Chapter 16 T and Q's
Who were the philosophes and what did they believe?
The intellectuals of the Enlightenments. Not all french, and few were actual philosophers. Literary people, professors, journalists, statesmen, economists, political scientists, and mostly social reformers. they Believed that they could bring light to a dark world of prejudice, outmoded traditions, and ignorance. They wished to bring the same process of human affairs as their predecessors had brought to the understanding of the natural world.
Bernard Fontenelle
(1657-1706) -French writer -tried to make science as easy to read as a novel; to appeal to the masses -wrote Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds -skeptical about religion -stressed progress
Public Sphere
An idealized intellectual space that emerged in Europe during the Enlightenment, where the public came together to discuss important issues relating to society, economics, and politics.
Rococo
A popular style in Europe in the eighteenth century, known for its soft pastels, ornate interiors, sentimental portraits, and starry-eyed lovers protected by hovering cupids.
Adam Smith
Adam Smith (5 June 1723 - 17 July 1790) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. Adam Smith is significant because of his ideas regarding political economy. He is known today as the ''father of modern economics.''
Rene Descartes
Also known as Cartesius (1596 - 1650), he developed the Cartesian (or x-y) coordinate plane concept, wrote Discourse on Method and was the original rationalist thinker (regarded as the Father of Modern Philosophy by many). He helped merge algebra and geometry in the pre-Newtonian days, and also believed that there was no divine guiding will, leading the universe to an end.
Philosophes
Body of Enlightenment thinkers. Most famous for writing "Encyclopedia", a handbook for Enlightenment ideas, etided be Denis Diderot. French term for philosophers.
Isaac Newton
British scientist who defined the laws of motion, discovered gravity, experimented with optics, invented differential calculus and wrote "Principia"
the Enlightenment
Eighteenth-century period of scientific and philosophical innovation in which people investigated human nature and sought to explain reality through rationalism, the notion that truth comes only through rational, logical thinking. This period formed the basis of modern science.
On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres"
In Latin, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, it was the codification of the Copernican heliocentric doctrine and Copernicus' magnum opus, published slightly before his death (1543) The Inquisition placed it on the Index of Forbidden Books.
Galileo
Italian early physicist, astronomer, and scientist (1564 - 1642) who came up with numerous concepts, including acceleration and developing Copernicus' heliocentric theory, for which he was punished by the Inquisition. He was one of the first early great experimenters of the early/pre-Enlightenment
Thomas Hobbes
Leading secular exponent of absolutism and unlimited sovereignty of the state. Absolutism produced civil peace and rule of law. Tyranny is better than chaos. Claimed life was, "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
Principia
Newton's major book (his magnum opus), it described his Laws of Motion and the theory of universal gravitation.
David Hume
Scottish philosopher whose sceptical philosophy restricted human knowledge to that which can be perceived by the senses (1711-1776)
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.
Haskalah
The Jewish Enlightenment of the second half of the eighteenth century, led by the Prussian philosopher Moses Mendelssohn.
3. What were the central concepts of the Enlightenment?
The concept of the enlightenment was that it would create concepts of human rights , equality, progress, universalism,and tolerance that still guides the Western society today. Philosophers wanted to bring light of reason to the darkness. So they brought a new understanding if the natural world that will influence others and our society.
9. What was the relationship between the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment? How did new ways of understanding the natural world influence thinking about human society?
The scientific revolution is the discovery and improvements in sciences such as chemistry, and math that is involved and people got a basic framework for understanding the natural world and the methods for examining it. philosophers sought to bring light of reason to bear on the darkness of prejudice, outmoded tradition, and ignorance, Therefore this sparked the Enlightenment movement. The relation between them is that the scientific revolution ushered modern science and its concepts, and the Enlightenment was about universalism and progress and they went hand and hand because people thought that there own superiority came from the natural world which was explained by the scientific method. they influenced human society because it introduced a new variety of things like people, plants, and animals and some people based their status on the natural world
The Social Contract
The social contract is a theory or model which addresses the questions of the origin of society and the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. The social contract theory helped influence constitutions', such as the American constitutions, with the questioning of state governments ruling individual citizens and they're everyday actions.
Aristotle
the great greek philosopher of the fourth century. he thought that a motionless earth stood at the center of the universe and was encompassed by 10 separate concentric crystal spheres in which were embedded the moon, the sun, planets, and the stars. Aristotle views also dominated thinking about physics and motion on earth. Aristotle had distinguished between the world of the celestial spheres and that of earth. Aristotle and his followers also believed that a uniform force moved an object at a constant speed and that the object would stop as soon as the force was moved.
