Section #1
1. Natural law: rules discovered by reason, and govern scientific forces such as gravity and magnetism.
2. Thomas Hobbes: seventeenth century English thinker outlined his ideas in a work titled Leviathan. He believed people were naturally cruel, greedy, and selfish.
3. John Lock: seventeenth century English thinker, he believed humans were reasonable and had good morals. Also believed every human was born with natural rights.
4. Social contract: an agreement by which they gave up their freedom for an organized society.
5. Natural right: rights that belonged to all humans at birth. These included right to life, liberty, and property.
6. Philosophe: people who believed that the use of reason could lead to reforms of government, law, and society.
7. Montesquieu: an early and influential thinker, he studied the government of Europe, from Italy to England.
8. Voltaire: most famous of the philosophes. He defended the freedom of thought.
9. Diderot: Denis Diderot worked for years to produce a 28-volume set of books called Encyclopedias.
10. Rousseau: Rousseau believed that people in their natural state were basically good. He promoted the Social Contact.
11. Laissez faire: allowed business to operate with little or no government interference.
12. Adam Smith: Scottish economist created the work of the Wealth of Nations, he argued that the free market should be allowed to regulate business activity.
Section 2
1. Censorship: restricting access to ideas and information.
2. Salons: an informal social gathering at which writers, artists, philosophes, and others exchange ideas.
3. Baroque: style in art and architecture developed in Europe from the early 17th to mid-18th century, emphasizing dramatic, often strained effect and typified by bold, curving forms, elaborate ornamentation, and overall balance of disparate parts.
4. Rococo: paintings of elegance normally showing noble subjects and happy servants.
5. Enlightened despot: absolute rulers who used their power to bring about political and social change.
6. Fredrick the Great: The king of Brandenburg and exerted power and had extremely tight control over his subjects during his reign.
7. Catherine the Great: The empress and autocrat of Russia. She made limited reforms in law and government.
8. Joseph II: The Holy Roman Emperor, he was a good person and cared for his people. He was excited for the Enlightenment and was committed to political reform.
Checkpoint Questions
Section #1
1. A new revolution called the “Enlightenment” convinced Europeans to accept reason.
2. Hobbes and Locke differed in their views of government by