In 1517, Martin Luther rose up with a document titled "95 Theses," igniting the Protestant Reformation in Europe, directly targeting the church's practice of selling indulgences. "Can people's sins be redeemed with money?" This assertion, like a thunderclap, resonated throughout Europe. In the following century, religious conflicts in Europe reached a fever pitch, with bloodshed and corpses littering the continent, leaving many in despair about Europe's future. It was in such a violent and fearful era that a faint light of enlightenment began to shine.
In 1651, Hobbes's "Leviathan" burst onto the scene; in 1689, Locke's "Two Treatises of Government" made a remarkable impact. In just 38 years, a grand intellectual revolution unfolded in Western society, with four great thinkers—Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, and Locke—using their profound insights to dissect the barriers of the old order, ushering humanity into the Age of Enlightenment.
I. Hobbes's State of Nature#
From 1642 to 1654, England was engulfed in a prolonged civil war, shattering social order, which deeply pained Hobbes. In response, he proposed the hypothesis of the "state of nature" in "Leviathan." He believed that in the state of nature, industries could not survive, outcomes were extremely unstable, and people constantly lived in fear and danger of death. Having witnessed the execution of Charles I and the disintegration of social order, Hobbes stated: "Where there is no common power, there is no law; where there is no law, there is no justice, and humanity will fall into a 'war of all against all' due to competition, distrust, and honor."
Hobbes's revolutionary idea lay in his denial of the divine right of kings and his proposal of social contract theory. He argued that humanity's natural state is essentially a state of war, and to avoid this state, people voluntarily cede some rights to establish a government through a contract. The difference between Hobbes's social contract theory and modern social contract theories is that it is a contract backed by force, meaning that supreme power is not constrained by law as long as it maintains peace and security. This reveals Hobbes's aversion to the English Civil War.
II. Descartes's Light of Reason#
While Hobbes stirred up a storm in political science, Descartes initiated an even deeper revolution in epistemology. In his work "Meditations on First Philosophy," Descartes proposed the groundbreaking proposition: "I think, therefore I am." Starting from radical doubt, he found an unshakable foundation for knowledge. Descartes emphasized that reason, rather than tradition or faith, is the only standard for judging truth.
In "Meditations," Descartes outlined four principles of rationalism: universal doubt, simplicity, complexity, and comprehensive review. These principles emphasize acquiring certain knowledge through systematic analysis and logical deduction. The torch of reason ignited by Descartes illuminated the path of the entire Enlightenment movement. His methodology gave birth to modern science; for instance, Newton's classic work "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" is a brilliant realization of Cartesian rationalism.
III. Spinoza's Freedom of Thought#
Under the illumination of Descartes's rational light, Spinoza went further and became more radical, directly targeting religious authority and monarchical despotism. For example, he used historical criticism to analyze the Bible, arriving at the shocking conclusion that the Bible is not an infallible truth; its authors were human, and it merely reflects the cognitive level of specific historical periods.
Spinoza systematically argued for the human right to freedom of thought, issuing the most powerful declaration of the Enlightenment: freedom is more precious than anything else. To this end, he advocated for the separation of church and state, asserting that the government should legislate to protect citizens' rights to free debate.
IV. Locke's Empiricism#
Locke experienced the Glorious Revolution in England, a bloodless revolution that established parliamentary sovereignty and the Bill of Rights. Locke's theoretical contributions are the philosophical summary and future blueprint of this revolution. In epistemology, Locke rejected Descartes's notion of "innate ideas," which posits that humans are born with certain ideas. Instead, Locke proposed the famous "tabula rasa" theory, asserting that humans are born as blank slates, without any marks or ideas, and that all ideas come from experience.
In political science, Locke published his immortal work "Two Treatises of Government," reformulating Hobbes's social contract theory. Locke believed that under the constraints of reason, individuals possess natural rights to life, liberty, and property. The legitimacy of government derives from the consent of the governed, and the purpose of government is to protect these natural rights. To prevent government from going astray, Locke also proposed the theory of separation of powers, emphasizing that legislative and executive powers must be distinct. In simple terms, one cannot be both the referee and the player.
The revolutionary ideas of these four great thinkers were not a linear succession but rather a mutual interplay and deepening, ultimately opening the grand curtain of the Enlightenment. Hobbes destroyed the foundations of theocracy with his terrifying depiction of the "state of nature"; Descartes raised the torch of reason, paving the way for scientific exploration and freedom of thought; Spinoza issued the most passionate cry for freedom of thought; and Locke, grounded in experience, transformed abstract concepts of freedom into concrete rights and an operable constitutional framework.
Their thoughts transcend time and space, continuing to shape our understanding of individual dignity, social order, the boundaries of knowledge, and political power, forming the core conceptual genes of modern civilization. As Kant said: "Have the courage to use your own understanding!" Humanity must either be mechanically tamed or awakened by enlightenment.