Enlightenment Quiz

What was the Enlightenment and how did the Scientific Revolution influence the development of the Enlightenment?

The Enlightenment was a movement in intellectual knowledge in which qualities such as the power of individuals, thought, reason, etc., were stressed as qualities ideal for solving problems. With the advancements in knowledge in the field of science and the new way of thinking that came with it, scholars and philosophers started to rethink old aspects of society, and eventually developed expanded the new way of thinking that came with the Scientific Revolution into other fields such as government, religion, education, etc.

Montewqieu and The Spirit of Laws Significance

This is influential because his ideas were admired by political leaders in the British Colonies of America. Eventually, these idea's became the basis of North American government.

Salon

This was a place during the enlightenment era was where higher class citizens had a " get together" so They could gather to discuss Enlightenment ideas and criticize authority. This was one of the few ways that woman could influence the way things happened.

Isaac Newton

An English scientist who studied at Cambridge University, particularly in the fields of mathematics and physics.

Rene Descartes

He founded analytical science which was based off of algebra, geometry, and logic. He used these findings to make scientific predictions.

Two Treaties of Government

A book written by John Locke that explains his views on politics, government, and human rights/equality.

Scientific Method

A logical procedure for gathering and testing ideas. It begins with a problem or question that came from and observation, then a hypothesis is formed which will then be tested in an experiment. Lastly the data found is analyzed and interpreted to reach a conclusion. This is important now because it lead to the development of the scientific method that we use today.

Neoclassical

A style that came after that of the baroque period. The baroque period was very grand, over the top, and quite like Varsielle. This style, however, was much more simple and elegant and borrowed themes from ancient Greece and Rome. This term literally translates to "new classic". This was the time period of the late 1700s.

Enlightened despotism

Absolute monarchs that reflected the Enlightenment spirit. They had no intention of giving up any power, but they did support the philosphes' ideas. The significance of them were they wanted to make their countries stronger and their own rule more effective.

Francis Bacon

An English statesman and writer. He was also interested in science. He believed that an increased knowledge of science would improve people's lives. His writings said that medieval scholars relied too much on Aristotle and other old thinkers. He urged scientists to draw new conclusions by holding experiments. He is relevant today because he founded the experimental method, and partially founded the scientific method.

Joseph II

An Enlightenment ruler, of Austria, that was a true reformer and believed in freedom of the press and supported freedom of worship. He abolished serfdom and ordered that peasants be paid for their labor with cash, but the nobles did not like this at all. He is important because he helped better the lives of the serfs and peasants.

Montesquieu

An influential French writer who studied and wrote about political liberty. He was the first one to write about the separation of powers in his book, The Spirit of the Laws

Discourse on Method

Book written by Rene Descartes. The book spoke about "doubt until proven by reason,". From this book, he drew out the famous conclusion, "I think, therefore I am."

Salon Significance

During the Enlightenment Era, aristocratic women often hosted gatherings here (fancy sitting rooms in wealthy homes), particularly the French monarchy (Louis XIV & XV). Many patrons frequented them to ponder over Rousseau and John Locke's philosophies. It was a centerpiece of the Enlightenment atmosphere because it embraced intelligence, science, and modern ideas instead of social titles. Some of the Enlightenment ideas discussed in salons were later used as a justification for the French Revolution.

Isaac Newton Significance

He discovered that all objects were affected equally by a group of forces. Most importantly, the same forces affected all matter whether in space or on the Earth and also the motion of the planets. He also discovered and named the law of universal gravitation. This states that all objects are attracted to one another. The level of attraction depends on the mass of the objects and the distance between them. He then published The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy which discussed how everything in the universe worked together perfectly, like a clock.

Robert Boyle

He helped make advancements in the field of chemistry. He came up with the idea that the world was not made up of the four main elements (earth, fire, water, and air), but rather tiny particles that were joined together. He developed a very important law pertaining to chemistry: Boyle's Law, a law that explains how the temperature, pressure, and volume of gas affect each other.

Rousseau and The Social Contract Significance

His ideas helped influence the revolters of the French Revolution in 1789, and helped spread ideas of democracy across Europe.

Philosophes Significance

It was a new and logical way of thinking (adding reason) influenced the way in which people viewed the role of government, as well as their view on the society that they lived in.

