MODERN HISTORY SOURCEBOOK
CRIB SHEET:Enlightenment Political Thought
[Note: Crib Sheets are meant as review aids for a particular
period/theme. They are not complete overviews!]
The French Enlightenment
Ideals
- Reason
- Toleration
- Natural Law
- Change and Progress as good things
- Deism.
English Precursors
- John Locke
- Sir Isaac Newton
Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet) 1694-1778
- Ecrasez L'infame - anti-Catholicism, anti-Semitism
- Letters on the English 1733
- Lettres Philosophiques 1734
- Elements of the Philosophy of Newton 1738
- Candide 1759
- Dictionnaire Philosophique 1764,
Denis Diderot 1713-84 Jean le Rond d'Alembert 1717-83
- The Encyclopedia 1751-72 17 Vols
English Political Thinkers
Thomas Hobbes 1588-1662
- Leviathan 1651, (cf. Machiavelli 1469-1527)
- "the life of man is nasty, brutish, and short"
John Locke 1632-1704
- An Essay Concerning Human Understanding 1690
- Two Treatises of Civil Government 1690
- A Letter Concerning Toleration 1689
Adam Smith 1723-90 (Scottish)
- The Wealth of Nations 1776
- Laissez-faire economics
French Political Thinkers
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu 1689-1755
- Persian Letters 1721
- The Spirit of the Laws (De l'esprit des lois)
1748
- Idea of climate and political form
- Theory of separation of powers
Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-78
- Discourse on the Moral Effects of the Arts and Sciences 1750
-opposes idea of progress!
- Discourse on the Origin of Inequality 1755
-caused by property
- Emile 1762
- -love your child
- On the Social Contract (Du Contrat Social) 1762
Ideas of
SOCIAL CONTRACT - between people not between people and government.
GENERAL WILL - the basis of political decisions - not the same
a majority opinion
SOVEREIGN POWER - basis of the right to govern.
Enlightened Despotism
- Austria: Maria Theresa 1740-1780, Joseph II 1780-1790
- Prussia: Frederick the Great 1740-1789
- Russia : Catherine the Great 1762-96
- Division of Poland:
these monarchs divided Poland between them in 1772,1793,1795.
© 1997, Paul Halsall, halsall@murray.fordham.edu
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© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 15 November 2024 [CV]
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