Chapter 19

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.

Human rights

a right that is believed to belong justifiably to every person.

public sphere

An idealized intellectual space that emerged in Europe during the Enlightenment. Here, the public came together to discuss important social, economic, and political issues.

law of inertia

A law formulated by Galileo stating 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.

Copernican hypothesis

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

salons

Regular social gatherings held by talented and rich Parisian women in their homes, where philosophes and their followers met to discuss literature, science, and philosophy.

enclosure

The controversial process of fencing off common land to create privately owned fields that increased agricultural production at the cost of reducing poor farmers' access to land.

Liberalism

is a political philosophy or worldview founded on ideas of liberty and equality.

Adam Smith

was an 18th-century philosopher and free-market economist famous for his ideas about the efficiency of the division of labor and the societal benefits of individuals' pursuit of their own self-interest.

philosophes

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

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.

Consumerism

the protection or promotion of the interests of consumers.

Haskalah

A Jewish Enlightenment movement led by Prussian philosopher Moses Mendelssohn.

cottage industry

Manufacturing with hand tools in peasant cottages and work sheds, a form of economic activity that became important in eighteenth-century Europe.

general will

A concept associated with Rousseau, referring to the common interests of all the people, who have replaced the power of the monarch

Locke

A seventeenth-century English philosopher. Locke argued against the belief that human beings are born with certain ideas already in their minds. He claimed that, on the contrary, the mind is a tabula rasa (blank slate) until experience begins to "write" on it.

empiricism

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

Catherine the Great

An empress of Russia in the late eighteenth century who encouraged the cultural influences of western Europe in Russia and extended Russian territory toward the Black Sea. She is also known for her amorous intrigues, including affairs with members of her government.

sensationalism

An idea, espoused by John Locke, that all human ideas and thoughts are produced as a result of sensory impressions.

Enlightenment

An intellectual and cultural movement in late seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe and its colonies that used rational and critical thinking to debate issues such as political sovereignty, religious tolerance, gender roles, and racial difference.

deism

Belief in a distant, noninterventionist deity, shared by many Enlightenment thinkers.

Rousseau

French philosopher and writer born in Switzerland; believed that the natural goodness of man was warped by society; ideas influenced the French Revolution (1712-1778) Synonyms: Jean-Jacques Rousseau Example of: philosopher. a specialist in philosophy.

Montesquieu

French political philosopher who advocated the separation of executive and legislative and judicial powers (1689-1755) Synonyms: Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu, Charles Louis de Secondat Example of: philosopher. a specialist in philosophy.

Voltaire

French writer, playwright, and poet; pseudonym of François-Marie Arouet. He was a leading figure of the Enlightenment, and frequently came into conflict with the Establishment as a result of his radical views and satirical writings.

economic liberalism

The theory, associated with Adam Smith, that the pursuit of self-interest in a competitive market suffices to improve living conditions, rendering government intervention unnecessary and undesirable.

Newton

Y'all now who it is...watch me whip.. watch me nene

Rationalism

a belief or theory that opinions and actions should be based on reason and knowledge rather than on religious belief or emotional response.

Laissez Faire

a policy or attitude of letting things take their own course, without interfering.