Chapter 16 T&Qs

"On The Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres"

"On The Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres" is Copernicus' text detailing the "Copernican Hypothesis", the idea that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe.

Paul D. Holbach

A French-German author, philosopher, encyclopedist and prominent figure in the French Enlightenment. He was born in Edesheim, near Landau in the Rhenish Palatinate, but lived and worked mainly in Paris, where he kept a salon. He was well known for his atheism and for his voluminous writings against religion, the most famous of them being The System of Nature (1770). Also contributed greatly to Denis Diderot's Encyclopedia. Holbach authored and translated a large number of articles on topics ranging from politics and religion to chemistry and mineralogy. As a German who had become a naturalized Frenchman, he undertook the translation of many contemporary German works of natural philosophy into French. All in all, between 1751 and 1765 he contributed some four hundred articles to the project, mostly on scientific subjects, in addition to serving as the editor of several volumes on natural philosophy. Holbach may also have written several disparaging entries on non-Christian religions, intended as veiled criticisms of Christianity itself.

Public Sphere

An intellectual space that emerged in Europe during the Enlightenment, where the public came together to discuss important issues relating to society, economics, and politics. Coffeehouses, newspapers, book clubs, Masonic lodges, debating societies, and salons all played roles in the creation of the Public Sphere, which celebrated open debate informed by critical reason.

Pierre Bayle

Bayle was a Protestant. As a forerunner of the Encyclopedists and an advocate of the principle of the toleration of divergent beliefs, his works subsequently influenced the development of the Enlightenment.

What were the effects of Catherine's reign on the following: a. The Russian Nobility b. The Russian Serfs c. The position of Russia in the European balance of power

Catherine freed nobles of taxes and state service. She extended serfdom into new areas and it transformed into its most oppressive phase. Catherine increased the Russian power in Europe because she expanded its land and made her people happy. Because of this Catherine was a great leader of Russia.

Denis Diderot

Edited Encyclopedia: The Rational Dictionary of the Sciences, the Arts, and the Crafts. He and his partner Jean le Rond d'Alembert set out in 1751 to find coauthors who would examine the rapidly expanding whole of human knowledge and teach people how to think critically and objectively about all matters. He wanted Encyclopedia to "change the general way of thinking". The Encyclopedia contained seventy two thousand article written by leading scientists, writers, skilled workers, and progressive priests. Science and the industrial arts were exalted, religion and immortality questioned. Intolerance, legal injustice, and out-of-date social institutions were openly criticized. The Encyclopedia also included many articles describing non-European cultures and societies, including acknowledgement of Muslim scholar's contribution to the development of Western Science. The Encyclopedia was widely read and highly influential.

Bernard Fontenelle

Fontenelle was a French author and an influential member of three of the academies of the Institute de France, noted especially for his accessible treatment of scientific topics during the unfolding of the Age of Enlightenment.

In what ways were Fredrick of Prussia and Catherine of Russia enlightened monarchs

Frederick of Prussia was an enlightened monarch because he got rid of serfdom and fixed the political/social hierarchy and power in Prussia to alleviate the stress on the government at the time left by his ruthless father, Catherine of Russia was an Enlightened monarch because she focused on a balanced monarchy and also wanted to bring the modernization to russia. Also she improved the economy while at it and had domestic reform to fix her current laws in order. Finally, she expanded Russia's territory greatly and was very successful with her decisions and movements.

Aristotle

In the 1500's, natural philosophy was still based primarily on the ideas of Aristotle, the great philosopher of the fourth century B.C.E. Aristotle's cosmology made intellectual sense, but it could not account for the observed motions of the stars and planets and, in particular, provided no explanation for the apparent backward motion of the planets. Aristotle's science as interpreted by Christian theologians also fit neatly with Christian Doctrine. It established a home for God and a place for Christian souls.

Adam Smith

Hume's emphasis on human experience, rather than abstract principle, had a formative influence on another major figure in the Scottish Enlightenment, Adam Smith. Smith argued that social interaction produced feelings of mutual sympathy that led people to behave in ethical ways, despite inherent tendencies toward self-interest. By observing others and witnessing their feelings, individuals imaginatively experienced such feelings and learned to act in ways that would elicit positive sentiments and avoid negative ones. Smith believed that the thriving commercial life of the eighteenth century was likely to produce civic virtue through the values of competition, fair play, and individual autonomy. In An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Smith attacked the laws and regulations created by mercantilist governments that, he argued, prevented commerce from reaching its full capacity.

