Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Enlightenment : - Coggle Diagram
Enlightenment :
The philosophers of the Enlightenment promoted changes:
Social changes
Enlightenment writers were
against Feudal Society
, particularly against the idea of the Three Estates of the Realm. They argued that all individuals (men) were created equal. No man should inherit prestige or privileges or be untitled to them because of their ancestors.
Economic changes
They
opposed mercantilism
, it was based on the accumulation of precious metals as the main source of wealth of a country. Mostly French thinkers believed instead in
physiocracy
. Physiocrats think that the wealth of a country comes from agriculture and productive work.
They also defined
economic liberalism
, which was formulated by
Adam Smith
in his book The Wealth of Nations, influenced by French physiocrats.
Political changes
Several Enlightenment thinkers set the basis of modern politics:
Montesquieu
proposed the division of powers:
legislative, executive and judicia
l
Rousseau
wrote The Social Contract, a book that establishes that legitimate authority is based on a contract between the rulers and the ruled people, called Constitution. He also defined the concept of popular sovereignty.
Enlightened despotism/absolutism
Some European monarchs were mostly ideas about economic progress:
Education reforms.
Modernisation of economy (development of agriculture and crafts, facilitation of free trade, promotion of manufacturing and trading companies).
Rationalisation of the administration.
Some enlightened monarchs were
Frederick the Great of Prussia, Catherine the Great of Russia, Gustav III of Sweden, and Charles III of Spain
Enlightened despotism in Spain
In Spain there were also enlightened thinkers. They were worried about the decline of Spain as an international power and laid out as objectives economic growth, improved education and the modernisation of culture.
Some of them realised that if they cooperated with the king, some reforms could be advanced
The most important figures of the Enlightenment were
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, the Count of Floridablanca, the Count of Campomanes, Pablo de Olavide, the Marquis of Ensenada and the Count of Aranda.
An enlightened monarch
King Charles III (r. 1759-1788) ruled as and absolutist king but appointed some Enlightenment thinkers as counsellors. Some reforms introduced during Charles III’s reign were examples of Enlightened Despotism in Spain:
Increase of power of the king over the Church. For instance, the religious order of the Jesuits was expelled in 1767.
Creation of primary schools and reforming universities.
Limitation of the privileges of the Mesta farmers.
Freedom of pricing for wheat.
Trade with America from all Spanish ports was permitted.
Creation of the Economic Societies of Friends of the Country which set out to make improvements in agriculture, crafts and trade.
Scientific and technological progress
The Enlightenment era also brought huge advances in science thanks to the interest of monarchs and cultural elites. Science progress was considered key for society progress. Science was not something that was hidden in a lab, but something that was used to improve people’s lives. Based on experiments on the force of steam,
Newcomen
and later
Watt
, developed the steam machine, which triggered the
industrial revolution
.
Spread of knowledge
Coffee houses and private salons, where educated people met, became more widespread. People travelled to exchange and debate ideas. Universities were created. Literacy improved. More books were being printed. Writing was more popular than ever.
The Encyclopédie
It appeared in the second half of the 18th century. The editors were Diderot and D’Alembert and it was published between 1751 and 1772 in 20 volumes. It was a best seller. It had many subscribers in France and Europe
It was an intellectual movement that was born in the 17th century. Enlightenment thinkers believed that reason (logical thought) is the only way to understand and explain the world. It criticized medieval tradition, superstition and religious theocentrism.
As a general rule they believed in:
Religious tolerance, as most Enlightenment thinkers were deists.
In God, but through reason and the observation of nature.
That no religion was superior to other.
That reason could transform society.
Thinkers
:
Descartes, Diderot, Hume, Kant, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Adam Smith, Locke, Rousseau, Madame Geoffrin and Olympe de Gouges.