2. Views on people and society before the
Enlightenment
• Most leaders were absolute monarchs - kings who held
all the power - had little respect for the average person.
• Religious leaders told people that the purpose of this life
was to do good deeds in order to get to heaven. Many
aspects of life had religious ties.
• The average person had no say in government or the
creation of laws.
• Only wealthy men had access to a good education.
• Children were viewed as small adults.
• Women were seen as inferior to men.
3. Thomas Hobbes
• Thomas Hobbes was an
Enlightenment thinker who
had a very negative view of
humanity.
• He thought humans were
basically beasts and needed
to be controlled by a strong
government.
• Hobbes believed if man was
left to his own devices he
would kill, steal, and destroy
civilization.
4. John Locke
• John Locke had a very
different view of humans.
He thought people were
generally good and
deserved to have more
rights and freedoms.
• Locke believed
everybody deserved to
have their natural rights
- life, liberty, and property
- protected.
5. Jean - Jacques Rosseau
• Rousseau believed that
people weren't born good or
bad, but who we become
was determined by society.
• Rousseau also advocated
that children be loved and
cared for and that every
male regardless of social
status have the opportunity
to get an education.
6. Denis Diderot
• Diderot believed that man
could be shaped and molded
by his surroundings.
• He believed the church and
state should be separated.
• Diderot spent much of his
life putting together the
Encyclopedie - an
encyclopedia of the various
ideas and information from
other Enlightenment
thinkers.
7. Voltaire
• Voltaire believed that people
should have freedom of
speech and that they should
be allowed to criticize
religion and
government/leaders without
being punished.
• Voltaire also believed that
people should be tolerant of
others' beliefs even if they
disagreed with them, and no
one should be punished for
their beliefs.
8. Key Points
• Enlightenment thinkers had a lot of ideas that were different from
the thoughts of the Middle Ages.
• Some thinkers had a positive view of mankind while others had a
negative view.
• New ideas about children and education emerged.
• Diderot and Voltaire as well as other Enlightenment thinkers
believed that church and state/government should be separated.
They believed that government should be secular - having no
religious affiliations/connections.
• Many Enlightenment thinkers believed the common person
should have more rights and freedoms.
• More focus on the individual person rather than society as a
whole.