Casare Beccaria

In northern Italy, Cesare Beccaria was a central figure, a nobleman educated at Jesuit schools and the University of Pavia. His On Crimes and Punishment was a passionate plea for reform of the penal system that decried the use of torture, arbitrary imprisonment, and capital punishment, and advocated the prevention of crime over the reliance on punishment. The text was quickly translated into French and English and made an impact throughout Europe and its colonies.

Galileo

In his early experiments, Galileo focused on deficiencies in Aristotle's theories of motion. He measured the movement of a rolling ball across a surface, repeating the action again and again to verify his results. In his famous acceleration experiment, he showed that a uniform force produced a uniform acceleration. Through another experiment, he formulated the law of inertia. He found that rest was not the natural state of objects. Rather, an object continues in motion forever unless stopped by some external force. His discoveries proved Aristotelian theories wrong. Galileo then applied the scientific method to astronomy. On hearing details about the invention of the telescope in Holland, Galileo made one for himself and trained it on the heavens. He quickly discovered the first four moons of Jupiter, which clearly suggested that Jupiter could not possibly be embedded in any impenetrable crystal sphere as Aristotle and Ptolemy maintained. This discovery provided new evidence for the Copernican theory, in which Galileo already believed. Galileo then pointed his telescope at the moon. He wrote in 1610 in the Siderail Messenger. "By the aid of a telescope anyone may behold in a manner which so distinctly appeals to the senses that all the disputes which have tormented philosophers through so many ages exploded by the irrefutable evidence of our eyes and we are freed from wordy disputes upon the subject." Galileo was a devout catholic who sincerely believed that his theories did not detract from the perfection of God. Out of caution he silenced his beliefs for several years, until in 1623 he saw a new saw a new hope with the ascension of Pope Urban VIII. However Galileo's 1632 "Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of The World" went too far. Published in Italian and widely read, this work openly lampooned the traditional views of Aristotle and Ptolemy and defended those of Copernicus. The Papal inquisition placed Galileo on trial for heresy. Imprisoned and threatened with torture, the aging Galileo recanted, "renouncing and cursing" his Copernican errors.

John Locke

Out of this period of intellectual turmoil came John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding. In this work, Locke, a physician and member of the Royal Society brilliantly set forth a new theory about how human being learn and form their ideas. Whereas Descartes based his deductive logic on the conviction that certain first principles, or innate ideas, are imbued in humans by God, Locke insisted that all ideas are derived from experience. the human mind is at birth like a blank tablet, or tabula rasa, on which understanding and beliefs are inscribed by experience. Human development is therefore determined by external forces, like education and social institutions, not innate characteristics. Locke's essay contributed to the theory of sensationalism, the idea that all human ideas and thoughts are produced as a result of sensory impressions. Locke's equally important contribution to political theory, Two Treatises of Government, insisted on the sovereignty of the Parliament against the authority of the Grown.

Enlightened Absolutism

Term coined by historians to describe the rule of 18th century monarchs who, without renouncing their own absolute authority, adopted Enlightenment ideals of rationalism, progress, and tolerance. The most influential of the new-style monarchs were in Prussia, Russia, and Austria: Frederick the Great, when he came to the throne, wanted to make use of his inherited army and thus went straight into invading Austria. Although he was successful in 1742, Frederick had to fight against great odds to save Prussia from total destruction. The terrible struggle of the 7 years war tempered Fredrick's interest in territorial expansion and brought him to consider how more human policies for his subjects might also strengthen the state. Thus Frederick went beyond a superficial commitment to Enlightenment culture for himself and his circle. He tolerantly allowed his subjects to believe as they wished in religious and philosophical matters. He promoted the advancement of knowledge, improving schools and permitting scholars to publish their findings. Moreover, he tried to improve the lives of his subjects more directly. Prussia's laws were simplified, torture is abolished, and judges decided cases more quickly and impartially. Promoted the reconstruction of agriculture and industry. Catherine had drunk deeply at the Enlightenment well. Never questioning that absolute monarchy was the best form of monarchy, she set out to rule in an enlightened manner. She had three main goals: (1) Continue Peter the Great (her father's) effort to bring the culture of Western Europe to Russia. (2) Domestic reform: allowed limited religious toleration, tried to improve education and strengthen local government. (3) Territorial expansion: extremely successful, her greatest coup by far being the partition of Poland. Joseph II of Austria drew on Enlightenment ideals, earning the title of "Revolutionary Emperor." He abolished serfdom in 1781, and in 1789 decreed that peasants could pay landlords in cash rather than labor. Combined old fashioned state-building with the culture and critical thinking of the enlightenment.

