The Enlightenment Webquest: Difference between revisions
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= INTRODUCTION = | = INTRODUCTION = | ||
Imagine that you are a peasant living under the suffocating rule of absolute monarchs like King Louis XIV of France or Czar (King) Peter the Great of Russia. Your life is very difficult. You work all day to pay takes to the king and you cannot criticize him at all. One mistake and you will be thrown in jail or, even worse, killed. | Imagine that you are a peasant living under the suffocating rule of absolute monarchs like King Louis XIV of France or Czar (King) Peter the Great of Russia. Your life is very difficult. You work all day to pay takes to the king and you cannot criticize him at all. One mistake and you will be thrown in jail or, even worse, killed. | ||
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Thomas Hobbes | [[Thomas Hobbes - Enlightenment Philosopher|Thomas Hobbes]] | ||
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People are greedy and selfish. To avoid chaos, a government needs to ensure order | People are greedy and selfish. To avoid chaos, a government needs to ensure order | ||
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Mary Wollstonecraft | [[Mary Wollstonecraft - Enlightenment Philosopher|Mary Wollstonecraft]] | ||
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If men are born free, then women should be free also. | If men are born free, then women should be free also. | ||
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Adam Smith | [[Adam Smith - Capitalism|Adam Smith]] | ||
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Free market. The natural forces of supply and demand should be allowed to regulate business (not government). | Free market. The natural forces of supply and demand should be allowed to regulate business (not government). | ||
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Denis Diderot | [[Denis Diderot (1713 – 1784) - Enlightenment Philosopher|Denis Diderot]] | ||
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All men are born free and equal in rights, so no man may buy or sell the person of another | All men are born free and equal in rights, so no man may buy or sell the person of another | ||
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Voltaire | [[Voltaire - Enlightenment Philosopher|Voltaire]] | ||
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Freedom of speech and thought | Freedom of speech and thought | ||
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau | [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778) - Enlightenment Philosopher|Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] | ||
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Ideally, people would make their own laws and obey them, but since people become corrupted by society, some form of government is necessary. | Ideally, people would make their own laws and obey them, but since people become corrupted by society, some form of government is necessary. | ||
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Baron de Montesquieu | [[Baron de Montesquieu (1689 – 1755) - Enlightenment Philosopher|Baron de Montesquieu]] | ||
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Government should be separated into executive, legislative and judicial branches, to prevent any one group from gaining too much power. | Government should be separated into executive, legislative and judicial branches, to prevent any one group from gaining too much power. | ||
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John Locke | [[John Locke - Enlightenment Philosopher|John Locke]] | ||
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People have a natural right to life, liberty and property. | People have a natural right to life, liberty and property. | ||
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Latest revision as of 18:20, 18 July 2023
INTRODUCTION
Imagine that you are a peasant living under the suffocating rule of absolute monarchs like King Louis XIV of France or Czar (King) Peter the Great of Russia. Your life is very difficult. You work all day to pay takes to the king and you cannot criticize him at all. One mistake and you will be thrown in jail or, even worse, killed.
But then, something happens. You learn about enlightenment thinkers, brave men and women who are challenging the idea that humankind has to live under the harsh rule of absolute rulers (people who rule with all of the power). They call for democracy and freedoms of speech and thought. Kings and other rulers all over the world feel the pressure and try to change their ways. Some successfully reform themselves and become enlightened rulers, or rulers who use their power to bring about positive political and social changes for the people. Others, however, do not change and get swept out of office in revolutions, like in France.
You are working as an assistant to the President in the Executive branch of the American government. The President has asked you to research a social problem affecting the world today and to come up with a solution to that problem using the writings and thoughts of the enlightenment thinkers. In other words, how can the beliefs of the enlightenment thinkers such as Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Voltaire, Diderot, Smith, or Wollstonecraft be used to justify your solution to this problem?
| Thinker | Major Ideas |
|---|---|
|
People are greedy and selfish. To avoid chaos, a government needs to ensure order | |
|
If men are born free, then women should be free also. | |
|
Free market. The natural forces of supply and demand should be allowed to regulate business (not government). | |
|
All men are born free and equal in rights, so no man may buy or sell the person of another | |
|
Freedom of speech and thought | |
|
Ideally, people would make their own laws and obey them, but since people become corrupted by society, some form of government is necessary. | |
|
Government should be separated into executive, legislative and judicial branches, to prevent any one group from gaining too much power. | |
|
People have a natural right to life, liberty and property. |
