NAME ______PER.______

World History-Weingartner The Enlightenment=The Age of Reason Ch 19 pp 564-577 and Handouts

Philosophical Dialogue

What would you do if your whole class was being punished because someone in the class stole from another student and you knew who did it? Your class would get to go outside on a break right away if you told the teacher. Would you?

What Do You Believe?-Discuss each issue or in your group. There are no right answers.. Explain your reasoning and disagree respectfully – don’t attack each other personally. Really listen to each other. CIRCLE THE ONES YOU AGREE WITH.

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1Humans are born basically good. Their natural condition is one of sharing, kindness, and peace.

2Humans are born wild and uncivilized. They need to be trained to be good.

3Humans are neither naturally good nor bad. It is their environment that makes them do good or bad things to themselves and others.

4People should take care of themselves and not expect the government to help out.

5The government should help people in need.

6People should be able to do whatever they want, whenever they want.

7It’s our duty to plan ahead for future generations.

8Let each generation solve its own problems.

9I consider myself a moral person.

10Babies should be breast fed

14Babies should only take a bottle.

15Babies should sleep with their parents

16Babies should sleep in their own crib

17Babies should be fed whenever they are hungry-on demand. (not on a schedule)

18Babies should be fed on schedule

19Naughty children should be spanked.

20Naughty children should never be spanked.

21The father’s role is to provide for his family.

22The mother’s role is to take care of the children.

23It is the parents’ fault if their children do wrong.

24Children are responsible for their actions, not the parents.

25We are all born equal.

26The best parent is strict and sets limits in order to protect their children.

27The best parent lets kids figure out how life works and let them suffer the natural consequences for his/her actions.

28Killing is NEVER right.

29The morality of killing depends on the motives

Define FREEDOM-

(What does freedom mean in our country? Are we free to steal? Are we free to pursue any job we want? Are we free to read what we want? Are we free to drive through a neighbor’s yard?_

The Enlightenment

Until the 1700’s people of France accepted the fact that their king rule by divine right, and that Church teachings were correct. This change in attitude came about as the result of writings by a group known as the “philosophers”. The philosophers were intelligent, reasonable men who felt there was much about life in Europe that was unfair and unjust. Since most philosophers were from France, and since France was ruled by an absolute monarch surround by a privileged nobility, the French way of life came under particular attack.

The chart, which follows, lists four leading thinkers of the 1700s. They published writings during a period called the Age of Reason, or Enlightenment. Countries in Europe and around the world eventually adopted many ideas from the Enlightenment. Ideas even spread to the United States and are today a part of our way of life.

How did people feel about their place in society before the Enlightenment?

Philosopher / Statements / True in the
US today?
John Locke /
  1. All men are free and equal at birth.
  2. Everyone has the right to life, liberty, ad the ownership of property.
  3. Citizens have the right to overthrow the government where their “natural rights” are violated.
  4. Rulers receive the right to govern from the people, and unfair rulers can be forced from power.
  5. Man is not born to be a good or evil person—he is made one or the other by his life experiences and society around him.
  6. Man naturally wants to be part of society

Baron de
Montesquieu /
  1. An absolute ruler is an undesirable leader because one-man rule limits such basic freedoms as speech, press, and religion.
  2. There should be a “separation of powers” in government between legislative, executive, and judicial branches
  3. Slavery, torture, religious prosecution, and censorship are all wrong.
  4. A man is innocent until proven guilty.
  5. When one country increases its military power, so do other countries—therefore, all nations should limit their military strength in order to reduce the chances of war.

Voltaire
Voltaire
(cont.) /
  1. A man should not be persecuted because of his religious beliefs.
  2. An intelligent person should not accept all religious beliefs—we should only accept those beliefs about God that are based on reason and common sense
  3. Religious myths and ceremonies do therefore, should be ignored.
  4. Clergymen are more interested in increasing the power of the Church
  5. A scientist is a greater person then a conquering general.
  6. All men should be treated as equals, and should have freedom of speech and freedom of the press
  7. Democracy is not a good form of government because the common people are not capable of governing them—selves; the best government is one headed by a good and fair king.

Thomas
Hobbes /
  1. Man is inherenty evil and unable to rule himself.
  2. Man needs a strong central leader to keep control.
  3. Self-interest is the root of all social problems.
  4. Man naturally wants to live without a leader but knows that is it safer and better, so he lives in society..
  5. The leader should have absolute power.

Jean Jacques
Rousseau /
  1. It is unfair that some people are rich while other people are poor.
  2. The rich should not enjoy special privileges
  3. Compared to man during the Stone Age, modern man is unhappy, insecure, and greedy.
  4. Social ad political reforms must be made before man can be a good person.
  5. Democracy is a good for of government.

  1. If the philosophers were alive today, do you think they would be generally satisfied or dissatisfied with social conditions and the type of government we have in the United States? Explain your answer
  1. Which 3 statements by the philosophers do you believe are of greatest importance to man kind?

We are not born equal. The rich are rich because they are better than others who are poor.

