Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment (Chapter 16)

Montesquieu

(1689-1755) Argued SEPARATION OF POWERS: legal powers divided among different classes and legal estates holding unequal rights and privileges -wrote THE SPIRIT OF LAWS= argued that forms of government were shaped by history and geography (monarchies, republics, and despotisms)

Enlightenment

Intellectual and cultural movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries that introduced a new worldview based on the use of reason, the scientific method, and progress.

Copernicus

(1473-1543) He suggested a heliocentric universe, and founded the basis for modern astronomy, but nobody believed him. (Copernican Hypothesis)

Time Period of the Enlightenment

1690-1789 C.E.

Vesalius

(1516-1564) Flemish physician that wrote On The Structure of The Human Body in 1543, disproved Galen and dissected the bodies of executed criminals. (An Experimentalist)

Harvey

(1578-1657) English Royal Physician that discovered the circulation of blood through the veins and arteries in 1628.

Descartes

(1596-1650) French philosopher, discovered analytic geometry, and wrote about vacuum, but mechanistic universe. Saw that all of reality could be ultimately be reduced to mind and matter = deductive reasoning from self-evident truths (rational speculation)

Baruch Spinoza

(1632-1677) Dutch, Jewish philosopher that sought to apply natural philosophy to human society=espoused MONISM--idea that mind and body are united into one substance and that God and nature were 2 names for the same thing.

Newton

(1642-1727) English scientist who unified experimental and theoretical mathematical sides of modern science, integrated Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo -wrote Principia (1687) explaining the mathematical laws of motion and mechanics -law of universal gravitation

Leibniz

(1646-1716) German philosopher that developed Calculus independent of Newton, refused Cartesian dualism and Spinoza's Monism. Instead, adopted idea of infinite number of substances, monads, from which all matter is composed

Bayle

(1647-1706) French Huguenot refugee that advocated for the SEPARATION OF POWERS IN GOVERNMENT

Voltaire

(1694-1778) French philosopher who was the most famous philosophe and he wrote tons of books and volumes and died a millionaire...praised England and popularized English science ARGUED RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE, FREE SPEECH, END TO CENSORSHIP

Rousseau

(1712-1778) Rejected nationalism and civilized sociability, committed to INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM, GENERAL WILL, ADN POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY, also asserted that BASIC GOODNESS OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE UNSPOILED CHILD HAD TO BE PROTECTED FROM THE CRUEL REFINEMENTS OF CIVILIZATION (influenced Romantic movement) -THE SOCIAL CONTRACT 1762

Key Concept 1 The worldview of European intellectuals shifted from one based on ecclesiastical and classical authority to one based primarily on inquiry and observation of the natural world.

1. New ideas in science based on observation, experimentation, and mathematics, challenged classical views of the cosmos, nature, and the human body, although folk traditions of knowledge and the universe persisted. 2. New ideas and methods in astronomy led individuals such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton to question the authority of the ancients and religion and to develop an heliocentric view of the cosmos. 3. Anatomical and medical discoveries by physicians including William Harvey, presented the body as an integrated system, challenging the traditional humoral theory of the body, and of disease espoused by Galen. 4. Francis Bacon and René Descartes defined inductive and deductive reasoning and promoted experimentation and the use of mathematics, which would ultimately shape the scientific method. 5. Alchemy and astrology continued to appeal to elites and some natural philosophers, in part because they shared with the new science the notion of a predictable and knowable universe. 6. In the oral culture of peasants, a belief that the cosmos was governed by divine and demonic forces persisted.

Time Period of the Scientific Revolution

16-17th centuries

Rationalism

A secular, critical way of thinking in which nothing was to be accepted on faith, and everything was to be submitted to reason.

Scientific Method

A series of steps followed to solve problems including collecting data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and stating conclusions.

Empiricism

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

Key Concept 2 The popularization and dissemination of the Scientific Revolution and the application of its methods to political, social, and ethical issues led to an increased, although not unchallenged, emphasis on reason in European culture.

A) Rational and empirical thought challenged traditional ideas and values. 1. Intellectuals such as Voltaire and Diderot began to apply the principles of the Scientific Revolution to society and human institutions. 2. Locke and Rousseau developed new political models based on the concept of natural rights. 3. Despite the principles of equality espoused by the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, intellectuals such as Rousseau offered new arguments for the exclusion of women from political life, which did not go unchallenged. B) New public venues and print media popularized Enlightenment ideas. 1. A variety of institutions, such as salons, explored and disseminated Enlightenment culture. 2. Despite censorship, increasingly numerous and varied printed materials served a growing literature public and led to the development of public opinion. 3. Natural sciences, literature, and pop culture increasingly exposed Europeans to representations of peoples outside Europe. C) New political and economic theories challenged absolutism and mercantilism. 1. Political theories such as John Locke's, conceived of society as composed of individuals driven by self-interest and argued that the state originated in the consent of the governed (a social contract) rather than in divine right of tradition. 2. Mercantilist theory and practice were challenged by new economic ideas, such as Adam Smith's, espousing free trade and a free market. D) During the Enlightenment, the rational analysis of religious practices led to natural religion and the demand for religious toleration. 1. Intellectuals including Voltaire and Diderot, developed new philosophies of deism, skepticism, and atheism. 2. Religion was viewed increasingly as a matter of private rather than public concern. 3. By 1800, most governments had extended toleration to Christian minorities, and in some states, civil equality to Jews.

GENERAL WILL

According to Rousseau the general will is sacred and absolute, reacting the common interests of the people who have displaced the monarch as the holder of ultimate power.

John Locke

Essay Concerning Human Understanding -set forth a new theory about how human beings learn and form their ideas -sensationalism=idea that all human ideas and thoughts are produced as a result of sensory impressions

Galileo

Florentine astronomer who disproved Aristotle's theory -telescope that discovered 4 moons of Jupiter, and began to observe the moon's surface -Dialogue of 2 Chief Systems of the World=openly lampooned Aristotle and defended Copernicus...he was tried for heresy by the Catholic Church (he was forced to recant)

Kepler

German astronomer that developed 3 laws of motion after reviewing Brahe's notes, and mathematically proved the heliocentric system.

Ptolemy

Greek astronomer that still believed in geo-centric universe, but developed the idea that celestial motion was circular (epicycles), and it was a pretty accurate model albeit messy

Aristotle

Greek philosopher who distinguished the celestial spheres from earth, believed in geo-centric universe

Galen

Greek physician, and like Aristotle carried an influence. Reasoned that there were 4 humors of the body: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. Thus, illness of the body was an imbalance of these 4 humors. (Bloodletting to rebalance)

Causes and Results of the Scientific Revolution

Overseas expansion, renaissance influence, and political fragmentation

Inductive vs Deductive Reasoning

inductive reasoning- reasoning from the specific to the general, forming concepts about all members of a category based on some members. deductive reasoning- reasoning from the general to the specific.