Despots in the Age of Enlightment

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, rulers adopted basic enlightenment principles, like religious toleration, freedom of speech and press, and the right to hold and maintain private property. According to Kant, in his What is Enlightenment? of 1784, “A prince who…prescribes nothing to men in religious matters but to give them complete freedom while renouncing the haughty name of tolerance, is himself enlightened and deserves to be esteemed by the grateful world and posterity.” Many rulers accepted these newfound ideas; however, when it came time to actually implement them, rulers were often too scared of losing power. This, in turn, led to the idea of an “enlightened despot,” who reflected the principles of the Enlightenment, yet continued to exercise the basic ideals of despotism.
In Frederick II’s Political Testament of 1752, he acknowledges and accepts the idea of religious tolerance. He even goes so far as to say that, “If the sovereign…declares himself for one religion or another…the religion persecuted will leave the fatherland, and millions of subjects will enrich our neighbors by their skill and industry.” Basically, Frederick believes that religious intolerance only leaves the country disabled. In his work, Essay on Forms of Government, Frederick attacks the luxury, pomp, and debauchery perpetrated by an inadequate sovereign. He also believes that a ruler should act on behalf of the common advantage. To top it all off, Frederick lists supposed indispensable characteristics of a dutiful sovereign, which included, “…they must be active, hard-working, upright and honest and concentrate all their strength upon filling their office worthily…” Almost all of the ideas he presents in these documents stem from the gre...

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...g to philosophy and the efforts of great men; it is a convincing proof of the improvement of the human mind.” Although this quote offers convincing evidence for revolutionary ideas, it also exposes Joseph’s “enlightened” country as the result of a wish to follow other European countries in their enlightening transformation.
Although it is often argued that rulers such as Joseph II, Catherin II, and Frederick II were motivated to instate enlightened principles; oftentimes, these rulers were slaves to the ideals of despotism, where the preeminent goal was to obtain more power. Indeed it may be a legitimate claimed that these rulers realized the greatness of Enlightenment ideas; however, since most of their reigns were spent preserving dominance over their people, it is safe to say that these individuals may have been more dedicated to serving their own self-interests.