Philosophy in the Age of Reason:The Enlightenment

Honors Western CivilizationMrs. Civitella

Natural Law and the Scientific Revolution

During the Scientific Revolution, scientists began to look at how living things interacted with nature to find solutions to questions about the world

Isaac Newton used natural law to discover the law of gravity

natural law- laws found in nature Scientists used the scientific method to

answer questions about the physical world

The Scientific Method

NEW APPROACH TO SCIENCE Like art and religion,

the Renaissance inspired scientists not to rely on the past or the teachings in the Bible

The new scientific method depended on observation and experimentation

Introduction to the Age of Reason

reason- to use one’s intellect to come to a logical conclusion

natural law- laws found in naturephilosophers- intellectual theorists,

thinkersIn the late 1600s and early 1700s,

philosophers reexamined society to try to find the natural laws that governed human nature

human nature- how people behave in nature

Age of Reason or Enlightenment

Philosophers believed that they could uncover these laws of human nature

This era is referred to as both the Age of Reason and The Enlightenment

enlighten- to give information toPolitical philosophers believed that

they could find the laws of nature that governed human nature and determine the best types of government to create a peaceful society

Hobbes and Locke

Two English philosophers, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, had a significant impact on the new area of political philosophy

Both men saw the violence of the English Civil War

They had opposing views about human nature

Thomas Hobbes

Hobbes believed that in a state of nature, an imaginary place where there were no government and no laws, man was inherently evil

Man would kill another man to get food or shelter

He claimed that life would be “nasty, brutish, and short”

To escape the violence, Hobbes claimed that man entered into a social contract with one another

Thomas Hobbes Leviathan With a social contract, man gave up

their freedom and agreed to obey a ruler social contract- an agreement by which

man gave up the state of nature for an organized society

In exchange, the ruler ensured peace and order

The best government, according to Hobbes was on in which the ruler had absolute power to keep order

Leviathan

He also believed that once people entered into the social contract, they could not rebel, even if they thought that the ruler was a tyrant

Hobbes supported the idea of an absolute monarch

He wrote his theory in a book published in 1651 called Leviathan

John Locke

John Locke agreed with Thomas Hobbes that the purpose of government was to establish order in society

He also saw the government as a contract between the ruler and the ruled

Locke had a more optimistic view of human nature

He thought that man were essentially good, reasonable and would cooperate with one another

Locke continued….

He argued that rulers should only stay in power as long as they had the consent of those they governed

consent- in agreement if a ruler were a tyrant, then he broke the social

contract and the people had the right to rebel and set up a new government

Locke believed that people had natural rights rights- privileges natural rights- rights given by nature Locke believed that man had the natural rights

to life, liberty and property

Two Treatises of Government In his book written in 1690, Two Treatises

of Government, Locke argued that man formed government to protect their natural rights

The best kind of government, according to Locke, was limited in power and was accepted by all citizens

Locke does not make a specific recommendation for a form of government but seems to endorse limited monarchy

Hobbes vs. Locke

THOMAS HOBBES Man is inherently

violent Only a power

government where people cannot rebel will maintain order

Only an absolute monarchy can maintain peace

JOHN LOCKE Man is inherently good Government has to have

the consent of the governed

If government becomes unjust, man has the right to abolish that government and create new government

Government has to have power that are limited by the citizens

Two French Philosophers

MONTESQUIEU The powers of

government should be seperated into three branches (seperation of powers)

Each branch will keep the other branches from becoming too powerful (checks and balances)

ROUSSEAU In a perfect society,

people both make and obey the laws

What is good for the whole is more important than what is good for a class or an individual person

Preached the “common good” or “general will”

Mercantilism

Mercantilism- economic theory stating that there is a fixed amount of wealth in the world and that in order to receive a larger share, one country has to take some wealth away from another country

1. Mercantilism led to a colonization race by European countries around the world

2. Europeans sought out colonies that could provide them with either

a) Gold and silverb) Raw materials (i.e. British colonies in N. America)

Mercantilism

Exports > Imports

New Colonial RivalsNew Colonial Rivals

Adam Smith- Wealth of Nations Described how the economy worked based on

supply and demand Supplies will rise to reach demand because

suppliers can make money Profit motivates production Living in a time of mercantilism, Smith

advocated for free markets called laissez faire Laissez faire means to leave alone, no

government regulation of business Countries would gain more wealth in a free

market, capitalist, society than in a mercantilist economy

The Big Idea!

The Enlightenment would be just theory in Europe at first

The American Revolution would allow the U.S. to be the first country in the world to attempt enlightenment theory

Giving people the power to govern themselves in a free market economy would be called the “American Experiment”

Most of the world did not think that we would survive