What was the relationship between the Scientific Revolutions and the Enlightenment? How did new ways of understanding the natural world influence thinking about human society.

The Renaissance thinkers held more Biblical influences when it came to their work. In the Enlightenment, Science was the new Bible. By being able to scientifically PROVE and have evidence for something was revolutionary. Theories could now be mathematically tested and proven wrong, if so. The Age of Enlightenment, as coined by Kant, symbolized the passing over into the modern age, from the old ways of the Renaissance.

What were the central concepts of the Enlightenment

The central concept of the Enlightenment was to forward all human thinking in politics, science, art, and society. The Scientific Theory was a big component of Enlightenment thinking, as well as many more scientific breakthroughs, like "On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres." Science was the newest and most logical way to explain all of life's unknowns.

Nicolaus Copernicus

The desire to explain and thereby glorify God's handiwork led to the first great departure from the medieval system. The Copernicus Hypothesis had enormous scientific and religious implications, many of which the conservative Copernicus did not anticipate. Among Catholics, Copernicus's ideas drew little attention prior to 1600. Because the Catholic Church had never held to literal interpretations of the Bible, it did not officially declare the Copernican hypothesis false until 1616.

Philisophes

The philosophes (French for "philosophers") were the intellectuals of the 18th-century Enlightenment. Few were primarily philosophers; rather, philosophes were public intellectuals who applied reason to the study of many areas of learning, including philosophy, history, science, politics, economics, and social issues. They had a critical eye and looked for weaknesses and failures that needed improvement. They promoted a "republic of letters" that crossed national boundaries and allowed intellectuals to freely exchange books and ideas. Most philosophes were men, but some were women.

The Social Contract

Written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "The Social Contract" is a book in which Rousseau theorized about the best way to establish a political community in the face of the problems of commercial society, which he had already identified in his Discourse on Inequality. The Social Contract helped inspire political reforms or revolutions in Europe, especially in France. The Social Contract argued against the idea that monarchs were divinely empowered to legislate. Rousseau asserts that only the people, who are sovereign, have that all-powerful right.

Rococo

A popular style of art in Europe in the 18th century, favored by elite women during the Enlightenment, known for it's soft pastels, ornate interiors, sentimental portraits, and starry-eyed lovers protected by hovering cupids. It was particularly associated with the mistress of Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour, who used her position to commission paintings, furniture, and other luxury objects in the rococo style.

Salons

A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation. Salons, commonly associated with French literary and philosophical movements of the 17th and 18th centuries, were carried on until as recently as the 1940s in urban settings.

Rene Descartes

As a twenty three year-old soldier serving in the Thirty Years' War, he experienced a life-changing intellectual vision one night in 1619. Descartes saw that there was a perfect correspondence between geometry and Algebra and that geometrical spatial figures could be expressed as algebraic equations and vice versa. A major step forward in the history of mathematics. Descartes's discovery of analytic geometry provided scientists with an important new tool. Descartes used mathematics to elaborate a highly influential vision of the workings of the cosmos. Accepting Galileo's claim that all elements in the universe are composed of the same matter, Descartes began to investigate the basic nature of matter. Drawing on ancient Greek atomist philosophies, Descartes developed the idea that matter was made up of identical "corpuscules" that collided together in an endless series of motions. All occurrences in nature could be analyzed as matter in motion and, according to Descartes the total "quantity of motion in the universe depended on the idea that a vacuum was impossible", which meant that every action had an equal reaction. Although Descartes's hypothesis about the vacuum proved wrong, his notion of a mechanical universe intelligible through the physics or motion proved inspirational. Decades late, Newton rejected Descartes's idea of a full universe and several of his other idea, but retained the notion of a mechanistic universe as a key element of his own system. Descartes's greatest achievement was to develop his initial vision into a whole philosophy of knowledge and science. Descartes believed that God had endowed man with reason for a purpose and that rational speculation could provide a path to the truths of creation. His view of the world as consisting of two fundamental entities is known as Cartesian dualism. Descartes's thought was highly influential in France and the Netherlands, but less so in England, where experimental philosophy won the day.

