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John Locke
Known as the Father of Classical Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Explained how he thought government is morally obliged to serve people, namely by protecting life, liberty, and property. Mainly known for writing "Two Treaties of Government," and also "An Essay concerning Human Understanding" -
Two Treatises of Government
This book was published anonymously in 1689 by John Locke. His influence in the history of thought, on the way we think about ourselves and our relation to the world we live in, to God, nature and society, has been immense. Locke may well have influenced such diverse eighteenth century figures as Swift, Johnson, Sterne, Voltaire, Priestly and Jefferson. -
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The Enlightenment
A European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than traditionan. Also meaning a movement stressing the importance of reason and the critical reappraisal of existing ideas and social institutions -
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Salon
It is a regular social gathering of eminent people (esp. writers and artists) at the house of a woman prominent in high society.Women saw this as an opportunity to gain an education because women of the time weren't formally educated. -
Jean-Jacques Rosseau
Jean-Jacques Rosseau was born June 28, 1712 in Geneva. He was a sucessful Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of the 18th-century.Some of his work inlcuded "The Social Contract," and "Julie or the New Heloise." He believed in liberty, equality and fraternity. Also believed in the essential innocence and goodness of man. -
Mary Wollstonecraft
Was born April 27th, 1759. Along her lifetime she wrote "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" pressed for educational reforms. It is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. She believed that women should have equality with men. She was also for better educational opportunities for women and against the cruel treatment of young girls. -
The Social Contract
Originating during the Age of Enlightenment, that typically addresses the questions of the origin of society and the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. The concept of the social contract comes from Socrates. It helped the arguments typically posit that individuals have consented, either explicitly or tacitly, to surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the ruler. Social contract formulations are preserved in many of the world's oldest records -
United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress, which announced that the 13 American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Locke believed that every man has natural rights that include the right to live and the right to property. He also said people should have freedom and that no man should be a slave. This could have influenced Declaration of Independence because -
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Philosophes
Philosophe is the french word for Philosopher. Any of the leading philosophical, political, and social writers of the 18th-century French Enlightenment. -
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Enlightened Despots
(also called by later historians benevolent despotism or enlightened despotism) is a form of absolute monarchy or despotism in which rulers were influenced by the Enlightenment. Enlightened monarchs embraced the principles of the Enlightenment, especially its emphasis upon rationality, and applied them to their territories. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
It is a fundamental document of the French Revolution and in the history of human rights, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal. They aimed to topple the institutions surrounding hereditary monarchy and establish new ones based on the principles of the Enlightenment, a philosophical movement gathering steam in the eighteenth century. The goal of the Enlightenment's proponents was to apply the methods learned from the scientific revolution to t -
U.S Bill of Rights
John Locke, an enlightment philosopher, was the enlightenment figure most influential on those founding fathers responsible for drafting the Bill of Rights. The phrase , "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", is a phrase that Jefferson lifted right from the writings of Locke, whose statement of natural rights included the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of property. Locke's view of government was that political states are to be properly evaluated in terms of how well they prote -
A Vindication of the Rights of Women
One of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. Provided guidelines for women to improve upon themselves, and petitions men to help women become viable and productive members of society. There have been many changes in the social roles of women since Mary Wollstonecraft wrote "A Vindication of the Rights of Women", most of which have had a largely positive effect on the lives of women. -
Harriet Martineau
Harriet wrote many books in her lifetime and a multitude of essays from a sociological, holistic, religious, domestic, and, perhaps most controversial, a feminine perspective. She popularized the ideas of Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, James Mill, Joseph Priestey, and Jeremy Bentham as well as those of Auguste Comte. Earning her living as an editorial writer for the Daily News and as the author of more than 100 books, she made a reputation as a social scientist and historian.
