Chapter 16: Toward a New Worldview

Haskalah

Jewish Enlightenment of the second half of the eighteenth century led by the Prussian philosopher Moses Mendelssohn

experimental method

approach pioneered by Galileo that said proper way to explore universe was through repeatable experiments rather than speculation

How did the concept of "race" change?

became a biological distinction with Europeans at top

Johannes Kepler

believed universe built on mystical mathematical relationships and musical harmony of heavenly bodies, said orbits=ellipses, planets do not move at uniform speeds-published these 2 laws in "The New Astronomy", later said time planet takes to make orbit is related to distance from sun, proved mathematically the solar system, completed the Rudolphine Tables, explained refraction in eye/telescope/basis for calculus, cast horoscopes and based life on astrology

Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

book that published Newton's findings, single explanatory system that integrated Copernicus' astronomy with Galileo's physics, laid down 3 laws of motion

law of inertia

law formulated by Galileo that states that motion, not rest, is the natural state of an object and that an object continues in motion forever unless stopped by some external force

Baruch Spinoza

mind and body=one substance, God and nature=same thing, good and evil relative, no free will, excommunicated from Jewish community

Aristotle

natural philosophy based on his views until the Scientific Revolution, melded with Thomas Aquinas's Christianity, motionless earth fixed at the center of the universe that was encompassed by 10 concentric crystal spheres that revolved around it, beyond 10th sphere=heaven, celestial spheres="5th essence" while world=4 imperfect and changeable elements, movement=natural state of objects, had a place for God, above mathematics, commonsense

Galileo Galilei

pioneered experimental method-actual experiments rather than speculation, formulated law of inertia, discovered 4 moons of Jupiter (no crystal sphere), devout Catholic and silenced beliefs b/c of Church, saw hope in Pope Urban VIII so published beliefs-heresy and recanted

Paracelsus

pioneered use of chemicals and drugs to address chemical imbalances

Ptolemy

planets moved in small circles (epicycles), and each of which moved in turn along a larger circle, explained Aristotle's failure to explain "backward motion" of planets

rococo

popular and feminine style in Europe in the eighteenth century, known for its soft pastels, ornate interiors, sentimental portraits, and starry-eyed lovers protected by hovering cupids

Implications of Copernican Hypothesis

put stars at rest-destroyed belief in crystal sphere, suggested universe of huge size, destroyed idea that earthly and heavenly spheres different-where was God?

salon

regular social gathering held by talented and rich Parisians in their homes, where philosophes and their followers met to discuss literature, science, and philosophy, many hosted by women, invitations=coveted, intermingling of rulers and leaders of Enlightenment thought

rationalism

secular, critical way of thinking in which nothing was to be accepted on faith, and everything was to be submitted to reason

enlightened absolutism

term coined by historians to describe the rule of eighteenth century monarchs who, without renouncing their own absolute authority, adopted Enlightenment ideals of rationalism, progress, and tolerance

John Locke

"Essay Concerning Human Understanding"-all ideas from experience, mind at birth=blank tablet, development is determined by education and social institutions, sensationalism, "Two Treatises of Civil Government"-sovereignty of Parliament

Pierre Bayle

"Historical and Critical Dictionary"-nothing can be known beyond all doubt, SKEPTICISM

Cesare Beccaria

"On Crimes and Punishments"-plea for reform of penal system, advocated the prevention of crime

Montesquieu

"Persian Letters"-social satire that was first major work of French Enlightenment, "Spirit of Laws"-focused on conditions that would promote liberty and prevent tyranny, separation of powers, French parlements defended liberty

Carl von Linne

"System of Nature"-nature organized in God-given hierarchy, hierarchy of races

What were the origins of the Scientific Revolution?

1. Universities-philosophy established a place, Greek works that reentered society through Arabic translations=basis of curriculum, new professorships that melded math and natural philosophy 2. Renaissance-patrons funded scientific investigations, close observation for realistic art, rediscovery of classical texts 3. Technology-printing and more eager audience due to navigation, new scientific instruments and discoveries to help with navigation 4. Astrology/Alchemy-believed changing relationships b/t planets influenced events on earth, horoscopes, wanted to understand connections b/t elements, occult qualities (not heretical)

Cartesian dualism

Descartes's view that all of reality could ultimately be reduced to mind and matter

What was the first European state to remove restrictions on Jews?

France under French Revolution

Tycho Brahe

Europe's leading astronomer with observations of new star, built most sophisticated observatory, patron=Rudolph II so got observatory in Prague, pledged to create tables of planetary motions called Rudolphine Tables, much complete and accurate data before death, believed all planets revolved around sun and that sun and planets revolve around earth/moon

Catherine the Great of Russia

German princess w/ Romanov connection, married to heir of Russian throne but had lover murder him, wanted to continue Peter the Great's effort to bring the culture of w.Europe to Russia, domestic reform such as new law code, halted by serf uprising led by Emelian Pugachev-had to give nobles complete control of serfs, huge territorial expansion w/ partition of Poland, made Pale of Settlement for Jews

David Hume and Immanuel Kant on Race

Hume-negroes and all others inferior to whites Kant-"On the Different Races of Man"-4 human races each from original race, closest=white Germans

law of universal gravitation

Newton's law that all objects are attracted to one another and that the force of attraction is proportional to the object's quantity of matter and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them, unified universe in one coherent system

How did religious authorities respond to the Copernican Hypothesis?

