World History 10: The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment

An eighteenth century intellectual movement whose three central concepts were the use of reason, the scientific method, and progress. Enlightenment thinkers believed they could help create better societies and better people. Their belief was strengthened by some modest improvements in economic and social life during the eighteenth century.

Public Sphere

An idealized intellectual environment that emerged in Europe during the Enlightenment, where members of society came together as individuals to discuss issues relevant to the society, economics, and politics of the day. The public sphere was generally limited to the rich, educated class but enlightenment ideology did reach some of the commoners/general public.

Reading Revolution

The transition in Europe from a 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.

General Will

A political concept, first set forth by Rousseau, that refers to the collective desires of the citizenry as opposed to individual interests. The general will is sacred and absolute, reflecting the common interests of the people, who have displaced the monarch as the holder of sovereign power.

Rousseau

Big influence on early Romantic movement. He was passionately committed to individual freedom but: - he attacked rationalism and civilization as destroying, rather than liberating, the individual. - The basic goodness of the individual was tainted and corrupted by society -"The Social Contract" put forward two fundamental concepts 1.The General Will 2.Popular sovereignty -Despite his otherwise radical beliefs, he urged a very traditional and conservative role for women, excluding them from political life and assigning them to the domestic sphere.

Voltaire

French 'philosophe'. Lived in England for 3 years and returned to France to live with Madame du Chatelet. Voltaire mixed glorification of science and reason with an appeal for better individuals and institutions. Views on Society: -Wanted to reform, not a revolutionary -He believed the best one could hope for in government was a good monarch. Praised England for their 'freer' society -Didn't believe in social or economic equality Views of religion: -"radical" views of religion + philosophy for time -Works challenged Catholic Church and theology. -He believed in God but in a deistic God -Hated religious intolerance. Instead promoted simple piety and human kindness as religion.

Madame du Chatelet

Madame Chatelet was a woman from a high aristocracy who studied math and physics. Became Voltaire's longtime companion for 15 years. Published scientific articles and translated Newton's "Principia" into French. She was the finest example of an elite French woman in science, but suffered because of her gender. She was excluded from the Royal Academy of Sciences because she was a woman.

Race and the Enlightenment

Scholars only beginning to analyze links between Enlightenment ideas about race and its notions of equality, progress, and reason. However, there are clear parallels between the use of science to propagate racial hierarchies and its use to defend social inequalities between men and women. The new powers of science and reason were thus marshaled to imbue traditional stereotypes with the force of natural law. The Enlightenment created the word 'race', they argued that humans originated with one species that then developed into distinct races due to climactic conditions. But emerging ideas about racial difference taught Europeans that were biologically superior as well. But James Beattie argued that Europeans had started as savage as non-whites and that many non-Euro people had achieved civilization.

Separation of Powers

The belief, developed by Montesquieu, that political power in society should be dispersed and shared rather than focused in a single individual or institution.