Slide 1 · Cultural & Intellectual Developments
Newton Completes the Scientific Revolution
Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica (1687) synthesized the work of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo into a single theory of universal gravitation, proving that one set of rational, mathematical laws governed both Earth and the heavens — and establishing the scientific method as the model for acquiring reliable knowledge.
Slide 2 · States & Institutions of Power
Hobbes vs. Locke: Two Social Contracts
Thomas Hobbes argued in Leviathan that people surrendered their rights to an absolute sovereign to escape the chaos of the state of nature. John Locke countered that government exists by the people's consent to protect natural rights to life, liberty, and property — and could be overthrown if it failed.
Slide 3 · Cultural & Intellectual Developments
Voltaire, Montesquieu & Rousseau
Voltaire attacked Church corruption and championed religious tolerance. Montesquieu proposed dividing government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches to prevent tyranny. Rousseau argued legitimate government rests on the "general will" of the community.
Slide 4 · Cultural & Intellectual Developments
Diderot, Print Culture & the Republic of Letters
Denis Diderot's Encyclopédie compiled Enlightenment knowledge for a wide readership. Salons hosted by educated patrons and a transnational "Republic of Letters" of pamphlets and correspondence carried these ideas across Europe's borders and social classes.
Slide 5 · States & Institutions of Power
Enlightened Absolutism Takes Hold
Frederick the Great of Prussia, Catherine the Great of Russia, and Joseph II of Austria adopted Enlightenment-inspired reforms — legal codification, religious toleration, support for the arts — while carefully preserving their own centralized, autocratic authority.
Slide 6 · Economic Development
Adam Smith Challenges Mercantilism
In The Wealth of Nations (1776), Adam Smith argued that free markets driven by individual self-interest and an "invisible hand" generate more wealth than state-controlled mercantilist policy — founding modern laissez-faire economic theory.
Slide 7 · Cultural & Intellectual Developments
Deism & Religious Skepticism
Many Enlightenment thinkers turned to deism — belief in a distant, rational creator-God who set natural laws in motion but does not intervene in human affairs — reflecting growing skepticism toward traditional, revelation-based religious authority.
Slide 8 · Cultural & Intellectual Developments
Rococo vs. Neoclassicism in the Arts
Ornate, playful Rococo art reflected aristocratic leisure, while the more restrained, classically-inspired Neoclassical style — drawing on ancient Greece and Rome — reflected Enlightenment ideals of reason, order, and civic virtue.