Impact of the Enlightened Despots
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
During the eighteenth century, an intellectual movement, known as the Enlightenment, emphasized the supremacy of man's reason. Philosophers, scholars, and authors of this period believed that through reason, man could discover the laws of nature that govern humankind and the universe. Philosophes, the thinkers and writers of this period, shaped the Enlightenment by promoting reason and natural order. They spoke out against religious, social, and governmental injustice and promoted human rights and science. Nevertheless, the philosophes agreed that men needed to be governed. At the same time, a school of economic thinkers called physiocrats began to criticize governmental control over the economy. Physiocrats developed a laissez-faire philosophy that the economy should be governed by natural laws such as supply and demand. Some of the rulers of the Enlightenment, called Enlightened Despots, heard these calls for social reform. On the whole, the Enlightened Despots sought to rule their subjects in keeping with the principles of the Enlightenment. Influenced by the philosophes, these Enlightened Despots believed that, at least in some ways, rulers should work for the good of their subjects...