Immanuel Kant

Considered the central figure of modern philosophy, Kant argued that the human mind creates the structure of human experience, that reason is the source of morality, that aesthetics arises from a faculty of disinterested judgment, that space and time are forms of our sensibility, and that the world as it is "in-itself" is unknowable. Kant took himself to have effected a Copernican revolution in philosophy, akin to Copernicus' reversal of the age-old belief that the sun revolved around the earth. His beliefs continue to have a major influence on contemporary philosophy, especially the fields of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political theory, and aesthetics.

Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon contributed to scientific developments in the seventeenth century by advocating an inductive method for scientific experimentation. The inductive method begins with direct observations of phenomena. This product data that is systematically recorded and organized. The data leads to a tentative hypothesis that is rested in additional experiments. English politician and writer. Greatest early propagandist for new experimental method. Argued that new knowledge had to be pursued through empirical research and formalized the empirical method into the general theory and inductive reasoning known as empiricism. Created the Royal Society which meet weekly to conduct experiments and discuss the latest findings of scholars across Europe.

Describe the goals and accomplishments of Frederick the Great.

Frederick the Great wanted to embrace culture and literature, improve social and political conditions, and to get rid of serfdom. He accomplished all but social reform because he did not want to deal with it.

David Hume

Hume's empiricist approach to philosophy places him with John Locke, George Berkeley, Francis Bacon, and Thomas Hobbes as a British Empiricist. Beginning with his A Treatise of Human Nature, Hume strove to create a total naturalistic science of man that examined the psychological basis of human nature. Against philosophical rationalists, Hume held that passion rather than reason governs human behaviour and argued against the existence of innate ideas, positing that all human knowledge is ultimately founded solely in Experience; Hume thus held that genuine knowledge must either be directly traceable to objects perceived in experience, or result from abstract reasoning about relations between ideas which are derived from experience, calling the rest "nothing but sophistry and illusion", a dichotomy later given the name Hume's fork. In what is sometimes referred to as Hume's problem of induction, he argued that inductive reasoning, and belief in causality, cannot, ultimately, be justified rationally; our trust in causality and induction instead results from custom and mental habit, and are attributable to only the experience of "constant conjunction" rather than logic: for we can never, in experience, perceive that one event causes another, but only that the two are always conjoined, and to draw any inductive causal inferences from past experience first requires the presupposition that the future will be like the past, a presupposition which cannot be grounded in prior experience without already being presupposed. Hume's anti-teleological opposition to the argument for God's existence from design is generally regarded as the most intellectually significant such attempt to rebut the Teleological Argument prior to Darwin.

Principa

In 1684 Newton returned to physics and the preparation of his ideas for publication. The result appeared three years later in "Philosophicae Naturalis Principia Mathematica." Newton's towering accomplishment was a single explanatory system that could integrate the astronomy of Copernicus, and corrected by Kepler's Laws, with the physics of Galileo and his predecessors. Principia Mathematica laid down Newton's three laws that explain motion and mechanics. These laws of dynamics are complex, and it took scientists and engineers two hundred years to work out all their implications. The key feature of Newton's synthesis was the law of universal gravitation. According to this law, everybody in the universe attracts every other body in the universe in a precise mathematical relationship, whereby the force of attraction in proportional to the quantity of matter of the objects and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler Kepler was inspired by his belief that the universe was built on mystical mathematical relationships and a musical harmony of the heavenly bodies. Kepler's examination of his predecessor's meticulously recorded findings convinced him that Ptolemy's astronomy could not explain them. First, Kepler developed three new and revolutionary laws of planetary motion. Kepler demonstrated that the orbits of the planets around the sun are elliptical rather than circular. Second, he demonstrated that the planets do not move at a uniform speed in their orbits. Kepler published the first two laws in his 1609 book, The New Astronomy, which heralded the arrival of an entirely new theory of the cosmos. In 1619 Kepler put forth his third law: the time a planet takes to make its complete orbit is precisely related to its distance from the sun. Kepler proved mathematically the precise relations of a sun-centered solar system. He thus united for the first time the theoretical cosmology of natural philosophy with mathematics. His work demolished the old system of Aristotle and Ptolemy, and with his third law he came close to formulating the idea of universal gravitation. In 1627 he also fulfilled Brahe's pledge by completing the Rudolphine Tables begun so many years earlier.

