Library Guides: The social contract: The Enlightenment

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Brief, basic information laid out in an easy-to-read format. May use informal language. (Includes most news articles)

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Provides additional background information and further reading. Introduces some subject-specific language.

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Lengthy, detailed information. Frequently uses technical/subject-specific language. (Includes most analytical articles)

General Capabilities

Enduring Understandings

Philosophers and other thinkers have grappled with the idea of society and how we are to live together.

The social contract is implied in many of our democracies today and is underpinned by philosophical thinking.

Essential Questions

What rules and assumptions underpin a well-functioning society?

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The social contract | The Enlightenment: Introduction

Enlightenment (Britannica High)
"Enlightenment, French siècle des Lumières (literally “century of the Enlightened”), German Aufklärung, a European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries in which ideas concerning God, reason, nature, and humanity were synthesized into a worldview that gained wide assent in the West and that instigated revolutionary developments in art, philosophy, and politics. " ("Enlightenment", n.d.)
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Reference / citation: "Enlightenment" (n.d.) or ("Enlightenment", n.d.)
Reference list / Bibliography: Enlightenment. (n.d.). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://bt-libproxy.mentonegirls.vic.edu.au/levels/high/article/Enlightenment/32680
A Beginner's Guide to the Enlightenment (Thought.Co)
"The Enlightenment has been defined in many different ways, but at its broadest was a philosophical, intellectual and cultural movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It stressed reason, logic, criticism, and freedom of thought over dogma, blind faith, and superstition. Logic wasn’t a new invention, having been used by the ancient Greeks, but it was now included in a worldview which argued that empirical observation and the examination of human life could reveal the truth behind human society and self, as well as the universe." (Wilde, 2019)
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Reference / citation: Wilde, (2019) or (Wilde, 2019) Reference list / Bibliography: Wilde, R. (2019, May 23). A Beginner's Guide to the Enlightenment. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/a-beginners-guide-to-the-enlightenment-1221925

The social contract | The Enlightenment: eBooks

The Enlightenment by Patrice Sherman
ISBN: 9781433383809
Publication Date: 2012
How did the universe work? How did the human mind learn? What kind of government was best? These are some of the questions that people asked during the Age of Ideas, or the Enlightenment. Readers will learn about some of the most important aspects, ideas, and people of this time, including John Locke, David Hume, Voltaire, Copernicus, and Romanticism. Through intriguing facts and engaging sidebars, readers will discover the incredible outcomes of the Scientific Revolution and how scientists like Galileo, Isaac Newton, and Johannes Kepler changed the way people see the world! The captivating images and supportive text work together to teach readers about the impact the French Revolution had on the French people, and the influence it had on the American Revolution. This book also includes an in-class writing activity to allow students to think deeply to understand John Locke's theories.

The social contract | The Enlightenment: Key people and ideas

Level 1 Articles Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (1765–90). Joseph's reforms, and the philosophy behind them (Josephism), attempted to introduce the ideas of the enlightenment to his empire. Ultimately his forced social contract with his subjects were rejected, and most of his reforms were undone by his successor and brother, Leopold II.

Joseph II (Britannica High)
"Joseph II,... Holy Roman emperor (1765–90)... An “enlightened despot,” he sought to introduce administrative, legal, economic, and ecclesiastical reforms—with only measured success." ( Joseph II , n.d.)
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Reference / citation: " Joseph II" (n.d.) or (" Joseph II", n.d.)
Reference list / Bibliography: Joseph II. (n.d.). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://bt-libproxy.mentonegirls.vic.edu.au/levels/high/article/Joseph-II/43995

Level 2

Joseph II (Henderson, 1991)
"Born in 1741, Joseph succeeded his father, Francis of Lorraine, as Emperor, and became co-Regent with his mother, Maria Theresa, in 1765. After fifteen years of co-regency, he became sole ruler in 1780 of the scattered Habsburg possessions, which included inter alia present-day Hungary, Czecho-Slovakia, Lombardy, Belgium and Austria. He died ten years later at the age of 49, utterly worn out by the pursuit of what he believed to be 'the public good.' Joseph's aims were twofold: to apply the principle of equality to all his subjects, irrespective of class, religion, race and language; and to transform the semifeudal, loose-knit monarchy into a modern, highly centralized state." (Henderson, 1991)
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Reference / citation: Henderson (1991) or (Henderson, 1991)
Reference list / Bibliography: Henderson, N. (1991). Joseph II. History Today, 41(3), 21. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=anh&AN=9104151701&site=ehost-live&scope=site&authtype=ip,sso&custid=mggsvic

