FAMOUS AUTHORS OF ENLIGHTENMENT

PERIOD
1. William Congreve (January 1670-January 19, 1729)
-was an English playwright and poet of the Restoration Period.
-known for his clever, satirical dialogue and influence on the comedy of
manners style.
-a minor political figure in the British Whig Party.
Famous Plays:
The Old Bachelor (1693)
The Double- Dealer (1694)
Love for Love (1695)
The Mourning Bride (1697)
The Way of the World (1700)
2. Denis Diderot (October 5, 1713-July 31, 1784)
-was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer.
- best known for serving as a co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the
Encyclopedie.
-a prominent figure during the Enlightenment.
Most important works:
Jacques the Fatalist
Rameau’s Nephew
Paradox of the Actor
D’Alembert’s Dream
3. Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706-April 17, 1790)
-was an American polymath and one of the Founding Fathers of the United
States.
-was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, freemason,
postmaster,
scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.
Major Works:
The Way to Wealth
Poor Richard’s Almanac
4. David Hume (May 7,1711-August 25, 1776)
-was a Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, historian, economist, and
essayist.
-known for his highly influential system of philosophical empiricism,
skepticism, and naturalism.
Major Works:
A Treatise of Human Nature
The History of England
Essays: Moral, Political, Literary
5. Samuel Johnson (September 18, 1709- December 13, 1784)
-was an English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as
a poet,
essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer.
-was a devout Anglican and a generous philanthropist.
Famous Works:
The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia
A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland
The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides
6. John Locke (August 29, 1632-October 28, 1704)
-was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the
most influential
of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the “Father of
Liberalism”.
Major works:
Two Treatises of Government
Essay Concerning Human Understanding
7. Immanuel Kant (April 22, 1724- February 12, 1804)
-was a German philosopher who is a central figure in modern philosophy.
- In his doctrine of transcendental Idealism, he argued that space, time, and
causation are
mere sensibilities; “things-in-themselves” exist, but their nature is
unknowable.
Most influential mature works:
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785)
Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science (1786)
Critique of Practical Reason (1788)
Critique of Judgement (1790)
8. Sir Isaac Newton (January 4, 1643- March 31, 1727)
-was an English mathematician, astronomer, theologian, author, and physicist.
-one of the most influential scientists of all time, a key figure in the scientific
revolution.
Inventions:
Calculus
Reflecting Telescope
9. Thomas Paine (February 9, 1737- June 8, 1809)
-was an English-born American political activist, philosopher, political theorist
and revolutionary.
-one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
-he authored the two most influential pamphlets at the start of the American
Revolution.
Major Writings:
Common Sense
American Crisis
Rights of Man
Age of Reason
Agrarian Justice
10. Alexander Pope (May 21, 1688-May 30, 1744)
-was an 18th century English poet.
-known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer.
-he is the second-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of
Quotation
after Shakespeare.
Famous Works:
An Essay on Criticism (1711)
The Rape of the Lock (1712-14)
The Dunciad (1728)
An Essay on Man (1733-34)
11. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (June 28, 1712-July 2, 1778)
-was a Genevan philosopher, writer and composer.
-His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Enlightenment
throughout Europe and the aspects of the French Revolution, modern political and
educational thought.
Major Works:
Discourse on Inequality
Julie, or the New Heloise
Confessions
Emile, or On Education
Social Contract
Reveries of a Solitary Walker
12. Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667;October 19, 1745)
- was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet and cleric.
-became Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.
-he was remembered for his works such as A Table of a Tub, An Argument
Against
Abolishing Christianity.
Famous Works:
A Tale of a Tub (1704)
An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712)
Gulliver’s Travels (1726)
A Modest Proposal (1729)
13. Francois-Marie Arouet Voltaire (November 21, 1694-May 30, 1778)
-was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his
wit, his criticism of Christianity, especially the Catholic Church, and his advocacy
of freedom of religion, freedom of speech and separation of church and state.
Famous Works:
Zaire (tragic play)
The Age of Louis XIV (historical study)
Candide (satirical novella)
14. Mary Wollstonecraft (August 30, 1797-February 1, 1851)
-was an English writer, philosopher, and advocate of women’s rights. During
her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the
French Revolution, a conduct book and a children’s book.
Most Famous Works:
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Prepared by:
ROCHELLE JANE DAG-UMAN
BEEd-3
Submitted to:
MRS. AURORA ESTRELLA G. VILLARO
World Literature 2 Instructress