Natural Laws

John Locke, the philosopher believed that people, being reasonable beings, could learn from experience and improve themselves. They have the natural ability to govern their own affairs and to look after the welfare of society. According to Locke, all people are born free and equal, he continued this argument by stating that along with freedom and equality, humans are born with three natural rights: life, liberty, and property. The purpose of government, he went on, was to protect these rights. If a government failed to do so, he believed citizens had the right to overthrow it.

Natural Laws Significance

Locke's theory of humans natural rights had a deep influence on modern political thinking. His belief that citizens had the natural right to give power to the gov't only by their popular consent (in order to protect the 3 natural rights) was the foundation of modern democracy. Also, his beliefs that citizens had the right to defend their 3 natural rights by rebelling against unjust rulers helped inspire struggles for liberty in Europe and the Americas.

Mary Astell

Mary Astell was an English writer who wrote "A Serious Proposal to the Ladies." This book analyzed the lack of educational opportunities for women using Enlightenment concepts to back her arguments.

Enlightenment Significance

Significant because the ideas and beliefs that were introduced by Enlightenment thinkers created the foundation for Western civilization.

Voltaire and Candide

The former is a prominent 18th century French philosopher of the Enlightenment era, who defended reason, freedom of speech, and religious tolerance. The latter is a fictional work he wrote to satire religious and state leaders.

Thomas Hobbes Significance

The significance of this philosopher and his book, Leviathan, is that it shows the old medieval view. It is the view held by most everyone until the Enlightenment.

Geocentric

The theory rooted from the greek philosopher Aristole and ethen expanded upon by the other greek philosopher, Ptolemy. The theory states that earth is at the center of the universe and that everything revolves around the earth. This theory was wildly popular in the middle ages due to the fact that the Church already lead people to believe that God had put Earth at the center of everything.

Mannerisms

Things done out of habit. These are important because Europe's mannerisms were changing and evolving during this period of enlightenment.

Discourse on Method Significance

This is significant because Descartes' way of thinking is reflected in the Scientific Method; nothing is assumed, but instead doubted, in the modern Scientific Method until proven through not only experimentation, but observations and mathematics, which is what Descartes relied on to arrive at conclusions. Another way Descartes is significant is because the development of analytical geometry provided a tool that is used for scientific research.

Mary Astell Significance

This is significant because Mary Astell inspired other women to pick up on these themes and influenced a push towards women education and gender equality.

Mary Wollstonecraft Significance

This is significant because while many new ideas were being spread, these women writers such as Wollstonecraft were trying to up the status of women, which caused people to begin to consider the equality of men and women. Though a slow process, this helped aid in the balancing of gender equality and more presence of women in society.

Heliocentric

Refers to Copernicus' theory that the sun is in the center of the solar system. This is important because it laid the foundations for Tycho Brahe and Kepler to study it more and eventually prove his theory true.

The Spirit of the Laws

Book written by Montesquieu that talks about the seperation of powers.

Rene Descartes Significance

He created the foundation for modern science. Many scientists today use his strategies.

Philosophes

A french word for Philosophers, these people were a group of Enlightened thinkers who believed that you could add reason to everything in life. The five most important aspects of their beliefs are reason, nature, happiness, progress, and liberty.

John Locke

A philosopher during the Enlightenment period who held a more positive view about humans. He thought that humans were able to improve themselves by learning from experience. He criticized the absolute monarchy and favored self-government because he thought humans were able to govern their own affairs and look after the welfare of society. He also thought the government's job was to protect the rights of its citizens and that its power came from the consent of the people.

Rousseau and The Social Contract

A philosopher who strongly believe in individual freedom. He believed that the only good Government was the one that was picked by the people (democracy). In 1762, he wrote a book which talked about his ideas on a democratic government. It is saying that people should give up some freedom for the common good.

In what ways were the enlightened rulers less than true reformers? Provide a minimum of two specific examples of enlightened rulers and their reforms.

