Philosophy in the Age of Reason: The Enlightenment

1. Honors Western Civilization Mrs. Civitella Philosophy in the Age of Reason:The Enlightenment

2. Natural Law and the Scientific Revolution • During the Scientific Revolution, scientists began to look at how living things interacted with nature to find solutions to questions about the world • Isaac Newton used natural law to discover the law of gravity • natural law- laws found in nature • Scientists used the scientific method to answer questions about the physical world

3. The Scientific Method New approach to science Like art and religion, the Renaissance inspired scientists not to rely on the past or the teachings in the Bible The new scientific method depended on observation and experimentation

4. Introduction to the Age of Reason reason- to use one’s intellect to come to a logical conclusion natural law- laws found in nature philosophers- intellectual theorists, thinkers In the late 1600s and early 1700s, philosophers reexamined society to try to find the natural laws that governed human nature human nature- how people behave in nature

5. Age of Reason or Enlightenment • Philosophers believed that they could uncover these laws of human nature • This era is referred to as both the Age of Reason and The Enlightenment • enlighten- to give information to • Political philosophers believed that they could find the laws of nature that governed human nature and determine the best types of government to create a peaceful society

6. Hobbes and Locke • Two English philosophers, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, had a significant impact on the new area of political philosophy • Both men saw the violence of the English Civil War • They had opposing views about human nature

7. Thomas Hobbes • Hobbes believed that in a state of nature, an imaginary place where there were no government and no laws, man was inherently evil • Man would kill another man to get food or shelter • He claimed that life would be “nasty, brutish, and short” • To escape the violence, Hobbes claimed that man entered into a social contract with one another

8. Thomas Hobbes Leviathan • With a social contract, man gave up their freedom and agreed to obey a ruler • social contract- an agreement by which man gave up the state of nature for an organized society • In exchange, the ruler ensured peace and order • The best government, according to Hobbes was on in which the ruler had absolute power to keep order

10. Leviathan • He also believed that once people entered into the social contract, they could not rebel, even if they thought that the ruler was a tyrant • Hobbes supported the idea of an absolute monarch • He wrote his theory in a book published in 1651 called Leviathan

11. John Locke • John Locke agreed with Thomas Hobbes that the purpose of government was to establish order in society • He also saw the government as a contract between the ruler and the ruled • Locke had a more optimistic view of human nature • He thought that man were essentially good, reasonable and would cooperate with one another

12. Locke continued…. • He argued that rulers should only stay in power as long as they had the consent of those they governed • consent- in agreement • if a ruler were a tyrant, then he broke the social contract and the people had the right to rebel and set up a new government • Locke believed that people had natural rights • rights- privileges • natural rights- rights given by nature • Locke believed that man had the natural rights to life, liberty and property

13. Two Treatises of Government • In his book written in 1690, Two Treatises of Government, Locke argued that man formed government to protect their natural rights • The best kind of government, according to Locke, was limited in power and was accepted by all citizens • Locke does not make a specific recommendation for a form of government but seems to endorse limited monarchy

14. Hobbes vs. Locke Thomas Hobbes John Locke Man is inherently good Government has to have the consent of the governed If government becomes unjust, man has the right to abolish that government and create new government Government has to have power that are limited by the citizens • Man is inherently violent • Only a power government where people cannot rebel will maintain order • Only an absolute monarchy can maintain peace

15. Two French Philosophers Montesquieu Rousseau In a perfect society, people both make and obey the laws What is good for the whole is more important than what is good for a class or an individual person Preached the “common good” or “general will” • The powers of government should be seperated into three branches (seperation of powers) • Each branch will keep the other branches from becoming too powerful (checks and balances)

16. Mercantilism Mercantilism- economic theory stating that there is a fixed amount of wealth in the world and that in order to receive a larger share, one country has to take some wealth away from another country • Mercantilism led to a colonization race by European countries around the world • Europeans sought out colonies that could provide them with either • Gold and silver • Raw materials (i.e. British colonies in N. America)

17. Mercantilism Exports > Imports

19. New Colonial Rivals

21. Adam Smith- Wealth of Nations • Described how the economy worked based on supply and demand • Supplies will rise to reach demand because suppliers can make money • Profit motivates production • Living in a time of mercantilism, Smith advocated for free markets called laissez faire • Laissez faire means to leave alone, no government regulation of business • Countries would gain more wealth in a free market, capitalist, society than in a mercantilist economy

22. The Big Idea! • The Enlightenment would be just theory in Europe at first • The American Revolution would allow the U.S. to be the first country in the world to attempt enlightenment theory • Giving people the power to govern themselves in a free market economy would be called the “American Experiment” • Most of the world did not think that we would survive