Protestants mixed-some accepted, some accepted only parts Catholics-little attention prior to 1616 when declared false

Who took the lead in scientific expeditions?

Spain

Joseph II

abolished serfdom, radical ideas, peasants could pay landlords w/ cash instead of labor (hated by all), integrated Jews into society

Jean Jacques Rousseau

broke w/ philosophes after believed they were plotting against him, said rationalism and civilization destroy individual, rigid division of gender roles, "The Social Contract"-general will is absolute but not necessarily the will of the majority

Leopold II

cancels Joseph's radical edicts

William Harvey

circulation of blood through veins and arteries, heart=pump

Frederick the Great of Prussia

determined to use splendid army he inherited, invaded province of Silesia that defied Pragmatic sanction (guaranteed Maria Theresa's succession)-Maria forced to cede Silesia to Prussia, 7 Years' War against Prussia to try to reconquer (saved by Peter III backing out), wanted to institute more humane policies-freedom of thought, advanced knowledge, wanted to help enlighten his people, reformed legal system and bureaucracy, still accepted serfdom and extended privileges of nobility, used cameralism, opposed emancipation for Jews

von Leibniz

developed calculus, infinite number of "monads" from which all substance is composed, "Theodicy"-our world=best because created by God, ridiculed by Voltaire

Isaac Newton

devout Christian who went to Cambridge and loved alchemy, during break from studies-discovers law of universal gravitation and centripetal force/acceleration, established method of scientific inquiry through study of optics

Robert Boyle

did experiments to discover basic elements of nature-atoms, created vacuum, Boyle's law (pressure varies inversely with volume)

Rene Descartes

discovered analytic geometry, matter made up of identical "corpuscles" that collide in endless series of motions, all nature=matter in motion, quantity of motion=constant, vacuum=impossible, mechanistic view of world influenced Newton, doubt everything and then use deductive reasoning from self-evident truths to find scientific laws, everything into "mind" and "matter", Cartesian dualism

Andreas Vesalius

dissected humans to study anatomy, "On the Structure of the Human Body"-200 drawings

natural philosophy

early modern term for the study of the nature of the universe, its purpose, and how it functioned; it encompassed what we would call "science" today

Diderot and d'Alembert

edited "Encyclopedia", wanted to teach how to think critically and objectively about all, revolutionary

Who embraced new scientific ideas?

educated elite

Scottish Enlightenment

emphasis on common sense and scientific reasoning, first public education system

Nicolaus Copernicus

felt Ptolemy's rules detracted from perfect creator-preferred sun-centered universe idea, said that stars and planets revolved around a fixed sun, did not publish claims until year of death

What factors led to the Enlightenment?

generation between Newton and death of Louis XIV, increased contacts with the wider world-truth=relative, increased doubt and uncertainty from Scientific revolution

philosophes

group of French intellectuals who proclaimed that they were bringing the light of knowledge to their fellow humans in the Age of Enlightenment

David Hume

human mind is nothing but sensory impressions, reason cannot tell us anything about questions that cannot be verified by senses

Copernican Hypothesis

idea that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe

public sphere

idealized intellectual space that emerged in Europe during the Enlightenment where the public came together to discuss important issues relating to society, economics, and politics

Enlightenment

influential intellectual and cultural movement of late 17th and 18th centuries that introduced a new worldview based on the use of reason, scientific method, and progress

Maria Theresa

initiated church reform, series of administrative renovations to strengthen the central bureaucracy, revamped tax system, improved lot of agricultural population

empiricism

theory of inductive reasoning that calls for acquiring evidence through observation and experimentation rather than deductive reason and speculation

Adam Smith

thriving commercial life produced virtue, attacked laws prevented commerce from reaching full potential

reading revolution

transition in Europe from society where literacy consisted of patriarchal and communal reading of religious texts to a society where literacy was commonplace and reading material was broad and diverse

Voltaire

turbulent early career, friends with marquise du Chatelet-studied physics and math, translated Newton's Principia into French, women had unequal education-, praised England and their science (esp. Newton), said best could be good monarch, did not believe servants should equal masters, challenged Church but believed in God-deist (clock), hated religious intolerance

cameralism

view that monarchy was the best form of government, all element of society should serve the monarch, state should use its resources and authority to increase the public good

Francis Bacon

wanted experimental method, new knowledge must be pursued through empirical research, do not speculate, made general theory of empiricism, followers created Royal Society

Religious Enlightenment

wanted to reconcile reason with faith, "Catholic Enlightenment" wanted to renew and reform church from within

Immanuel Kant

wrote "What is Enlightenment?", freedom to exercise reason in print would lead to enlightenment, individuals must obey all laws