The Enlightenment

Loosely united by certain key ideas, The European Enlightenment was a broad intellectual and cultural movement that gained strength gradually and did not reach it's maturity until about 1750. Yet, it was the generation that came between the publication of Newton's Principia in 1687 and the death of Louis XIV in 1715 that tied the crucial knot between the Scientific Revolution and a new outlook on life. Whereas medieval and Reformation thinkers had been concerned primarily with abstract concepts of sin and salvation, and Renaissance humanists had drawn their inspiration from the classical past, Enlightenment thinkers believed that their era had gone far beyond antiquity and that intellectual progress was very possible. Talented writers of that generation popularized hard to understand scientific achievements and set an agenda of human problems to be addressed through the methods of science.

Montesquieu

Montesquieu was a French lawyer, man of letters, and political philosopher who lived during the Age of Enlightenment. He is famous for his articulation of the theory of separation of powers, which is implemented in many constitutions throughout the world. He is also known for doing more than any other author to secure the place of the word despotism in the political lexicon.

Isaac Newton

Newton was an intensely devout, albeit non orthodox Christian, who privately rejected the doctrine of the Trinity. Newton was also fascinated by alchemy. He viewed alchemy as one path, alongside mathematics and astronomy, to the truth of God's creation. Newton arrived at some of his most basic ideas about physics between 1664 and 1666, during a break from studies at Cambridge caused by an outbreak of plague. As he later claimed, during this period he discovered his law of universal gravitation as well as the concepts of centripetal force and acceleration. Not realizing the significance of his findings, the young Newton did not publish them, and upon his return to Cambridge he took up the study of Optics. It was in reference to his experiments in optics that Newton outlined his method of scientific inquiry most clearly, explaining the need for scientists "first to enquire diligently into the properties of things, and to establish these properties by experiment, and then to proceed more slowly to hypotheses for the explanation of them. In 1684 Newton returned to physics and the preparation of his ideas for publication. The result appeared three years later in Philosophicae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Newton's towering accomplishment was a single explanatory system that could integrate the astronomy of Copernicus, and corrected by Kepler's Laws, with the physics of Galileo and his predecessors. Principia Mathematica laid down Newton's three laws that explain motion and mechanics. These laws of dynamics are complex, and it took scientists and engineers two hundred years to work out all their implications. The key feature of Newton's synthesis was the law of universal gravitation. According to this law, everybody in the universe attracts every other body in the universe in a precise mathematical relationship, whereby the force of attraction in proportional to the quantity of matter of the objects and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Madame du Chatelet

Returning to France, Voltaire met Gabrielle-Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil Marquise de Chatelet, a gifted noblewoman. She invited Voltaire to live in her country house at Cirey in Lorraine and became his long time companion, under the eyes of her tolerant husband. Passionate about science, she studied physics and mathematics and published scientific articles and translations, including the first translation of Newton's Principia into French, still in use today. Excluded from the Royal Academy of Sciences because she was a woman, Madame du Chatelet had no doubt that women's limited role in science was due to their unequal education. Discussing what she would do if she were a ruler, she wrote: "I would reform an abuse which cuts off, so to speak, half of the human race. I would make women participate in all the rights of humankind, and above all in those of intellect."

Jean-Jaques Rousseau

Rousseau's novel Emile, or On Education is a treatise on the education of the whole person for citizenship. His sentimental novel Julie, or the New Heloise was of importance to the development of pre-romanticism and romanticism in fiction. Rousseau's autobiographical writings—his Confessions, which initiated the modern autobiography, and his Reveries of a Solitary Walker—exemplified the late 18th-century movement known as the Age of Sensibility, and featured an increased focus on subjectivity and introspection that later characterized modern writing. His Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. During the period of the French Revolution, Rousseau was the most popular of the philosophes among members of the Jacobin Club. Rousseau was interred as a national hero in the Panthéon in Paris, in 1794, 16 years after his death.

Compare the policies and actions of 17th century absolutist rulers with their "enlightened" descendants described in this chapter. How accurate is the term "Enlightened Absolutism"?

The Age of Enlightenment was a passing into the modern age, and with it, came new ways of ruling. One such, Enlightened Absolutism, was also different than most "absolutist" rulers you think of. They granted religious toleration, freedom of speech, and banished serfdom. However, not all rulers in this Chapter were fully "Enlightened." Catherine and Frederick were still using the old way of absolutist ruling, advancing laws and power to gain more for only themselves. Joseph was the only ruler in this Chapter that was fully "Enlightened." Catherine made an attempt at newer, more AOE (Age of Enlightenment) laws, but was met with backlash and backed down. She ultimately reverted back to the old ways. The AOE style of absolutism gave a lot more freedoms to the people then it's 17th century counterpart.

