1. The
Enlightenment
"Écrasons l'Infâme!”
(Let us crush the vile thing!)
~Voltaire

2. What is The Enlightenment?
• A philosophical movement of the 18C
that:
o Stressed human reasoning over blind faith or
obedience
o Encouraged “scientific” thinking (rationalism
& empiricism)
o Believed reason could be used to solve all
human problems

3. Origins of The Enlightenment
• Direct product of the Scientific Revolution
• The SR:
o Convinced many Euro thinkers about the
power of reason
o Scientific method & reason led to
discoveries about the physical world
o People began to wonder if reason could be
used to study society & human nature

4. Who?
• Predominately involved & affected the
bourgeoisie (middle class) & aristocracy
• Urban poor & peasants were too busy
trying to survive to care much
• Enlightenment ideals spread by
philosophes

5. What is a Philosophe?
• French for “free thinker”
• Students of society who analyzed its
evils and advanced reforms to correct
those evils
• Believed human nature was inherently
good
• Promoted change & progress

6. Enlightenment & Religion
• Pre-Enlightenment
o Belief that human
nature is inherently
sinful
o Doctrine of Original
Sin

7. Deism
• The belief in:
o The existence of a God
or supreme being, but a
denial of organized
religion
o The light of nature &
reason
• Deists saw God as
distant & uninvolved in
the daily life of humans
o God as a “watchmaker”

8. Characteristics of the
Enlightenment
• Rationalism - reason is the answer to all
things
• Secularism - application of the methods
of science to religion & philosophy
• Tolerance - of various beliefs
• Freedom - of thought & expression;
bring liberty to all

9. Characteristics, cont.
• Education of the masses
• Social & Legal Reforms
o Justice, kindness, charity for all
o Habeas corpus
o No torture
o Written constitutions that guaranteed
natural rights

10. Emergence of a Print Culture
• A critical element
of spreading
Enlightenment
ideas was through
print
• Literacy increased
as a result

12. Literacy During the
Enlightenment
• This explosion of a massive print culture
was both the cause and the effect of the
tremendous increase in literacy that
took place in the 18C