ENLIGHTENMENT

VOLTAIRE (1694-1778)

• Contributions: Belief of freedom of speech
• "I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
• Freedom of speech is one of his ideas still used today.
• Championed political,social,and religious tolerance

JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704)

• Believed in the "state of nature"-all men were equal in the state of nature.
• Disagreed with the idea of "divine rights".
• Argued that the mind of a baby was "tabular rasa" or a blank slate.
• The idea of a king with "divine right" that does not continue today.

JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU (1712-1778)

• Philosophized on the nature of society and government
• The social contract-believed in forming a society people entered into a social compact with each other
• The social contract is still in use today.

BARON DE MONTESQUIEU (1689-1755)

• French noble and political philosopher
• "The spirit of laws"- a study of different governments in Europe and applied his own theory's of effective governments
• "The spirit of the laws" is not in use today.