Download The Age of Reason

The Age of Reason
The Age of Enlightenment
Enlightenment
Applied REASON to the study of the natural world
Used reason to solve problems
Human behavior governed by natural laws
Largest intellectual movement since the Renaissance
Apply reason to human life:
 Politics
 Religion
 Arts
Politics
 Thomas Hobbes
 John Locke
 Montesquieu
 Jean Jacques Rousseau
 Voltaire
Thomas Hobbes
 All humans are naturally selfish and wicked
 Need government to maintain order
 People give up rights to a strong ruler in exchange
for law and order = social contract
 Favored an absolute monarchy
 Leviathan
 The state must have central authority to
manage behavior and prevent chaos
John Locke
 All people are born free and have equal rights to
life, liberty and property
 Government is to protect these rights – IF
government fails to do so – citizens have the right
to overthrow that government
 Two Treatises on Government
 People are sovereign (or are able to make their
own decisions)
 Monarchs are not chosen by God
Opposing Views
Hobbes
 Absolute monarchy 
 People need
government
 People are selfish
and greedy
 Freedoms for
peace, safety and
order
 SOCIAL CONTRACT
Locke
 Government protect
natural rights
 Monarchs NOT
chosen by God
 Government by
consent
 Power limited by laws
 Foundation for
MODERN
DEMOCRACY
Montesquieu
 Aristocrat and lawyer
 Separation of powers
 The Spirit of Laws
 The best form of government includes a
separation of powers.
 “Power should be a check to power”
 Checks and balances
 Influence on the US Government – three
branches of government
Jean Jacques Rousseau
 Argued civilization corrupted
people’s natural goodness
 The Social Contract
 Government is a contract
between rulers and the people.
 Also a contract between the
majority and the minority in
society (majority rule)
 Rousseau thought people should
use reason, but not forget about
love, emotion, and feelings.
 Direct democracy
“Man is born
free but
everywhere
is in chains”
Voltaire
 Argued that equality was impossible
 Used satire (poking fun at real life
issues)
 Attacked injustice among nobility,
government, and church
 Separation of Church and State
 Fought for economic, political, and
religious tolerance
Denis Diderot
 Would bring together all the
most current enlightenment
thinking about science,
technology, art and
government, etc.
 Church and French
government banned the
encyclopedia
 Educated people all over
Europe
Effects on Politics/Society
 Increase in public discussion of politics and
society
 SALONS – gatherings of writers, artists,
and educated people to discuss the
philosophies of the day in the homes of
wealthy people
 Organized and ran by upper class
women
 Spread ideas of the Enlightenment
 Paris = intellectual center of the
Enlightenment
Impact of the Enlightenment
 Changed ideas on:
 Nationalism (people should be able to




choose self-rule)
Democracy
 American and French Revolutions
 Declaration of Independence
 US Constitution and Bill of Rights
More secular
Belief in progress
Rise of individualism
 Use own ability to reason
How did philosophers
apply reason to
issues in society???
Effects on the Arts
The Enlightenment also influenced the Arts –
music, literature, painting and architecture
Literature
 Europeans began writing
novels
 Miguel de Cervantes
 His novel Don Quixote
was a political
statement on the
downfall of the ruling
Hapsburg family of
Spain
Art & Music
 Baroque-grand, ornate style
 Dominated European art during 1600s1700s
 Elaborate palaces (EX: Versailles)
 Johann Sebastian Bach: Baroque
composer
 Dramatic organ and choral music
 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: classical
composer
 Wrote operas: The Marriage of Figaro, The
Magic Flute, and Don Giovanni
 Neoclassical-”new classical”
 Elegant style from Greece and Rome
Art & Music
 Grouped similar instruments
together = modern orchestra
 Music appreciated by itself
outside of the theater or
religious services
Painting
• Reason mixed
with fantasy
• Art shows that
rational thinking
can control
irrational
emotions
• Romanticism
• Politics brought
into art
Eugene Delacroix – Painter
“Liberty Leading the People”