The Enlightenment Questions and
Answers Already Passed
The Enlightenment
European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and
individualism rather than tradition.
Social Contract
The agreement by which people define and limit their individual rights thus creating an
organised society or government
Reason
Enlightened thinkers believed truth could be discovered through reason or logical thinking.
Scientific Revolution
Group of scholars mid 1500s published their works that challenged the ideas of the ancient
thinkers and the church based on logic and reason. This was the start of the Scientific Revolution
Natural Rights
Life, Liberty, and Property.
Natural Law
A body of unchanging moral principles regarded as a basis for all human conduct.
Principal Ideas of the Enlightenment
, •Rationalism: Belief that truth can be arrived at only by
reason (rational, logical thinking)
• Cause and Effect: Belief that everything has a cause and an effect and that these can be
discovered through observation and experiment
• Natural Law: Belief that the universe is guided by simple laws preordained by God, such as the
law of gravitation. Denial of the possibility of miracles, which contradicts these natural laws
• Progress: Belief that society and individuals can be improved and progress toward perfection.
Denial of the medieval view that humanity is in a state of decline from a golden age of the
distant past (identified by medieval thinkers with the classical era of Greece and Rome)
• Freedom: Belief that individuals should be free to make up their own minds and form their own
beliefs without being restricted by superstition, religious dogma, or autocratic government
• Happiness: Belief that a morally good life is a happy life. Denial of the view of the medieval
Christian Church that people should endure hardship on Earth in the hope of reward after death
Thomas Hobbes
Believed in Social Contracts, he believed that all humans are wicked and cruel. Social Contract
is when people give up their rights so that Law and Order can happen, he believe that an absolute
monarch is the best.
John Locke
Believed that all people are born free, and that every human being has the three Natural Rights;
Life, Liberty, and Property
Philosophes
They were the intellectuals of the 18th century enlightenment.
Answers Already Passed
The Enlightenment
European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and
individualism rather than tradition.
Social Contract
The agreement by which people define and limit their individual rights thus creating an
organised society or government
Reason
Enlightened thinkers believed truth could be discovered through reason or logical thinking.
Scientific Revolution
Group of scholars mid 1500s published their works that challenged the ideas of the ancient
thinkers and the church based on logic and reason. This was the start of the Scientific Revolution
Natural Rights
Life, Liberty, and Property.
Natural Law
A body of unchanging moral principles regarded as a basis for all human conduct.
Principal Ideas of the Enlightenment
, •Rationalism: Belief that truth can be arrived at only by
reason (rational, logical thinking)
• Cause and Effect: Belief that everything has a cause and an effect and that these can be
discovered through observation and experiment
• Natural Law: Belief that the universe is guided by simple laws preordained by God, such as the
law of gravitation. Denial of the possibility of miracles, which contradicts these natural laws
• Progress: Belief that society and individuals can be improved and progress toward perfection.
Denial of the medieval view that humanity is in a state of decline from a golden age of the
distant past (identified by medieval thinkers with the classical era of Greece and Rome)
• Freedom: Belief that individuals should be free to make up their own minds and form their own
beliefs without being restricted by superstition, religious dogma, or autocratic government
• Happiness: Belief that a morally good life is a happy life. Denial of the view of the medieval
Christian Church that people should endure hardship on Earth in the hope of reward after death
Thomas Hobbes
Believed in Social Contracts, he believed that all humans are wicked and cruel. Social Contract
is when people give up their rights so that Law and Order can happen, he believe that an absolute
monarch is the best.
John Locke
Believed that all people are born free, and that every human being has the three Natural Rights;
Life, Liberty, and Property
Philosophes
They were the intellectuals of the 18th century enlightenment.
