Enlightenment Thinkers: Ideas and Impact on Society

Key Enlightenment Thinkers and Their Ideas

Voltaire

• Advocated for freedom of speech, press, and religion.
• Opposed monarchy, militarism, and slavery.
• Supported constitutional monarchy as a transitional step towards democracy.

Montesquieu

• Developed the theory of the separation of powers to protect people's rights.
• Significantly influenced Liberal Political Theory.

Mary Wollstonecraft

• Feminist activist and writer.
• Authored A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and A Vindication of the Rights of Men.

Immanuel Kant

• Wrote Critique of Pure Reason, a seminal work in philosophy.
• Developed deontology, a major ethical theory.

Mary Astell

• Championed social equality and choice for women in marriage.
• Advocated for equal education rights for women.

Claude-Adrien Helvétius

• Tax collector and intellectual who traveled extensively in Europe.
• Associated with prominent figures like Voltaire and Lancret.
• Translated books and wrote poetry.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• Anticipated and influenced the French Revolution.
• Developed the "Social Contract" theory, outlining legitimate government.
• Wrote Emile, or On Education, exploring parenting and education systems.

Jean le Rond d’Alembert

• Proved a law from Newton's theory: resisting forces equal and opposite accelerating forces.
• Created the "d’Alembert proof of the fundamental theorem of algebra."

Cesare Beccaria

• Opposed the death penalty and torture.
• Wrote On Crimes and Punishments (1764).

David Hume

• Authored A Treatise of Human Nature.
• His theories were not well-received by his contemporaries.

Marquis de Condorcet

• Wrote Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind.
• Developed the Condorcet method, still used in voting today.

Benjamin Franklin

• Developed electricity theory and famously proved lightning was electricity with a kite experiment.
• A prominent American figure, though never President.