Glossary
Terms |
| Absolute Monarchy | King or Queen who has complete authority and control over the government and the population. |
| Aristocracy | Government headed by privileged minority or upper class. |
| Autocracy | Government in which the ruler has unlimited power. |
| Autonomy | Self-government |
| Constitutionalism | Types of government also known as a limited monarchy. |
| Coup d'etat | French term meaning an overthrow of a government by force. |
| Deism | God is 'Supreme Being' who only revels himself through nature and natural laws. |
| Empiricists | All knowledge of the world proceeded from the senses. |
| Enlightenment | Period in history when philosophers emphasized the use of reason. |
| Enlightened Despot | Ruler whose decisions appeared to reflect the thinking of the Age of Enlightenment; rulers who justified absolutism by claiming to rule in the interest of the people. |
| Laissez-faire | French term meaning that the government should stay out of the operation of private business and the economy. |
| Natural rights | Rights that all people are entitled to just by being born. Some of these rights are the freedom of speech and expression, the right to vote and practice religion, the right to equal treatment before the law and freedom from abuse by public authorities. |
| Philosophe | French word meaning intellectuals from the period of the Enlightenment. They believed that the use of science and reason would lead to continued human progress. |
| Physiocrat | People who search for natural laws to explain economics. |
| Rationalism | Idea that the basis for all human knowledge lay in the mind. |
| Revolution | Sudden or drastic change in condition; a coup d'etat of a government by the people who are governed and the replacement of that government with another. |
| Secularism | The ability to apply scientific theories to society and religion. |
| Utilitarianism | Laws created for the common good, not only the wealthy. |
Key Figures |
| D'Holbach, Paul | [1723 - 1789] He believed that religion was not necessary to live a moral life. he taught that everything in the universe was made up of matter and motion. |
| Diderot, Denis | [1713 - 1784] He condemned the church as unreasonable. Wrote the Encyclopedia, which he called the "great work of his life". |
| Hobbes,Thomas | [1588 - 1679] Believed that if people were left alone without government then there would be a constant fighting among them. Believed that the best government was one where the ruler had absolute power. Hobbes was a supporter of absolute monarchs. |
| Rousseau, Jean-Jacques | [1712 - 1788] Believed that "We should return to nature", nature is good and man is by nature good. It is society that corrupts people. |
| Kant, Immanuel | [1724 - 1804] Believed in the right to express religious opinions |
| Locke, John | [1632 - 1704] An English philosopher who believed people had the natural rights to life, liberty and property. He had great influence on the American Revolution, Declaration of Independence, the Declaration of the Rights of Man, and the French Revolution. He believed that if the government did not provide for natural rights then the people had the right to revolt. |
| Montesquieu, Baron de | [1689 - 1755] Believed in the system of checks and balances in government that way no one branch could dominate over another. Believed in Separation of Powers. He later influenced the authors of the Constitution of the Untied States. |
| Paine, Thomas | [1737 - 1809] Author of Common Sense, Crisis, Rights of Man and The Age of Reason; He claimed that hereditary rule produced incompetent and unjust rulers. |
| Smith, Adam | [1723 - 1790] Scottish economist who wrote The Wealth of Nations; Believed in the practice of laissez-faire. |
| Voltaire | [1694 - 1778] Believed that the common people were unable to rule themselves and that the best form of government was an enlightened monarch who respected the people's rights and who was familiar with the teachings of the philosophers of The Enlightenment. |