Enlightened rulers were less than true reformers because their primary intention was not to reform, but to only make changes that would make their country or their rule stronger. The issue of serfs and whether or not they should be granted more freedom clearly displays the enlightened rulers' intentions, because even though many of them agreed that serfdom was wrong and should not exist, the rulers, notably Frederick II and Catherine the Great, did not abolish it due to the fact that they felt they need the nobles' support to keep power. One enlightened ruler was Joseph II; he made legal reforms, introduced freedom of press, freedom of religion, and abolished serfdom. However, after his death, serfdom was restored. Another enlightened ruler was Catherine the Great; she expanded territory into the Black Sea and into Poland. She also proposed many enlightened reforms, but the reforms were not carried out to the proposed level; limited reforms were placed. However, Catherine's enlightened ideas changed after the serf uprising, especially since she had supported serf freedom before the uprising but was against it after the uprising.

Nicholas Copernicus

Renaissance astronomer who created the Heliocentric Theory.

Diderot

Denis Diderot was an established European philosopher. In 1751, Denis Diderot created a project where leading european scholars could contribute articles and essays. This project was called the Encyclopedia, a set of large books that helped spread Enlightenment ideas throughout Europe. The Encyclopedia was very controversial among the French government and the Catholic Church. They believed that it undermined royal authority and symbolized a revolt

Enlightenment

Known as the Age of Reason, was an intellectual movement during the mid-1700s in Europe. Prompted by the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment brought new insights to the beliefs regarding government, economics, religion, and education. Reason, thought, and the power of individuals was emphasized during this time

Compare the views of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau with regard to the power and the role of the government.

Locke General: -People could learn from experiences and improve themselves. -People had the natural ability to govern themselves. -All people are born free and equal, with the three natural rights, Life, Liberty, and Property. -Power: Government has limited power, however all the power they do have comes from the consent of the people -Role: The government's job is to protect the three natural rights(life, liberty, property; if the government fails to do so, its has the right to be overthrown by the people!) Hobbes General: -All humans naturally selfish and wicked, -people need the government to keep them everyone from fighting everyone else. Power: -Government has the same "awesome power as a levithan" -The best type of government is an absolute monarchy, where the power of the government is unlimited to keep the people in line, Role: -Keep the people in line. -people get law and order in exchange for their rights (a social contract between the government and the people!) Rousseau General: -Civilization corrupted man's natural goodness. -all people are equal, and the titles nobility should be disbanded Power: -Power of the government comes from the consent of the governed -Only good government is one freely formed/guided by the "general will" of society Role: -People give up some freedoms for the common good - The social contract is an agreement between free individuals to create a society+Government.

Explain how Enlightenment ideas spread throughout Europe. Describe the political, social and economic changes that emerged as a result of Enlightenment ideas.

One way that Enlightenment ideas spread throughout Europe was due to salons; these were gatherings where various types of people met to discuss their ideas. Another key way that Enlightenment ideas spread throughout Europe was through a philosophe named Denis Diderot, who published large sets of books called the Encyclopedia. These books contained a vast amount of Enlightenment ideas. Ideas eventually started to spread through newspapers, songs, and pamphlets. Throughout Europe, political changes such as religious freedom, freedom of press. and other legal reforms. One social change that emerged was the consideration of giving more freedoms to peasants; however, these changes never went through. Another social change was that men were thought to be equal and to have great potential. Economic changes that emerged include a debate about serfs and whether or not they should be paid or not, and Catherine's attempt to expand into the Black Sea and into more territory.

What are the important discoveries of the Scientific Revolution?

Some of the important discoveries of the Scientific Revolution are: -Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, and Galileo proved a Heliocentric rather than Geocentric Universe, and discovered more information about the Sun, Moon, and other planets -New ways to make observations, such as telescopes, thermometers, microscopes, etc are invented. -New exact measurements for temperature that we still use today, the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales -The Scientific method is born and the old ways of just having faith in the Church or famous Greek philosophers begin to fade away. -Newton and his laws of gravity and motion Medicine takes a huge leap forward by -Vesalius studying human corpses and proving that human anatomy is different from say pig anatomy -Edward Jenner using cowpox as the first "vaccine" for smallpox. -Robert Boyle puts forth his theory that directly challenged Aristotle's theory of the physical world (Primary particles rather than just earth, fire, water, and air), and his still very useful law on how the volume, pressure, and temperature of a gas affect each other.

