2.2 The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement in the 17th and 18th centuries that emphasized reason, individualism, and the pursuit of knowledge, challenging traditional authority and laying the groundwork for modern democratic and philosophical thought. It brought about significant changes in the way people thought about government and public service. Philosophers such as John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that governments should exist to serve the people and protect their rights. This period saw the rise of ideas like democracy, individual rights, and the social contract, which laid the foundation for modern public service.  

At the same time, the Enlightenment also exposed the dangers of absolute power and the neglect of public service. The French Revolution, for example, was a direct response to the monarchy’s failure to serve the public, leading to widespread poverty and unrest.  

Some scholars, such as David Graeber and David Wengrow in The Dawn of Everything, argue that Enlightenment thinkers were influenced by Indigenous intellectuals from North America. They document that Europeans engaged in debates and exchanges with Indigenous figures, who criticized European systems of hierarchy and emphasized values like equality, freedom, and communal living. Reports of these exchanges made their way back to Europe, and these ideas challenged the notion of blind obedience to self-interested monarchs. They reinforced the belief that people could govern themselves in more equitable ways.