The Age of Enlightenment was an 18th century intellectual movement that emphasized reason, science, democracy and individualism. Key philosophers like John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Montesquieu developed social contract theory and advocated for separating governmental powers, limiting the power of monarchs, and establishing governments that derived their authority from the consent of the governed. Other Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire and Diderot promoted rational thought, religious tolerance and challenged established institutions and norms of the time.

1. Enlightenment
• The Age of Enlightenment is the era in Western philosophy and
intellectual, scientific, and cultural life, centered upon the 18th century
• The Enlightenment is held to be the source of critical ideas, such as the
centrality of freedom, democracy, and reason as primary values of society.
This view argues that the establishment of a contractual basis of rights
would lead to the market mechanism and capitalism, the scientific method,
religious tolerance, and the organization of states into self-governing
republics through democratic means. In this view, the tendency of the
philosophes in particular to apply rationality to every problem is considered
the essential change.

2. John Locke (The promoter)
John Locke (1632-1704)
• Two Treatises of Government (1690)
– Mankind naturally in state of
anarchy (no government)
– Individuals left to own device
would act with self-interest
– Mankind must enter into a political
society to ensure stability
– Government therefore necessary,
but only if it acts in the interest of
the people- Social Contract Theory
– People have right to rebel in such
cases
• Glorious Revolution (1688)

3. Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
The Social Contract (1762)
• Humans are good, but the society
in which they live is corrupt and
bad
• Society will eventually deteriorate
into chaos unless humans come
together and adopt government
• S33ubmission to the authority of
the will of the people as a whole
guarantees individuals against being
subordinated to the wills of others
• He defends “Social contract”

4. Montesquieu
Montesquieu: (1689-1755)
• Believed a republic was the
best form of government
• He claims the separation of
powers
example of government:
• king (enforced laws),
Parliament (elected,
made laws), and
the judges of the
English courts
(interpreted laws)

5. Voltaire
• He is against Catholist
Church
• Defends religious
tolerance
• He said”I do not agree
with what you say but I
will defend to the death
your right to say”
• He defends a Taxes
System

6. Diderot
• He was a prominent
figure during the
Enlightenment and is
best-known for serving as
co-founder and chief
editor of and contributor
to the Encyclopédie.
• He rejected the Idea of
Progress. In his opinion,
the aim of progressing
through technology was
doomed to fail.

7. Thanks to the Freedom of Speech
Popular Print Culture:
• Newspapers, magazines,
pamphlets, broadsides,
miscellaneous ephemra
• “Textualize” protest to create
a uniformed and united
response
• Help to draw interests of
diverse colonies together
• Not just propaganda
• Articulated a coherent and
unified popular political
ideology