The document discusses the key ideas and figures of the Enlightenment period in Europe. It began in the 1600s as educated Europeans started using reason and logic rather than tradition to understand the world. Thinkers known as philosophes gathered in informal salons to discuss new ideas. Major Enlightenment thinkers included Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, Francois-Marie Arouet (Voltaire), and influential women like Olympe de Gouges and Abigail Adams who advocated for women's rights. These philosophers questioned authority and traditions in fields like religion, government, and society and advocated for rational and scientific thought.