Download - Inspiration for the Enlightenment
Carol Rioux
Kingwood High School
Kingwood, Texas
• Author of Leviathan
• Influenced by English Civil War
• Man naturally selfish and wicked
• State of nature – life was solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short
• Promoted idea of “social contract” between the people and their government
• Promoted the idea of an all powerful government to curb man’s brutish nature
• Author of Two Treatises on Government
• Influenced by Glorious Revolution
• All men are born free with certain inalienable rights
• Duty of government to protect these rights
• Promoted social contract between the people and the government
• Failure of government to protect rights justified a rebellion about unjust rule
• Believed that all people are born “tabula rasa”
It is an orderly world!
1. Reason: applying logical thought to discern a truth; ridding your mind of intolerance, bigotry, prejudice
2. Nature: all ideas derived from nature are good & reasonable; referred frequently to nature
3. Happiness: believed if one lived by the laws of nature, happiness would follow
4. Progress: first time the idea of progress is introduced in Europe; believed that if people used logic & reason to overcome societal problems, man could be perfected
5. Liberty: believed that by applying reason to all aspects of society, man could be set free
• An unorganized group that included literary people, professors, journalists, statesmen, economists, political scientists, and above all social reformers
• Believed that reason could be applied to all aspects of human life
• Formulated and popularized new ideas
• Belief in Progress: supported abolition; social equality, improvements in education to create a better society
• Secular Outlook: world became more secular; idea of separation of church and state; religious toleration
• Importance of Individual: people began to look to themselves to judge what is right or wrong; role of individual in society grew in stature; suggested role of government was to protect the rights of the individual
Ideas that shaped Western Civilization
