Scientific Revolution & Enlightenment Scientific Term Paper

Two of the most important proponents were the French philosophes, Montesquieu and Jean Jacques Rousseau, whose great contributions to the Enlightenment lead to the development of liberal democracy characterized among modern societies at present.

Montesquieu's discourse, entitled, "The Spirit of the Laws," provided objective and insightful propositions for reforms as societies change from being traditional to modern. According to him, the process towards social progress should be accompanied with material progress, which can only become possible if societies conduct a careful analysis of the factors for economic and political success (such as socio-demographic variables and economic and political structures of the society). These factors should be studied at the context of the extant structures of the society; the parallelism between the factors and structures shall lead to material, and eventually, social progress.Rousseau's contribution to the Enlightenment is illustrated in his seminal work, "The Social Contract." In this treatise, Rousseau discusses the how rationalization of the society happens when every individuals gives up part of his rights in order to create the "general will." The general will is the collective rights of the civil society and a social contract is formulated, by which state and citizenship are formed. The new state and citizenry become the new elements through which social reforms can be proposed and enacted by the society.

Bibliography

Kagan, D. (1995). Western Heritage. NJ: Prentice Hall.

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