The Enlightenment Questions and
Answers 100% Pass
What was the Enlightenment, and why did it have that name, and what did Enlightenment
thinkers believe? ✔✔The enlightenment was a time in the 1700's in Europe when peo
...
The Enlightenment Questions and
Answers 100% Pass
What was the Enlightenment, and why did it have that name, and what did Enlightenment
thinkers believe? ✔✔The enlightenment was a time in the 1700's in Europe when people began
to question old ideas and search for knowledge. The name Enlightenment refers to the light of
knowledge that supposedly replaces the darkness of superstition and ignorance. Enlightenment
thinkers believed that science and reason could improve people's lives.
What part of the world did the Enlightenment begin? ✔✔Europe
Which groups of people played the greatest role in the Enlightenment? ✔✔Scientists and
scholars
Compare and contrast the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. How were they similar? How did
they differ? ✔✔Both reacted against the medieval period, with its reliance on authorities such as
church and king. Renaissance thinkers looked mainly to the literature and arts of ancient Greece
and Rome for ideas and answers. Enlightenment thinkers turned to science and reason. They did
build on the work of some Renaissance scientists, such as Copernicus and Galileo.
Who was Isaac Newton? What was the main idea in Newton's Principia? ✔✔He was one of the
greatest scientists in history. Certain basic laws of nature were true for the whole physical world.
These laws could be discovered through observation and reason.
How did Newton's work in science influence thinking in other areas of life? ✔✔His work
encouraged people not to accept ideas on faith but to question and search for answers.
What one thing was Descartes certain of? ✔✔His thoughts were his own, and they proved his
existence.
Why did Descartes choose to live in Holland for much of his life? ✔✔Holland allowed more
freedom of thought and expression than other European countries.
How did Descartes change the way people thought about their world? ✔✔He showed people
how to use observation and reason to find truths, rather than accepting them on faith alone. He
encouraged people to question everything expect their own existence.
Why do we call Descartes the father of modern philosophy? ✔✔He introduced a new way of
thinking about what we know and how we know it. He insisted on using reason.
How did Thomas Hobbes describe human beings in their natural state? ✔✔Cruel, greedy, and
selfish; willing to do anything to get what they wanted.
What kind of government did Hobbes favor and what did he consider most important for a strong
society? ✔✔He favored a strong government with strict laws to keep people from fighting each
other (a monarch). For a strong society he believed there had to be law and order.
Why did Hobbes flee England? ✔✔Parliament seemed to be winning the struggle against the
king. Hobbes worried that his ideas would cause him trouble if Parliament triumphed over the
monarchy.
How did events in England during the 1660's affect Hobbes? ✔✔The restoration of the
monarchy in 1660 meant that Hobbes could publish freely. The plague and the fire caused people
to turn to religion, and Hobbes's ideas fell out of favor.
What does the phrase tabula rasa mean and how is it connected to John Locke? ✔✔It means
"blank slate"; Locke believed that the mind is a blank slate that is filled with and defined by
experiences.
What three natural rights did John Locke believe a government must protect? ✔✔The rights to
life, liberty, and property
Where did Locke believe a good government got its power from? ✔✔The people
How did Locke's ideas about government and human nature differ from Hobbes's ideas about
them? ✔✔Locke thought government should protect people's rights, while Hobbes believed
government should be all-powerful in order to control human evil. Locke thought human nature
was neither good nor bad; Hobbes thought humans were naturally selfish and warlike.
If a government failed to protect citizens' rights, what did Locke suggest the people do?
✔✔Change the government and replace it with one that would protect their rights.
What happened during the Glorious Revolution, and what did Locke think of it? ✔✔During the
Glorious Revolution the English Parliament drove out an absolute monarch, King James II.
Parliament replaced him with 2 constitutional monarchs, William and Mary. Locke was strongly
in favor of the revolution and even became an advisor to Mary.
Why did Montesquieu keep his identity as author of The Persian Letters a secret? ✔✔The book
made fun of the French ruling class. Montesquieu could have been thrown in prison for
publishing these ideas.
How did the government of eighteenth-century France censor Voltaire's criticisms? ✔✔By
imprisonment in the Bastille, exile, book burning, and book banning.
What opinion did Montesquieu and Voltaire share about the English government? ✔✔Both
admired England's limited monarchy and supported such a system for France.
What did Voltaire value the most? ✔✔The freedom to express one's opinion
What was the Encyclopedia, and what did it have to do with the Enlightenment? ✔✔It was a 30-
volume collection of the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers. It was written by Voltaire and other
philosophes
Who were French philosophes and what did they hope to achieve? ✔✔Scholars and thinkers who
considered ways to achieve a better society.
What ideas did Jefferson include in the Declaration of Independence that echo the beliefs of John
Locke? ✔✔All citizens have natural rights to life and liberty; when a government does not grant
those rights, the people have the right to change or overthrow it. The government gets its power
from the people.
What Enlightenment ideas were included in the U.S. Constitution? ✔✔The people have
unalienable rights. The government must "promote the general welfare" by protecting the rights
of its citizens. Each branch of government can "check" certain acts by other branches.
What aspects of U.S. government do we owe to the French thinker Montesquieu? ✔✔Separation
of powers, checks and balances.
How did Jefferson, Franklin, and Madison know about Enlightenment ideas? ✔✔They read
widely and studies science and foreign politics.
Who was an American philosophe? ✔✔Benjamin Franklin
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