu
was especially impressive with the system of government that had developed in England by the mid-1700s. He believed that
English government protected the liberty of the people by the separation of power among three branches of government:
the legislative, executive, and judiciary. Montesquieu thought that in England Parliament, as legislative, made the laws;
the king, as executive, enforced the laws; and the courts, as judiciary, interpreted the laws if disputes arose. Montesquieu
also thought that the power of each branch of government should be carefully defined to provide a system of checks and
balances. That way no branch of government could dominate another. Montesquieu’s ideas on checks and balances and the
separation of powers would later influence the authors of the Constitution of the United States.
1. What book did Montesquieu write?
2. How did Montesquieu believe the English government protected the liberty of the people?
3. What were the three branches Montesquieu believed in?
4. What did the legislative branch do?
5. What did the executive branch do?
6. What did the judicial branch do?
7. Montesquieu believed each branch of government would balance itself by using what system that we use
today in the United States?
8. Why did Montesquieu support a government system with checks and balances?
9. Montesquieu’s ideas where used in creating what important U.S. document?
Voltaire
Probably the best-known philosopher was Voltaire. Voltaire came from a French middle-class family. He traveled widely
and became popular for his witty plays and novels, as well as for his pamphlets attacking evils of society. Voltaire spent
much of his life arguing for common sense, religious toleration, and freedom of thought. He is credited with saying, “I do
not agree with a word you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Voltaire praised English liberties and
the works of Newton and Locke. He favored the idea of a strong monarch and thought the best ruler was an “enlightened
monarch.” However, the most important ideas that came out of the studies of Voltaire was freedom of speech, religion
and press, in which we see today used in the United States. We can all thank Voltaire for our natural rights and the Bill of
Rights.
1. What did Voltaire spend much of his life arguing for?
2. Explain what Voltaire meant by “I do not agree with a word you say but I will defend to the death your
right to say it?”
3. What important ideas did Voltaire have that are used today in the United States?
Jean Jacques Rousseau
The Swiss philosopher Rousseau came from a poor and unhappy family. When he went to Paris, he always felt out of
place among the more sophisticated intellectuals who gathered there. A complainer and constant critic of others, Rousseau
quarreled with many philosophers. Yet his political and social ideas were an important part of Enlightment thought.
Rousseau believed that human nature was basically good. In his opinion, society corrupted people. He argued that all people
were equal and that all titles of rank and nobility should be abolished. “Man is born free and everywhere is in chains,”
he wrote. Rousseau admired what he called the “noble savage,” who lived in a natural state, free from the influences of
civilization. However, Rousseau realized that people could not return to the natural state. In The Social Contract, Rousseau
described an ideal society. In this society, people would form a community and make a contract with one another, not with
a ruler. People would give up some of their freedom in favor of the “general will,” or the decisions of the majority. The
community would vote on all decisions and everyone would accept the community decision. Rousseau also believed that
the power to rule belonged to the people, and that government should receive their authority from the people. He wrote that
people had the right to rise up against their government and carry out needed change. Rousseau’s beliefs in equality and in
the will of the majority made him a spokesman for the common people. Revolutionaries in many countries would later adopt
his ideas.
1. How did Rousseau explain human nature?
2. What did Rousseau think corrupted people?
3. What did Rousseau think about social classes?
4. In Rousseau’s The Social Contract who did he believe should govern?
5. According to Rousseau, how would the people take part in government?
6. What did Rousseau believe should happen if the people were unhappy with the government?
Conclusion
For all of us sitting here today living in the United States, many of the laws and rules we follow come from the ideas
from the Enlightenment thinkers. Explain three things that we have today that came from the ideas from the Enlightenment
period.