What was the central intellectual move that distinguished Enlightenment thinkers from their predecessors?
ARejecting all knowledge derived from ancient Greece and Rome
BApplying the methods of scientific reasoning to human society, politics, and morality
CClaiming that religion had no role in public life
DArguing that all monarchies should be immediately replaced by republics
Enlightenment thinkers took the methodology of the Scientific Revolution — empirical observation, rational inquiry, skepticism of unexamined authority — and applied it to the social world. This did not require rejecting classical learning or abolishing religion; it meant subjecting traditional beliefs about society and governance to rational scrutiny.
Question 2 True / False
The Enlightenment was primarily a French intellectual movement, with its most important contributions coming from the Paris philosophes and the Encyclopédie.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
While France produced the Encyclopédistes and figures like Voltaire and Rousseau, major contributions came from Scotland (Hume, Adam Smith), England (Locke, Newton), Germany (Kant, Lessing), and the American colonies. The French variant was the most publicly visible, but the movement was genuinely international, and national variants often diverged significantly in emphasis and conclusions.
Question 3 Short Answer
How did the Scientific Revolution make the Enlightenment intellectually possible?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: The Scientific Revolution demonstrated that systematic rational inquiry could reveal true principles governing nature without relying on religious authority or ancient texts. Enlightenment thinkers took this as proof that the same method could uncover rational principles governing human society, politics, and morality.
Newton's laws showed that apparently complex natural phenomena obeyed simple, discoverable rules. Thinkers like Locke and Montesquieu believed political and social phenomena must also obey rational laws — hence natural rights, the social contract, and separation of powers. The Scientific Revolution provided the proof of concept.