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THE ENLIGHTENMENT - Coggle Diagram
THE ENLIGHTENMENT
THE EVOLUTION
The Enlightenment
reformist movement
defended its aims through reforms of politics, society, the economy and culture
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Enlightenment thinkers supported extending education to the people and ensuring that the Church did not monopolise it
they wanted to limit it to basic knowledge, reserving the most important knowledge for the intellectual elites
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The development of the Enlightenment caused the Church and absolutism to lose part of their influence
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Enlightenment thinkers understood that they were insufficient to achieve the triumph of reason, progress and happiness, so a more radical critique of the political and social system
thinkers like Diderot, Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau were the intellectual link that united the Enlightenment with the major changes that began to take place in the last third of the 18th century
MONTESQUIEU (1689–1755)
proposed a moderate monarchy with separation of the executive, legislative and judicial powers
Baron of Montesquieu was a French magistrate who criticised absolute monarchies where the king held all fundamental powers
VOLTAIRE (1694–1778)
was in favour of enlightened despotism, he fought for civil rights and judicial reform
Voltaire was a wealthy, middle-class property owner who criticised religious fanaticism and the structure of the Church. He was an advocate of freedom of religion
ROUSSEAU (1712–1778)
He proposed a model of society where sovereignty was in the hands of the people and not of the king.
Rousseau believed that society should be guided by the general will expressed directly by the sovereign people. In short, he supported democracy
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JOHN LOCKE (1632–1704)
was the first to defend the existence of three individual rights common to all people: the right to life, liberty and property
political theory of British philosopher John Locke had a key influence on the most critical Enlightenment thinkers
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CHARACTERISTICS
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Enlightenment thinkers were noblemen, the bourgeoisie and clergymen alike
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humanism, empiricism and rationalism
called on the individual, reason and experience as ways to overcome humanity’s problems
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GOTTFRIED LEIBNIZ (1646–1716)
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