The Enlightenment and our society today
Montesquieu (Mah-n-tay-skew)
An important French writer, Montesquieu devoted himself to study government and
politics. He said “power should limit other power.” He meant that each branch in
government should balance another branch. No one branch should be too powerful.
That way, there is no abuse of power by one person or small group of people. This
“balance of power” is explained below:
Montesquieu called this the separation of powers.
LegislativeLeaders make laws
Executive BranchKing enforces laws
Judicial BranchThe courts make sure
the laws are understood
Explain the beliefs of Montesquieu in your own words.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Voltaire
\Voltaire fought for tolerance, reason, freedom of religious belief, and freedom of
speech. He made many enemies throughout France in his quest to end intolerance,
prejudice, and superstition. Voltaire was imprisoned on several occasions and even
thrown out of France for more than two years.
“We should look at all men as brothers. Some say, “how can you call
someone of a different color a brother?” But of course! We are all
creatures made by the same God and all brothers. Christians should be
tolerant, but instead, they have brought war on people who are different
than them.”
Explain the beliefs of Voltaire in your own words.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Beccaria
An Italian philosophe named Beccaria started criticizing the justice system. He believed
that laws existed to help keep order in society, not to get revenge on criminals. He
criticized the abuse of justice. This included the torturing of witnesses and suspects,
irregular trials, and punishments that were cruel. He said that punishment should be
based on how serious the crime was.
Explain the beliefs of Beccaria in your own words.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Mary Wollstonecraft
In the 1700’s many women also picked up these Enlightenment themes. Mary
Wollstonecraft was a female philosophe and argued that women’s education should be
equal to men’s. She argued that women, like men, need education to become virtuous
(good citizens) and useful. She urged women to enter male-dominated fields of
medicine and politics.
Explain the beliefs of Wollstonecraft in your own words.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Directions:
• With your group read the scenario together.
• Figure out which philosophe would argue against the situation.
• Explain how you know in one sentence
Scenario
1. The President of the
United States is using too
much power and decided on
his own that private
Facebook accounts are
illegal in order to prevent
terrorism. The government
will now be reading
everything you write on
Facebook.
2. A new law is passed that
says Buddhism is the only
legal religion. No other
religions will be tolerated. If
anyone is caught practicing
a different religion, they will
be arrested.
3. Prisoners from the war in
Afghanistan and Iraq should
be tortured to gain new
information.
4. In Japan, women are
often forced to quit their
jobs when they have babies.
These women are as
educated and hard-working
as men but they don’t get
the same kind of respect in
the workplace.
Which philosophe
How do you know?
would argue against Explain in one sentence.
this situation? Write
their name in the
box.
Society today
During his time in office, many people say that George Bush
overused the power of the executive branch of government. He
has started a telephone wiretapping program without the permission
of the courts. Tens of millions of Americans have had their
telephones tapped, emails and text messages viewed, and library
records checked by the government and they didn’t even know it.
How you think Montesquieu would feel about a
government who secretly checks people’s telephone calls, emails, and text
messages?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Society today
There has been a great deal of controversy about the planned building of a new
Mosque (Islamic place of worship) near the site where the World Trade Center
once stood (Ground Zero). Since it was followers of the Islamic religion who
attacked the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001, many Americans are
against the building of this new Mosque. Others argue that everyone in the
United States has the right to freedom of religion.
What might Voltaire say about the building of this new Mosque?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Society today
As a result of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, the US has captured many prisoners.
These prisoners of war have been sent to a US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where
they are sometimes mistreated and tortured in an effort to gain important information
needed to fight the war on terror.
How do you think Beccaria would feel about the mistreatment of these
prisoners?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Society today
In Japan, educated women are often forced to retire or quit
their jobs after they have babies. Though these women are as
educated and hard-working as their male co-workers, they
are often not considered for high level positions because they
have children at home and cannot work 15 hour days.
How do you think Mary Wollstonecraft would view
the treatment of female workers in Japan?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Imagine that Beccaria, Montesquieu, and Wollstonecraft are
running for President. Pick ONE of these thinkers and using their
beliefs and ideas as a guide, work with your partner to create a
campaign slogan (phrase or saying), that will help market them for
the presidential race.
The philosopher we picked was
____________________________.
Our campaign slogan is:
“______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________”