The Rise of Natural Philosophy, Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment (^) ‹ 111
Baron de Montesquieu
The Baron de Montesquieu was a French aristocrat and judge who expanded on Locke’s
theory of limited government by investigating the effects of climate and custom on human
behavior. In The Spirit of Laws (1748), he stressed the importance of the rule of law and
outlined a system in which government was divided into branches in order to check and
balance its power.
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson established the notion that the only legitimate role of a government
was to guarantee its citizens the “inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap-
piness,” which became the philosophical justification for the American Declaration of
Independence from the rule of George III and Great Britain in 1776.
The Philosophes and Enlightened Despotism
The term philosophe, originally just the French term for philosopher, came to identify a new
breed of philosopher, one dedicated to educating the broader public. Many were popularizers
of the ideas of others, looking to spread an ideal of a society governed by reason. To reach
the broadest possible audience, they wrote in many different genres: histories, novels, plays,
pamphlets, and satires, as well as traditional philosophical treatises.
The phrase “enlightened despotism” referred to the hope shared by many philosophes
that the powerful monarchs of European civilization, once educated in the ideals of the
Enlightenment, would use their power to reform and rationalize society. To one degree or
another, many eighteenth-century European monarchs instituted reforms, but within limits:
• Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia abolished serfdom, instituted a policy of religious
toleration, and attracted French Protestants and dissidents, such as Voltaire, to his king-
dom, but Prussia remained a militaristic state under an absolutist regime, and Voltaire
eventually became disenchanted.
• Joseph II of Austria legislated religious toleration for Lutherans and Calvinists, abolished
serfdom, and passed laws that liberalized the rules governing the press, but when pam-
phlets about the French Revolution appeared, he reimposed censorship.
• Catherine II (the Great) of Russia read the works of the philosophes, befriended Voltaire,
Beccaria, and Diderot, and called for a legislative commission to study reform. She dis-
missed the commission before most of its findings had even been reported and had no
intention of departing from absolutism.
In the final analysis, enlightened despotism was the use of select Enlightenment ideals
to help monarchs modernize and reform certain government and social institutions for
the purpose of centralizing and strengthening their grasp on power. In the end, the inter-
ests of a ruling monarch ran counter to the more democratic and egalitarian ideals of the
Enlightenment.Salons and Lodges
The development and spread of an intellectual movement required places for people to
congregate and share ideas. While philosophes could be found in most major European
cities, the culture of salons flourished in Paris, making it the center of the Enlightenment.15_Bartolini_Ch15_099-118.indd 111 27/04/18 1:54 PM