Level 1 Articles

Catherine the Great (Britannica High)
"Catherine the Great, Russian Yekaterina Velikaya, also called Catherine II,... German-born empress of Russia (1762–96) who led her country into full participation in the political and cultural life of Europe.... She was also supported by the “enlightened” elements of aristocratic society, since she was known for her liberal opinions and admired as one of the most cultivated persons in Russia." ("Catherine the Great", n.d.)
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Reference / citation: "Catherine the Great" (n.d.) or ("Catherine the Great", n.d.)
Reference list / Bibliography: Catherine the Great. (n.d.). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://bt-libproxy.mentonegirls.vic.edu.au/levels/high/article/Catherine-the-Great/21807

Level 2 resource eBooks

Catherine II (Garvey & Nagle, 2014, pp. 33-34)
"An obscure German princess became one of the most powerful women in history as Catherine II the Great, empress of Russia…. Although Catherine was eager to be considered progressive, many of her social policies were reactionary." (Garvey & Nagle, 2014, pp. 33-34)
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Reference / citation: Garvey & Nagle (2014, pp. 33-34) or (Garvey & Nagle, 2014, pp. 33-34)
Reference list / Bibliography: Garvey, B., & Nagle, J. (2014). Catherine II. In Top 101 World Leaders (pp. 33-34). Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tru e&db=nlebk&AN=718088&site=ehost-live&scope=site&au thtype=ip,sso&custid=mggsvic&ebv=EK&ppid=Page-__-33

Level 1 Articles

Frederick II (Britannica High)
Frederick II, byname Frederick the Great... king of Prussia (1740–86), a brilliant military campaigner who, in a series of diplomatic stratagems and wars against Austria and other powers, greatly enlarged Prussia’s territories and made Prussia the foremost military power in Europe. An enlightened absolute monarch, he favoured French language and art and built a French Rococo palace, Sanssouci, near Berlin.
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Reference / citation: "Frederick II" (n.d.) or ("Frederick II", n.d.)
Reference list / Bibliography: Frederick II. (n.d.). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://bt-libproxy.mentonegirls.vic.edu.au/levels/high/article/Frederick-II/109417

Level 1 Articles

Voltaire (Britannica High)
"Voltaire, pseudonym of François-Marie Arouet... one of the greatest of all French writers. Although only a few of his works are still read, he continues to be held in worldwide repute as a courageous crusader against tyranny, bigotry, and cruelty." ("Voltaire", n.d.)
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Reference / citation: "Voltaire" (n.d.) or ("Voltaire", n.d.)
Reference list / Bibliography: Voltaire. (n.d.). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://bt-libproxy.mentonegirls.vic.edu.au/levels/high/article/Voltaire/106001

Level 2 resource eBooks

Voltaire
"In his 84 years Voltaire was historian and essayist, playwright and storyteller, poet and philosopher, wit and pamphleteer, wealthy businessman and practical economic reformer. Yet he is remembered best as an advocate of human rights. True to the spirit of the Enlightenment, he denounced organized religion and established himself as a proponent of rationality." (Faulkner, 2017, pp. 155-156)
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Reference / citation: Faulkner (2017, pp. 155-156) or (Faulkner, 2017, pp. 155-156)
Reference list / Bibliography: Faulkner, N. (2017). Voltaire in Top 101 Reformers, Revolutionaries, Activists, and Change Agent (pp. 155-156). Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1261289&site=ehost-live&scope=site&authtype=ip,sso&custid=mggsvic&ebv=EK&ppid=Page-__-155

Voltaire A Life by Davidson, Ian
ISBN: 9781847652249
Publication Date: 2010
We think of Voltaire as the epitome of the Enlightenment; in his own time he was also the most famous and controversial figure in Europe. Davidson tells the whole, rich story of his life (1694-1778) - his early imprisonment in the Bastille; exile in England and his mastery of English; an obsession with money, of which he made a huge amount; a scandalous love life; his infatuation with Frederick the Great; a long exile on the borders of Switzerland; his passion for watch-making; his human rights campaigns and his triumphant return to Paris to die there as celebrity extraordinaire. Throughout all of this Voltaire's life was always informed by two things: a belief in the essential value of toleration in the face of fanaticism; and in the right of every man to think and say what he liked.