I.) The Enlightenmento Time period in Europe in the 1600’s and

1700’s that used reason to explain human

nature.

o Direct result of the Age of Absolutism

o Believed government decisions should be based on the laws of nature and reason.

II.) Thomas Hobbes

English philosopher

Wrote: the Leviathan in 1651

Belief(s): - people made an unwritten Social Contract

giving all power to one ruler and people only

keep right to protect their lives - people exchange liberty for safety

III.) John Locke

English philosopher

Wrote: the Two Treatises of Government

Belief(s): - people made an unwritten Social Contract but only gave up some rights - kept right to life, liberty, & own property - ruler who violates rights breaks the

social contract

IV.) Baron de Montesquieu

French philosopher

Wrote: The Spirit of the Laws in 1748

Belief(s): - division of government in three branches

(executive, legislative, and judicial) - government should have system of

checks and balances

V.) Voltaire

French philosopher

Wrote: the Philosophical Letters

Belief(s): - Urged Religious Toleration (separation of church and state) - Defended Freedom of Speech

VI.) Denis Diderot

French philosopher

Wrote: the Encyclopedia

Belief(s): - Goal: was to collect and disseminate all current Enlightenment ideas - Outcome: spread Enlightenment ideas across Europe and North America

- Outcome: undermined existing authority

VII.) Jean-Jacques Rousseau

French philosopher

Wrote: the Social Contract

Belief(s): - General Will - Social Contract with one another to form a civil society - Govt. should be based on Popular Sovereignty - Defended individual freedoms

VIII.) Mary Wollstonecraft

English philosopher & feminist

Wrote: the Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792)

Belief(s): - women should have same political and educational rights as men - Urged Equality for all