Social Contract Significance

This has significance because people had the choice to hand their rights over to a ruler and create their own government. The people created this for the own good will of the people and themselves.

Neoclassical Significance

This is significant because the change in style effected several things. One was literature. Writing became simpler and more like the everyday speaking of the people. It became less extravagant and complex. Music, as well, changed. This style of music was more elegant, and just as everything else, much less elaborate than that of the baroque period. This style of music is the same classical music that we know today. Some composers of this era were Mozart and Beethoven. Essentially, it changed the cultural style amongst the people.

Thomas Hobbes

This philosopher, after experiencing the English Civil war was convinced that all humans were naturally selfish and wicked, and that a strong controlling government is necessary to create peace, and prosperity. To escape a bleak war-torn life people had to give up their right to a strong absolute ruler. The government in return would give them law and order, this is called the Social Contract. This writer wrote a book, Leviathan, arguing that the optimal government has the power of a leviathan, or a sea monster.

Geocentric Significance

This was significant because of the overwhelming popularity it once had, until the scientific revolution. It is essitally important because it shows the effect of the scientific revolution as it was disproven at this time using the scientific method. The scientific revolution used reason and logic to prove and disprove things, and this was a disproven theory of that era.

Describe the various roles of women during the Enlightenment. Be sure to provide examples.

Mary Astell, an English writer, wrote a book that addressed the lack of education for women and gender equality using concepts from the Enlightenment, such as thoughts as, "All men are born equal." Another woman named Mary Wollstonecraft had argued that education for women was important in order for women to be of any use. Other women did not create Enlightenment ideas, but instead worked to spread ideas. Some women, especially Emilie du Châtelet, worked to enhance the Scientific Revolution; Châtelet translated Newton's work from Latin to French, therefore inspiring interest in science in France.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) was a writer and feminist during the Enlightenment Era. In 1792, she published an essay called A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in which she argued that women need an education equal to that of men's and urged women to enter politics and medicine, then male-dominated fields.

Catherine the Great

She ruled Russia from 1762-1796. She was very well educated and exchanged many letters with Voltaire. Although she ruled with absolute power, she also wanted to reform Russia. But peasants still lived terrible lives under her rule, which lead to many revolts. Her ideas of enlightenment changed after the Peasant Revolt in 1773. She crushed the revolt with her armies. This convinced her that she needed nobles by her side. As a result the serfs had lost all of their freedom. Catherine also expanded the Russian Empire greatly. She is relevant because she gave Russia the power that they used even in the World Wars, but she was also responsible for serfdom existing in Russia up until the 20th century.

Galileo and the Church

The event in which the church became unhappy with Galileo's studies and his promotion of the Heliocentric theory, worried that he would make people lose complete faith in the church, so they arrested him. Galileo then had to take back his words about Copernicus, though he still believed Copernicus, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.

Diderot Significance

The historical significance of Diderot and the Encyclopedia is that it not only helped spread Enlightenment ideas, but the ideas being spread helped educate Europe and create a growing literate middle class.

Social Contract

The philosopher Hobbes created this idea. Hobbes believed that people had to hand over their rights to a strong ruler and in exchange they gained law and order. This idea is what people called their created government. Because people act in own self interest, that the ruler had to have total power to keep citizens under control.

John Locke and Two Treaties Significance

These two things significant because they were able to spread his ideas about why absolute monarchies are bad and his philosophy about human rights. Also, a lot of this philosophers ideas found in this book, are part of the structures of most governments around the world today.

Andreas Vesalius

A flemish physician who was born in 1514. He wrote many books about the human body and disproved theories that said animals and humans had the same anatomy. Vesalius was one of the first people to dissect the human body. He published his findings in his most notable book On the Structure of the Human Body. He was even made Imperial Physician due to his vast knowledge of the human body.

Scientific Revolution

A new way of thinking about the natural world.It was based on careful observations and a willingness to question accepted beliefs. It applies in ways like evolutioning the enlightenment stage. Its signifigance was a new way of figuring out evidence on why things do what they do on Earth.

Galileo

An Italien scientist that adapted the telescope and made several new discoveries. He discovered that Jupitor had four moons and that our own moon was rough and bumby, disproving the theory that it is a perfect, pure substance. He also completely believed in Copernicus's theory.