Locke and Voltaire applied concepts of natural law to political systems advocating intrinsic rights; the physiocrats and Adam Smith applied natural conceptions of psychology and self-interest to economic systems; and sociologists criticised the current social order for trying to fit history into natural models of progress.
洛克和伏尔泰将自然法则的概念应用于政治系统中，以提倡固有的权利；重农主义者和亚当·史密斯将心理学和利己主义的自然概念应用于经济系统中；而社会学家则批评当时的社会秩序，以试图让历史融入进步的自然模型裡。