Paul D' Holbach
Wealthy German aristocrat. Preached a doctrine of strict atheism and materialism. In 1770 he wrote "System of Nature" that argued everything in the universe consisted of matter in motion.
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 great greek philosopher of the fourth century. he thought that a motionless earth stood at the center of the universe and was encompassed by 10 separate concentric crystal spheres in which were embedded the moon, the sun, planets, and the stars. Aristotle views also dominated thinking about physics and motion on earth. Aristotle had distinguished between the world of the celestial spheres and that of earth. Aristotle and his followers also believed that a uniform force moved an object at a constant speed and that the object would stop as soon as the force was moved. In the 16 C people lived believed in his works and assumed that it was correct, but thats all they knew because no body had proven him wrong yet. In 17 C Kepler proved him wrong that He invented 3 revolutionary laws of planetary motion. the first one was that Mars orbits around all 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. Planet is closer to the sun it moves rapidly and it slows as it moves further. third law is that the time a planet takes to make its complete orbit is related to its distance from the sun. He proved mathematically the relations of the sun centered system. he united for the first time the theoretical cosmology of natural philosophy with mathematics. With these facts and laws people now started to believe in Kepler because he had evidence and facts behind it. Once people talked about it, it got the attention of Copernicus, Galileo, and newton. They all used Kepler's laws to define the laws of motion and how they are used and formed and how they evolve and go hand and hand with the science philosophy and the natural world. Therefore all of them contributed to the laws of motion and the understanding of it. With this Newton knew that motion had something to do do with Universal Gravitation so her wrote Principe that basically summarized motion and its relation to the natural world and universal gravitation.
Madame du Chatelet
(1706-1749) -French educated woman -studied and wrote on scientific subjects -concentrated on spreading the ideas of others -translated Newton's Principia into French
Cesare Beccaria
(1738-1794); an Italian philosophe whose main focus was legal reform; published "On Crimes and Punishment" in which he attacked torture and capital punishment; also, he believed in speedy trials and fair punishment
Pierre Bayle
1647-1706) -French Huguenot -despised Louis XIV -wrote Historical & Critical Dictionary -believed that nothing can ever be known beyond all doubt
. 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's reign effected the Russian serfs is by she informed that all serf families be broken up by sale. not any of the same family would live in the same place to guarantee no revolts, and therefore she sold them so they wouldn't even be in the same province. She effected the Nobility by restructuring local government. In result of this Russia divided in 50 provinces each with about 300,000-400,000 people in each. Each district governed by central official and elected local nobleman. Therefore she had educational reforms so that they could be trained to govern. She effected the position of russia in the european balance of power by having nobleman rule they had to enhance education which led to revolts and everybody became serfs so there wasn't a steady ruler at all.
Montesquieu
Charles-Louis de Secondat or Montesquieu (18 January 1689 - 10 February 1755) was a French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Age of Enlightenment. Montesquieu is significant because his idea regarding separation of powers in government is widely used today in many constitutions. The United States and United Kingdom constitution is an example of this type of thinking.
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot (5 October 1713 - 31 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the EncyclopediaDiderot is significant because he helped create the Encyclopedia which inspired many modern day Encyclopedias.
Francis Bacon
English politician and writer, advocated that new knowledge was acquired through an inductive reasoning process (using specific examples to prove or draw conclusion from a general point) called empiricism; rejected Medieval view of knowledge based on tradition, believed it's necessary to collect data, observe, and draw conclusions. This was the foundation of the scientific method
6. Describe the goals and accomplishments of Frederick the Great.
Frederick simplified Prussia's laws, abolished torture of prisoners, and made it so judges decided cases quickly and impartially. Officials were known for their hard work and honesty, and Frederick himself led a humble life.
Immanuel Kant
German philosopher whose synthesis of rationalism and empiricism, in which he argued that reason is the means by which the phenomena of experience are translated into understanding, marks the beginning of idealism. His classic works include Critique of Pure Reason (1781) and Critique of Practical Reason (1788), in which he put forward a system of ethics based on the categorical imperative.
