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| Enlightened Absolutism (MS) |
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Definition
Absolute monarchs who followed the advice of the philosophes were considered Enlightened Absolutists. They ruled by enlightened principles, especially the idea of rationality. In general, they tended to allow more freedoms (speech, religion, etc.) and encouraged science and the arts. This was the path to modern nationhood.
Some examples include:
- Joseph II of Austria (made several reforms but ended up hurting more than helping)
- Catherine the Great of Russia (questioned serfdom and capital punishment but was fairly unsuccessful in negotiating change)
- Frederick II of Prussia (well versed in Enlightenment thought and believed in king as "the first servant of the state"; eliminated torture in most cases, granted freedom of speech/press and religious toleration) |
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| Locke's idea of tabula rasa influenced many ideas of the philosophes. Tabula rasa means "blank mind." This theory said that all people are born with a blank mind which is then developed according to one's environment and from reason. It is not determined by heredity or faith. This would mean that by changing a person's environment, the person could potentially be changed as well. |
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| Jean-Jacques Rousseau (SM) |
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| Political beliefs were presented in two major works: Discourse on the Origins of the Inequalities of Mankind, and the Social Contract. In his Discourse work, he said that humans were the happiest in their primitive condition, but in order to preserve private property, they adopted laws and governors. He saw government as a necessary evil. In his Social Contract, he attempted to harmonize individual liberty and government authority. An agreement by an entire society to be governed by its general will. Its ideas were used by the radicals of the second stage of the French Revolution and some others believe that it led to a totalitarian system. Another important work of Rousseau was Emile, which is one of the most important works on education during the Enlightenment. It suggested that children should be introduced to nature in their childhood and then taught ethics and reason as they grew into their teens and adulthood. It emphasized a balance between sentiment and reason which would eventually lead to the Romanticism movement in the nineteenth century. |
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| Voltaire not only advocated for religious tolerance but also Deism. Deism is the idea of God as a clock maker. God created universe but had direct involvement with it after it was created. The universe was allowed to run by its natural laws. Voltaire said that God answer prayers and that Jesus was not as divine as the Christians claimed. |
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| Diderot strongly believed in a purely materialistic conception of the world and the absolute absurdity of Christianity. He was most famous for his 28 volume Encyclopedia, which the philosophes used against old French society. Many philosophes contributed to the major work in which they attacked religious superstition and advocated toleration. Later editions of the Encyclopedia were more available to doctors, teachers, lawyers, etc. due to a drastic decrease in price. This helped the ideas of the Enlightenment spread more quickly throughout Europe. |
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| Wesley was an ordained Anglican minister who experienced a religious awakening in which he realized that if he trusted in God then he would be saved. The Anglican church saw this as superstitious so he he split from them and preached his own sermons in open fields. The audience he was trying to reach out to was made up of the lower classes. He provoked several extreme conversion experiences out of which Methodism was created. This was a major revival of Christianity in a time focused around reason. |
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| Montesquieu's main ideas were presented in his first work, the Persian Letters. These ideas were an attack on traditional religion, the advocacy of religious toleration, the disapproval of slavery, and the use of reason to liberate humans from their prejudices. His most famous work is his Spirit of the Laws, in which he compared different types of governments utilizing the scientific method. He came up with three basic types of governments: republics for small states with citizen involvement, monarchies for medium states which was grounded in the ruling class's adherence to the law, and despotisms for large empires that required fear to inspire obedience. His most important political thought is the importance of checks and balances created by a means of separation of powers. He thought that three different systems that could limit the powers of the one another provided the greatest freedom and security for a state. This concept was translated to English two years after it was published, which means that it eventually found its way to American Philosophes such Ben Franklin, James Madison, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson. |
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| Defined, salons were upscale drawing rooms in the houses of the urban wealthy. Philosophes were often invited to them to engage in enlightened discussions. Most salons were run by the women of the house, meaning they could sit in on the conversations and add to the discussions, putting them in a place to influence the thoughts of others. |
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| Wollstonecraft was the founder of modern European feminism. Her most famous work is Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) where she pointed out two contradictions of views of women held by enlightened thinkers. They thought that women must obey men, yet argued against the enslavement of lower class people. She also argued that if the Enlightenment was based around the reason of all humans, then women must have reason too and should therefore have equal rights as men. |
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| Smith presented a strong attack on mercantilism. His main fundamental principle was on free trade and he condemned mercantilist use of tariffs to protect home industrialists. He believed that each nation should be able to produce what it can produce the best without tariffs barriers. His second principle was his labor theory of value. He believed that a nation's wealth was measured by the labor of its farmers, artisans, and merchants. He portrayed the state as having only three functions: protect from invasion, defend its individual against injustice and oppression, and keep up public works. |
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| Ending of the Society of Jesus (SM) |
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| The chief papal agents during the Churches control of nations. They had spread throughout Europe and into the colonies of the New World were they set up schools. As the Catholic Church's power over nations began to deteriorate, so did the acceptance of the Jesuits. The Portuguese monarchy destroyed the powerful Jesuit state in Paraguay. Soon, France and Spain would do the same as Portugal, and they even went a step further and demanded from the pope that the society be dissolved. The pope reluctantly cooperated. The fall of the Jesuits, who were the fanatical strength of Catholicism, was a major victory in the Catholic governments' desire to win control over their countries. |
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| Beccaria disapproved of the unjust laws and brutal punishments of the eighteenth century. He wrote an essay titled On Crimes and Punishments which argued that punishments should focus on deterrents and not brutality. He also was against capital punishment because he said that it did not prevent others from committing crimes. He argued that imprisonment made a bigger impression. |
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| Kant defined the Enlightenment as "man's leaving his self-caused immaturity." He also proclaimed its motto to be "Dare to Know!: Have the courage to use your own intelligence." both of these statements are true representations of the main ideas of the Enlightenment. It advocated for the understanding of all life and the freeing of the man from "the shackles of life", such as the Church's control and popular thought. |
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Voltaire, from France, studied law but pursued a writing career. During a stay in England, he wrote Philosophic Letters on the English in which he expressed his admiration of the freedoms and religious tolerance of England. By praising England for these freedoms, he criticized the repressive policies of France. When he returned to France he was forced to retire to Cirey and then Ferney.
Voltaire was also famous for his involvement in the Calas affair. In this case, Calas was forced to plead guilty to charges of murdering his son and he was consequently sentenced to death. After this sentence was carried out, Voltaire forced a retrial in which Calas was found not guilty as the son had committed suicide. He is famous for the quote, "Crush the infamous thing!" regarding religious intolerance. |
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