This document discusses absolutism and enlightened rulers. It defines an absolute monarch as having unlimited power and controlling all aspects of society, only answering to God. An enlightened despot considered reforms to create efficient societies without losing their own power. Absolutism centered on the divine right of kings, conflicting with thinkers of the Enlightenment like those discussed in the Social Contract Theory.

1. Absolutism?
In your notebooks, write your own definition of
absolutism. What does this word mean to you?

2. • Who is in the
painting?
• What is in the
background?
• What message does
this portrait convey?
• What is the
meaning?

3. Yertle the Turtle

4. Absolute Monarchs
• Unlimited power
• Controlled all
aspects of society
• Divine Right of Kings
– Only answered to
god, not his/her
subject

5. Absolute vs. Enlightened Rulers
• An enlightened despot - considered reforms in
order to create more efficient societies, but
not at the expense of their own power.
• Absolutism and the Social Contract Theory
– Argued about the legitimate source of political
power centered on divine right
– Which enlightened thinker’s ideas/beliefs does this
theory conflict with?

6. Absolute Monarch = King James I
• King of both England and
Scotland!
• A Letter to Parliament
(1609)
– How does King James I
defend his right as king?
– What 3 things does he
warn parliament to avoid
in the future?

7. Dear King James I!
• Write a response to King James I’s letter to
parliament from the perspective of one of the
6 enlightened thinkers.
– Think of what he/she would think about this letter
and how they would react to it.

8. Absolute or Enlightened?
You be the judge!
Vote which 18th Century monarchs you think
were either absolute or enlightened rulers.

9. Peter the Great - Russia

10. Catherine the Great - Russia

11. King Phillip - Spain

12. Joseph II - Austria

13. Frederick the Great - Prussia

14. King Frederick III - Norway

15. And here are the results.

16. The Good…
• Catherine the Great – Russia
• Frederick the Great – Prussia
• Joseph II - Austria

17. The Bad…
• King Phillip – Spain
• Peter the Great – Russia
• King Frederick III – Norway
• King Louis XIV - France

18. The Ugly…

19. • How does the idea behind an absolute
monarch conflict with the ideas of the
enlightened thinkers?
• Choose one of the ideas of the philosophes to
examine this question.