The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment: the events, people and ideas explained in five minutes each, with timelines, key facts and quizzes.
Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws and the Separation of Powers
Montesquieu was an 18th-century French judge and writer who argued that power must be divided so that no one person or body can abuse it. …
Who Was John Locke? Life, Ideas and Influence
John Locke (1632–1704) was an English philosopher who argued that knowledge comes from experience and that governments rest on the consent of the governed. His …
Rousseau's The Social Contract Explained
Jean-Jacques Rousseau published The Social Contract in 1762. The book asks how people can live under laws and remain free. His answer: only laws that …
Locke, Montesquieu and Rousseau: How Their Ideas Differ
Three Enlightenment thinkers, John Locke, Montesquieu and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, all asked what makes a government legitimate. Locke said power rests on the consent of the …
The Enlightenment Explained: Ideas, Thinkers and Legacy
The Enlightenment was an 18th-century European movement that trusted reason and evidence over tradition and authority. Its thinkers, from Locke to Kant, argued for natural …