People of the Scientific Revolution & Enlightenment

He believed that humans are naturally cruel, selfish, & hungry for power. In the “State of Nature” or the absence of government, society descends into chaos. Therefore, you need a strong government (especially in the form of an absolute monarchy).

• Voltaire

• Thomas Hobbes

• John Locke

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau

People are born with natural rights, including life, liberty, property. He argued that kings could be overthrown if they violated peoples’ rights.

• John Locke

• Voltaire

• Thomas Hobbes

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau

He believed that government  power came from the consent of the governed (approval of the people) & that kings should protect the rights of the people. The people must be willing, however, to give up some of their basic rights when entering into a social contract with the expectation that the government will protect their natural rights.

• John Locke

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• Immanuel Kant

• Baron de Montesquieu

Argued for the rights of freedom of speech & religion. He criticized intolerance, prejudice, & oppression.  The French king and Roman Catholic Church were frequent targets of his criticism.

• Voltaire

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• Baron de Montesquieu

• Cesare Beccaria

Believed that people are naturally good, but power corrupts them, Free people form a social contract & gov’t based on the common good. In his book, the Social Contract (1762) he argued for a direct democracy that is guided by the general will of the majority of citizens or consent of the governed.

• Voltaire

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• John Locke

• Thomas Hobbes

He concluded that England’s government model with a system of checks and balances created by means of separation of power gave the greatest freedom and security to the state.

• Baron de Montesquieu

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• Voltaire

• John Locke

German astronomer who argued that the orbits of the planets were elliptical in a sun-centered universe.

• Nicolaus Copernicus

• Johannes Kepler

• Galileo Galilei 

• Isaac Newton

Italian mathematician and natural philosopher who used his observations of the heavens to argue in favor of the Copernican system. He was placed under house arrest for challenging the views of the Church.

• Nicolaus Copernicus

• Johannes Kepler

• Galileo Galilei 

• Isaac Newton

Polish astronomer who challenged the earth-centered (geocentric) view of the universe by positioning a heliocentric (sun-centered) model of the universe.

• Nicolaus Copernicus

• Rene Descartes

• Isaac Newton

• Galileo Galilei

Father of the scientific method.

• Galileo Galilei

• Johannes Kepler

• Rene Descartes

• Francis Bacon