21.2 The Ideas of the Enlightenment

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What was "the Enlightenment"?

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An 18th-century movement of intellectuals whose favorite word was "reason."

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The goal of the Enlightenment thinkers was to use the scientific method to...

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make progress toward a better society.

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What did Isaac Newton believe about the universe, leading other thinkers to reason that they could create an ideal society?

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It was like a giant "world-machine," operating according to natural laws that could be understood.

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T/F: The Enlightenment thinkers were called "philosophes" because nearly all of them were French.

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FALSE

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Diderot's Encyclopedia was used to...

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attack religious superstition.

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Adam Smith & the French Physiocrats aimed to understand the natural laws governing human economics. They maintained that...

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if individuals were free to pursue their own self-interest, then society would benefit.

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Laissez-faire is an economic doctrine that says...

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the state should leave the economy alone.

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What was the "social contract," according to J.J. Rousseau?

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The concept that an entire society agrees to be governed by the general will & all individuals should be forced to abide by it since it represents what is best for the entire community.

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Unlike many Enlightenment thinkers, Rousseau believed...

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that emotions, as well as reason, were important to human development.

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How did Mary Wollstonecraft argue that women should be equal to men?

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She equated men's power over women to kings' power over subjects, saying that both are wrong.