The rich should have more-they deserve it.

It is fair that some people are rich and some poor. Obviously, the poor don’t deserve it.

Nobody has the right to rise above and improve himself.

If your parents were poor, you will be poor—don’t try to improve yourself.

Books and newspapers that go against the ruler should be banned.

Torture should be used to force a person to tell the truth.

A person arrested by the police should stay in jail until he can prove that he is innocent.

Rulers are chosen by God and should have absolute authority. They have the mandate of heaven.

Rulers are absolute—they don’t share their power with anybody.

A country must follow the same religion as his ruler, and if he doesn’t like it, he should move.

Democracy doesn’t work because people don’t understand the issues.

Philosophers who have influenced our thinking about the common good.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

Thomas Hobbes, a seventeenth-century English philosopher, believed that people should

surrender their natural rights to their king and never challenge their leader once they have

given him authority. To Hobbes, the leader’s power is absolute and no one can change

that, not even the Church. Hobbes is most famous for his book Leviathan, in which he describes humans’ natural state as, "No arts; no letters; no society; and, which is worst of all, continual fear and

danger of violent death; and the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." He

felt that it was fear of violent death that motivated people to form "the state" and

surrender themselves to the absolute authority of a sovereign power (the king).

BARON DE MONTESQUIEU (16891755)

Born to a wealthy family but he criticized the lifestyle and liberties of the wealthy French as well as the church. Montesquieu believed that all things were made up of rules or laws that never changed. He set out to study these laws scientifically with the hope that knowledge of the laws of government would reduce the problems of society and improve human life. According to Montesquieu, there were three types of government: a monarchy (ruled by a king or queen), a republic (ruled by an elected leader), and a despotism (ruled by a dictator). Montesquieu believed that a government that was elected by the people was the best form of government. He did, however, believe that the success of a democracy - a government in which the people have the power - depended upon maintaining the right balance of power, called the "separation of powers." He thought it most important to create separate branches of government with equal but different powers. That way, the government would avoid placing too much power with one individual or group of individuals. Despite Montesquieu's belief in the principles of a democracy, he did not feel that all people were equal. Montesquieu approved of slavery. He also thought that women were weaker than men and that they had to obey the commands of their husband. However, he also felt that women did have the ability to govern.

John Locke (1632-1704)

John Locke, another English philosopher, viewed the natural state of mankind in a less

pessimistic light than Thomas Hobbes. Locke felt that humans were born with a natural

goodness and innocence. Unlike Hobbes, Locke argued that the power a leader has is "on

loan" and can be revoked through rebellion if the leader violates the agreement of the

social contract. In 1690 his two most famous works were published: Essay Concerning Human

Understanding and Two Treatises on Civil Government. Locke thought that all people

were created equal, and should be able to pursue "life, health, liberty and possessions."

Locke argued that the social contract should be founded on reason and tolerance. His

ideas for a system of checks and balances was incorporated into the U.S. Constitution.

Locke believed that if a governing power violated the social contract, revolution could

not only be justified, but in some cases, was an obligation.

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-78)

A Swiss-French philosopher, Rousseau became one of the most influential thinkers of the

eighteenth century, contributing his ideas to a period known as the Enlightenment,

(sometimes called the Age of Reason). Building on the thinking of Hobbes and Locke,

Rousseau wrote Discourse on the Inequalities of Men (1754) and Social Contract (1762),

in which he stated that humans were essentially good, but were corrupted by class

divisions, property and commerce. He wrote, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in

chains." In Rousseau’s vision, people entered into a social contract among themselves,

creating a government and educational systems to correct the inequalities brought about

by civilization. Both Locke and Rousseau contributed to our modern idea of individual rights, a concept that serves as a foundation for the American democracy we have today. Most Americans

hold strong convictions about their individual freedoms, far beyond what Rousseau

would have imagined. But even here, in the "land of the free," individual rights must be

balanced with the rights of the group. For example, you are not free to run a red light

while driving. To do so would take away the right of other drivers and pedestrians to be

safe from collisions. Freedom is often a balance between the individual’s rights and the rights of others.

Considering what you have just read and your own ideas on the subject, describe what

you believe is a good system for ensuring the rights of individuals and the common good.

Use the following questions to guide you.

Questions: Describe the society that you would like to live in.

  1. What are the qualities of this perfect place?
  2. How do people behave and what kind of benefits do people get from this society?
  3. In your perfect society, would you limit individual freedoms for the common good? If so, under what circumstances?
  1. If you would not limit individual freedoms, what would be the consequences of no limits?
  2. How would you make sure that people followed the rules? Give examples. (Note: If you think like Hobbes – that humans are basically nasty and brutish – you will have a different plan for ensuring order than if you think like Rousseau.)
  1. List what you consider are the five most important behaviors for people to have in order to maintain the common good. (For example, honesty or altruism.)
  1. Do you believe that planning for future generations is part of maintaining the common good? For example, should people give up some of their freedoms now to make the planet cleaner or safer for the children who will come later? Why or why not?