Voltaire
Greatest of enlightened philosophers; He was educated by Jesuits, and came to challenge Catholic Church. He believed in distant deistic God - a clockmaker who built an orderly world and let in run under laws of science. He hated religious intolerance and felt that religion suppressed human spirit. He wrote Candide against evils of organized religion. He argued for religious toleration in Treatise on Toleration. His deism was intended to construct a more natural religion based on reason and natural law. He was imprisoned in the Bastille for 11 months in 1717. Then he was exiled in England for 3 years, when he came to admire their system of government and advocated freedom of thought and respect for all. Lived on the court of Frederick the Great of Prussia from 1743, where he supporter Enlightened Despotism.
Johannes Kepler
He carefully re examined his predecessors notations and came to believe that they couldnt be explained by Ptolemys astronomy. He invented 3 revolutionary laws of planetary motion. the first one was that Mars orbits around all 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. Planet is closer to the sun it moves rapidly and it slows as it moves further. third law is that the time a planet takes to make its complete orbit is related to its distance from the sun. He proved mathematically the relations of the sun centered system. he united for the first time the theoretical cosmology of natural philosophy with mathematics.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
He was committed to individual freedom, but thought that rationalism and civilization corrupt man. Spontaneous feeling was to replace the coldness of intellectualism. Man is born good and needs protection from society. This influenced the Romantic Movement of the nineteenth century. His book, The Social Contract tells how social inequalities develop when people sign a social contract agreeing to surrender to the general will in order to be free. This creates a government as a necessary evil to carry out general will. If general will fails, people can replace it. This has justified actions in the French revolution and in Hitler's regime. He also wrote Emile that attacked society and proposed a new theory of education. He called for focus on logical thinking, reason, love, tenderness, and understanding toward children. He wanted children to be raised naturally and spontaneously in order to raise their emotional awareness.
Salons
Informal gatherings, usually sponsored by middle-class or aristocratic women, that provided a forum for new ideas and an opportunity to establish new intellectual contacts among supporters of the Enlightenment in the 18th century. These informal gatherings gave intellectual life an anchor outside the royal court and church-dominated universities and afforded an opportunity to test ideas or present unpublished works.
Compare the policies and actions of seventeenth-century absolutist rulers (Ch. 15) with their "enlightened" descendants described in this chapter. How accurate is the term "Enlightened Absolutism"?
The policies in the 17 C absolutist rulers didn't try for enlightenment they had revolts based on faith and they didn't have any reasoning behind science or philosophy or about how our lives are effected by the natural world and there is an action for everything. in the 17 c the word Enlightened Absolutism is the exact opposite for this century because people were divided rulers wanted there way no other way. Rulers didn't really make progress in trying to unify anything. They didn't have tolerance for nothing at all they wouldn't give others who they didn't agree with the time of day they wanted uniformity all around.
In what ways were Frederick of Prussia and Catherine of Russia enlightened monarchs?
Was an intelligent woman who at first wanted Enlightened reforms-but after her "Institution" was written about her philosophe views, she made no changes. In fact, she favored nobility because she depended on them for power-she let them choose representatives to rule each district of the 50 provinces of Russia and gave special privileges to the gentry (right to trial by peers, no personal taxation). After she tried to impose restrictions on free peasants on Russia's border, there was a full-scale rebellion in which the Cossacks helped. Therefore she enlightened monarchs by not having taxation and ruling in favor of the peers so she had them thinking she was actually caring about the people and not gaining more power. The way Fredrick enlightened monarchs is by granting religious freedom, reduced censorship, improved education, reformed the justice system, and abolished torture. this Allowed everybody to praise who ever they wanted in public setting and improved education for those who wanted to rule like Cathrine, and lastly he made a fast court system where judges had to be quick on decisions.
John Locke
Wrote Two Treatises on Government as justification of Glorious Revolution and end of absolutism in England. He argued that man is born good and has rights to life, liberty, and property. To protect these rights, people enter social contract to create government with limited powers. If a government did not protect these rights or exceeded its authority, Locke believed the people have the right to revolt. The ideas of consent of the governed, social contract, and right of revolution influenced the United States Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. He also laid the foundations for criticism of absolute monarchy in France.
Nicolaus Copernicus
led the first great departure from the medieval system noted how professional astronomers still depended for their most accurate calculations on the work of Ptolemy felt that Ptolemy's cumbersome and occasionally inaccurate rules detracted from the majesty of a perfect creator preferred an ancient Greek idea: that the sun was at the center of the universe wrote On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres (1543)
