Enlightenment philosophers such as Francis Bacon, Cesare Beccaria, and John Locke promoted rational thinking and evidence-based reasoning over religious dogma and superstition. They believed societies should be governed based on natural laws and the consent of the people, not hereditary rule, and that laws and government should aim for the greatest happiness and protect the natural rights of all. Their works influenced revolutions and challenged existing political, economic, and social institutions.

2. Enlightenment Philosophers

3. Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
 Whatever the “mind seizes and dwells upon
with particular satisfaction is to be held in
suspicion”
 Bacon’s inductive method of reasoning to
interpret nature evident in his work the
“Novum Organum”
 Move from observations to theory – a
bottom-up approach

4. Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)
 “On Crimes and Punishments” (1764)
 Influenced leaders in Europe as well as
revolutionary leaders in the American
colonies
 The social contract – people choose to live in
a society and have to thus give up some
personal liberties in exchange for the safety
of society.
 Laws as the framework of society designed to
encourage/prohibit acts

5.  Laws to be determined rationally and be
based upon the idea of the “greatest
happiness shared by the greatest number”
 Rational punishment – punishment that
would fit the crime and not be unnecessarily
cruel or arbitrary.

6. Georges-Louis Leclerc
Buffon (1707-1788)
 Humankind’s understanding of the world
dominated by Separate Creation (all
creatures were created separately by God)
and the age of the earth as 6 000 years.
 Buffon challenged this 100 years before
Darwin.
 Suggested the common ancestry of man and
apes and challenged the age of the earth in
“Les Epoques de la Nature” (1788)

7. Denis Diderot (1713-1784)

8.  Chief editor of the “L’Encyclopedie” – an
attempt to collect all human knowledge,
consisting of 17 volumes of text and 11
volumes of illustrations.
 Diderot’s own writings “Supplement au
voyage de Bougainville” challenged
colonization and slavery.

9. Benjamin Franklin (1706-
1790)
 Influenced by Sir Isaac Newton and John
Locke
 Worked as a printer and published a
newspaper
 Inventor and worked on electricity
 Increasing involvement in politics and
opposed British policies in American colonies
 Helped draft the Declaration of
Independence and approved the US
Constitution

10. Olympe de Gouges (1748-
1793)

11.  Advocate of human rights and equality for
women
 “The Declaration of the Rights of Women and
of the Citizen” (1791)
 Belief that women had the right to free
speech and the same rights given to men.
 Guillotined in 1793

12. David Hume (1711-1776)

13.  Scottish Enlightenment emphasis on human
reason and rejection of authority that could not
be justified by reason
 Changes guided by reason could improve
society.
 Hume’s “radical skepticism” – the importance of
experience from which we then derive ideas.
 “A Treatise of Human Nature” (1739-1740), “An
Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding”
(1748)

14. John Locke (1632-1704)
 “An Essay Concerning Human
Understanding” (1690) – all our ideas are
derived from experience thus we cannot
know anything beyond our experience
 “ Two Treatises of Civil Government: (1690) –
government depends on the consent of those
who are governed; majority rule with the
right to revolution if dissatisfied with
government.
 “Letter Concerning Toleration” (1689)

15. Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
 Born in England but moved to America.
 “Common Sense” (1776) – promoted the cause of
American independence
 “The Rights of Man” – political rights for ALL
men in a democracy; rejection of hereditary
govt; social legislation for the poor.
 Govt should preserve the natural rights of all
men and rest on the sovereignty of the people
 Elected to the National Convention in France but
arrested during the Terror.

16. Adam Smith (1723-1790)
 “The Wealth of Nations” (1776) – “rational
self-interest in a free market economy leads
to economic well-being”
 Sought to reveal the nature and cause of a
nation’s prosperity.
 Advocated the increasing division of labour.
 Advocated free trade – an economy based on
“natural laws” with little govt interference i.e.
capitalism

17. Voltaire (1694-1778)

18.  Reason over superstition and opposition to
intolerance, cruelty and tyranny.
 Freedom of expression: “I may disapprove of
what you say but I will fight to death for your
right to say it.”