Contrast the old Aristotelian-medieval world view with that of the 16th and 17th centuries. What were the contributions of Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton. What is meant by Newton's synthesis?

The Aristotelian theories said that a motionless Earth was fixed at the center of the universe, and that everything revolved around it. Copernicus's ideas were opposite to Aristotle saying that the Earth moves and that the Sun is fixed at the center of the universe. Brahe believed that both Copernicus and Aristotle were right. He thought that the planets moved around the sun, but then the Sun and the planets as a group move around the Earth. Kepler believed Copernicus about the Sun being the center, and mathematically was able to prove the precise location of the Sun, which was at the center. Galileo also sided with Copernicus, and calculated the speed or motion in an orbit around the Sun for the planets based off Kepler's calculation of where the sun is. Newton definitely agreed with a sun-centered universe, and was able to prove it through his "synthesis". This was a combination of everyone's ideas, to form the Law of Universal Gravitation. This stated that everyone is attached to everybody else, and that the whole universe is one majestic system. Therefore, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton all were opposite to Aristotle's view. Brahe on the other hand believed Aristotle and all of the new ideas in a mixed theory.

Haskalah

The Jewish Enlightenment if the second half of the eighteenth century, led by the Prussian philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Christian and Jewish Enlightenment philosophers, including Mendelssohn, began to advocate for freedom and civil rights for European Jews. In an era of reason and progress, they argued, restrictions on religious grounds could not stand. The Haskalah accompanied a period of controversial social change within Jewish communities, in which rabbinic controls loosened and heightened interaction with Christians took place. Arguments for tolerance won some ground. The British Parliament passed a law allowing naturalization of Jews in 1753, but later repealed the law due to public outrage. The most progressive reforms took place under Austrian emperor Joseph II. His edicts intended to integrate Jews more fully into society.

How did the new Scientific Theory and discoveries alter the concept of God and religion? Did science, in fact, come to dictate humanity's concept of God?

The Scientific Theories of the Enlightenment altered the concept of God and religion by showing scientific evidence contradicting the teachings of the Church. This led many people to not only leave the church, but to become atheist. Science, did not, however, come to dictate humanity's concept of God. Science and Religion merely split paths, each going in a different direction, contradicting each other.

Voltaire

The most famous philosophe was Francois Marie Arouet, known by the pen name Voltaire. In his long career, Voltaire wrote more than seventy witty volumes, hobnobbed with royalty, and died a millionaire through shrewd speculations. His early career, however, was turbulent, and he was twice arrested for insulting noblemen. To avoid a prison term, Voltaire moved to England for 3 years where he came to share Montesquieu's enthusiasm for English liberties and institutions. Returning to France, Voltaire met Gabrielle-Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise de Chatelet, a gifted noblewoman. She invited Voltaire to live in her country house at Cirey in Lorraine and became his long time companion. While living at Cirey, Voltaire wrote works praising England and popularizing English science. Yet, like almost all of the philosophes, Voltaire was a reformer, not a revolutionary, in politics. He pessimistically concluded that the best one could hope for in the way of government was a good monarch, since human beings "are very rarely worthy to govern themselves". Nor did Voltaire believe in social and economic equality. Voltaire's philosophical and religious positions were more radical. Voltaire believed in God, but he rejected Catholicism in favor of deism, the belief in a distant non-interventionist deity. Drawing on mechanistic philosophy, he envisioned a universe in which God acted like a great clock maker who built an orderly system and then stepped aside to let it run. Above all, Voltaire and most of the philosophes hated all forms of religious intolerance, which they believed led to fanaticism and cruelty.

Who were the philosophes and what did they believe?

The philosophes were thinkers who rethought society and politics and presented their ideas to the public. They were the educated elite of western Europe and they believed in political ideas such as separation of powers and also that a good monarch is key to a great government because human beings are rarely worthy to govern themselves.

Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes held a pessimistic view of human nature and believed that, left to themselves, humans would compete violently for power and wealth. The only solution, as he outlined in his 1651 treatise Leviathan, was a social contract in which all members of society placed themselves under the absolute rule of the sovereign, who would maintain peace and order. Hobbes imagined a society as a human body in which the monarch served as the head and individual subjects together mad up the body. Just as a body cannot sever its own head, so Hobbes believed that society could not, having accepted the contract, rise up against its king.