Chapter 16
The enlightened policies of Frederick the Great included
simplifying Prussia's laws. x
To improve the rural economy and the lives of peasants
Empress Maria Theresa of Austria,reduced nobles' power over their serfs. x
Which country spearheaded the trend in scientific expeditions?
Spain x
Catherine the Great of Russia came to power in 1762 through
a military coup. x
Soft pastels
ornate interiors, and sentimental portraits are all characteristics of the style known as,rococo.
A striking feature of the salons was that
philosophes, nobles, and members of the upper middle class intermingled. x
Copernicus's theory of the universe
postulated a sun-centered view of the universe.
Why did Leopold II cancel his brother Joseph's radical edicts in the early 1790s?
Leopold was attempting to restore order in Austria.
What was the core concept of the Enlightenment?
The methods of natural science should be used to examine all aspects of life. x
What was the primary goal of Galileo Galilei's experimental method?
To discover what actually occurred in nature rather than to speculate on what should occur
"Weep wretched natives of Tahiti weep. But let it be for the coming and not the leaving of these ambitious wicked men. One day you will know them better. One day they will come back bearing in one hand the piece of wood you see in that man's belt and in the other the sword hanging by the side of that one to enslave you slaughter you or make you captive to their follies and vices. One day you will be subject to them as corrupt vile and miserable as they are." This selection from Denis Diderot's "Supplement to Bougainville's Voyage" (Evaluating the Evidence 16.3) reflects his belief that
European exploration was a prelude to violent conquest. x
How did the idea of "race" transform Europeans' idea of their superiority over other peoples?
European superiority was increasingly defined as biologically superior as well as culturally superior. x
How did Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation bring the Scientific Revolution to maturity?
It synthesized mathematics with physics and astronomy to demonstrate that the entire universe was unified into one coherent system.
Who was Denis Diderot's co-editor of the Encyclopedia?
Jean le Rond d'Alembert x
In Of Natural Characters (1748) David Hume wrote: "I am apt to suspect the negroes and in general all other species of men (for there are four or five different kinds) to be naturally inferior to the whites. There never was a civilized nation of any other complexion than white nor even any individual eminent amongst them no arts no sciences. . . . Such a uniform and constant difference could not happen in so many countries and ages if nature had not made an original distinction between these breeds of men." Based on this passage what did Hume see as the source of racial distinctions?
Nature x
Who wrote the influential Historical and Critical Dictionary (1697)?
Pierre Bayle
Which powers participated in the partitioning of Poland in the late eighteenth century?
Prussia, Russia, and Austria
Which of the following correctly characterizes the response of various religious perspectives to Nicolaus Copernicus's hypothesis?
The Catholic Church declared Copernicus a heretic while Protestant faiths believed that the hypothesis had no bearing on Christian teaching Protestants rejected Copernicus's idea that the earth moved while the Catholic Church largely overlooked his theory until declaring the hypothesis false in the seventeenth century.
Which book by the baron de Montesquieu is considered the first major work in the French Enlightenment?
The Persian Letters x
The idea of the public sphere that emerged during the Enlightenment refers to
an idealized space where individuals gathered to discuss social and political issues. x
According to its editor
the fundamental goal of the Encyclopedia was to,"change the general way of thinking." x
Rousseau's concept of the general will asserts that
the general will is not necessarily the will of the majority. x
Voltaire was a deist who viewed God as akin to a
clockmaker who set the universe in motion and then ceased to intervene in human affairs. x
What helped to justify the growth of slavery in the eighteenth century?
The emergence of scientific racism
Galileo was placed on trial for heresy owing to publication of
Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World. x
Although perhaps best known as the long-time companion of Voltaire
Gabriel-Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise du Châtelet, published,the first translation of Newton's Principia into French.
In general what was Voltaire's attitude toward government?
He believed that a good monarch was the best one could hope for in government.
"The single thread winded off the pod in the same manner as that of the common silk-worm; seeming in all respects as fine and as tough. I doubled this thread so often as to contain twenty in thickness; and the compound thread was as smooth as elastic and as glossy as that of the common silk-worm. I tried what weight it would bear; and it bore fifteen ounces and a half and broke with somewhat less than sixteen upon several trials. . . ." Based on this excerpt the presentation by the Reverend Samuel Pullein to the Royal Society of England regarding "An Account of a Particular Species of Cocoon or Silk-Pod from America" (Evaluating the Evidence 16.2) is best characterized as
a careful investigation of the silk pod and whether it might serve as a source of silk. x
Voltaire saw Confucianism as
a natural religion. x
Who was the author of On Crimes and Punishments
a passionate plea for the reform of the penal system?,Cesare Beccaria x
The discipline of natural philosophy focused on
fundamental questions about the nature, purpose, and function of the universe.
Catherine the Great's goal of domestic reform never came to fruition
owing to,the rebellion led by Emelian Pugachev in 1773.
Johannes Kepler believed that the elliptical orbit of planets
produced a musical harmony of heavenly bodies.
The most influential aspect of René Descartes's theories of nature was that
the universe functioned in a mechanistic fashion.
Joseph II's conversion of peasant labor obligations to cash payments
was opposed by both nobles and peasants. x
Francis Bacon formalized the research methods of Tycho Brahe and Galileo into a theory of reasoning known as
Empiricism. x
What change within the Jewish community accompanied the Haskalah Enlightenment movement?
Interactions between Jews and Christians increased, and rabbinic controls diminished. x
Mary Astell's A Serious Proposal to the Ladies encouraged women to
aspire to a life of the mind.
In Historical and Critical Dictionary
Pierre Bayle demonstrated ,that all knowledge can be questioned and doubted. x
What was the Republic of Letters?
A cosmopolitan network involving western Europe and its colonies as well as eastern Europe and Russia x
The following in is an excerpt from Moses Mendelssohn's "Reply to Lavater" (Thinking Like a Historian): "Sometimes however the opinions of my fellow men which in my belief are errors belong to the higher theoretical principles which are too remote from practical life to do any direct harm; but precisely because of their generality they form the basis on which the nation that upholds them has built its moral and social system and thus happen to be of great importance to this part of the human race. To oppose such doctrines in public because we consider them prejudices is to dig up the ground to see whether it is solid and secure without providing any other support for the building that stands on it. Anyone who cares more for the good of humanity than for his own fame will be slow to voice his opinion about such prejudices and will take care not to attack them outright without extreme caution." Based on this passage in Mendelssohn's view what purpose is served by religion?
Religious beliefs are the foundation of moral and social systems.
In this excerpt from The Sidereal Messenger (Evaluating the Evidence 16.1) Galileo wrote about constructing a telescope and using it to view the surface of the moon. ". . . from my observations of them [spots on the moon] often repeated I have been led to that opinion which I have expressed namely that I feel sure that the surface of the moon is not perfectly smooth free from inequalities and exactly spherical as a large school of philosophers considers with regard to the moon and the other heavenly bodies but that on the contrary it is full of inequalities uneven full of hollows and protuberances just like the surface of the earth itself which is varied everywhere by lofty mountains and deep valleys." Galileo's observations led him to
assert that the surface of the moon was similar to the surface of the earth. x
Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that
women were best suited to a passive role in social relations.
How did Enlightenment thinkers differ from those of the Middle Ages and Renaissance?
Enlightenment thinkers believed that their era had surpassed antiquity, which demonstrated the possibility of human progress.
In his Essay Concerning Human Understanding
John Locke claimed that,human development is determined by education and society.
How did European governments respond to the new science?
They established academies of science to support and sometimes direct scientific research.
The concept of the reading revolution refers to the
shift from reading religious texts aloud as a family to reading diverse texts individually.