The enlightenment thinkers

John Locke

His early life and education:

John Locke was born in the town of Wrighton,

Somerset, in the year 1632. His father was a
modest landowner and lawyer who fought on the
Parliamentarian side during the English Civil Wars in
the 1640s. He enrolled his son to the prestigious
Westminster School because of his military
contacts.

His publications:

John Locke had been writing during his decades of

service to Shaftesbury. He published all of his major
works in the six years following his return to
England. One of those was Locke’s “Essay
Concerning Human Understanding” (1689) which
outlined a theory of human knowledge, identity and
selfhood that would be hugely influential to
Enlightenment thinkers. He died on October 28,
1704

Baron d'Holbach

His life:

Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach was a French-German novelist,

philosopher, and encyclopedist who lived from 8 December 1723 to
21 January 1789. In the French Enlightenment, he was a pivotal
figure. Paul Heinrich Dietrich was born in Edesheim, Rhenish
Palatinate. He lived in Paris for the majority of his life, where he ran
a salon.
His salon:

Meetings were conducted twice a week, on Sundays and Thursdays, in d'Holbach's home on
Rue Royale. The salon's visitors were exclusively males, and the tone of discussion was
intellectual, often extending to issues more comprehensive than those of other salons. This,
together with the great food, amazing wine, and a library of over 3000 books, drew a large
number of noteworthy guests. Some of which were Diderot, d’Alembert, and Rousseau. He died
on 21 January 1789

Sir Issac Newton

Even in his own day, Sir Isaac Newton was a physics, math,
and astronomy celebrity. He held the position of Lucasian
Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge in
England, a position that was later filled by Stephen Hawking
centuries later. Newton developed multiple laws of motion,
which are influential mathematical principles that scientists use
to describe how the universe works today. He died on 20
March 1726/27

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Rousseau was born in Geneva and spent his early adult life
traveling in poverty before educating himself and coming to
Paris. Rousseau, who was shifting away from music and toward
writing, collaborated with Diderot and wrote for the
Encyclopédie before obtaining a coveted award that catapulted
him firmly into the Enlightenment scene. However, he had a
falling out with Diderot and Voltaire, and in later writings he
distanced himself from them. Rousseau once managed to
alienate the main religions, causing him to abandon France.