Key Figures & Ideas of the Enlightenment
Key Figures of the Enlightenment
Voltaire
Voltaire championed human rights and reason, provided they didn’t disrupt social order. He advocated for individual religious freedom and believed in deism, where God created the universe but doesn’t intervene. His key ideas included:
- Comprehensive societal reform for freedom and welfare.
- A parliamentary system to limit the king’s power.
- A fair taxation system.
- A free economy recognizing achievement.
Montesquieu
Montesquieu, a French nobleman and admirer of the British parliamentary system, believed it was the best way to guarantee freedom and prevent tyranny. He proposed the separation of powers:
- Legislative (Parliamentary): Creates laws.
- Executive (Monarch): Enforces laws.
- Judicial (Judges): Administers justice.
These powers should operate with checks and balances to prevent abuse and protect human rights.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Rousseau believed in inherent human rights but argued that society created inequality and selfishness, corrupting humanity’s natural goodness. He advocated for:
- Individual liberty.
- Love of nature.
- Democracy.
In his influential work, The Social Contract, he explored the ideal democratic state, emphasizing the “general will”—the will of the community as a whole. He believed individuals should submit to the majority will for the common good. Rousseau’s ideas included:
- Humans are inherently good.
- Society is defined by competition and private property, which corrupt humans.
- Education and a social contract are essential for peaceful coexistence.
Rousseau believed the government should represent the general will and involve the people in lawmaking. His ideas critiqued French society and influenced Romanticism.
Denis Diderot
Diderot criticized his era’s corrupt society and saw nature as the source of truth. A rationalist and materialist like Voltaire, he believed in the power of science and rejected traditional religion. He is best known for spearheading the Encyclopédie, a comprehensive dictionary of human knowledge that spread Enlightenment ideas across Europe.
François Quesnay
Quesnay led the Physiocracy movement, which emphasized agriculture and metallurgy as the drivers of economic development. Physiocrats believed the economy followed natural laws, with individual self-interest as a key regulator. They divided society into three classes:
- Productive Class (Farmers): Create the net product.
- Proprietor Class (Landowners, King, Clergy): Receive and redistribute the net product.
- Sterile Class (Manufacturers, Traders): Necessary but don’t produce the net product.
Physiocrats advocated for free competition and the removal of trade restrictions to promote economic growth, challenging mercantilist policies.