Ways of the World Chapter 15 Vocabulary

Condurcet and the idea of progress

A French philosopher and political scientist who argued that human affairs were moving into an era of near-infinite improvability, with slavery, racism, tyranny, and other human trials swept away by the triumph of reason.

Catholic Counter-Reformation

An internal reform of the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century; thanks especially to the work of the Council of Trent (1545-1563), Catholic leaders clarified doctrine, corrected abuses and corruption, and put a new emphasis on education and accountability.

Newton

English natural scientist (1643-1727) whose formulation of the laws of motion and mechanics is regarded as the culmination of the Scientific Revolution.

European Enlightenment

Intellectual movement of the eighteenth century that applied the lessons of the Scientific Revolution to human affairs and was noted for its commitment to open-mindedness and inquiry and the belief that knowledge could transform human society.

kaozheng

Literally "research based on evidence" Chinese intellectual movement whose practitioners emphasized the importance of evidence and analysis, applied especially to historical documents.

Taki Onqoy

Literally, "dancing sickness", a religious revival movement in central Peru in the 1560s whose members preached the imminent destruction of Christianity and of the Europeans in favor of a renewed Andean golden age.

Wahhabi Islam

Major religious movement led by the theologian Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1793) that advocated an austere lifestyle and strict adherence to the sharia.

Protestant Reformation

Massive schism within Christianity that had its formal beginning in 1517 with the German priest Martin Luther; while the leaders of the movement claimed that they sought to "reform" a church that had fallen from biblical practice, in reality the movement was radically innovative in its challenge to church authority and its endorsement of salvation by "faith alone."

Mirabai

One of India's most beloved bhakti poets (1498-1547), she helped break down the barriers of case and tradition.

Voltaire

Pen name of the French philosopher Francois-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), whose work is often taken as a model of Enlightenment questioning of traditional values and attitudes; noted for his deism and his criticism of traditional religion.

Copernicus

Polish mathematician and astronomer (1473-1543) who was the first to argue for the existence of heliocentric cosmos.

Sikhism

Religious tradition of northern India founded by Guru Nanak around 1500; combines elements of Hinduism and Islam and proclaims the brotherhood of all humans and the equality of men and women.

Jesuits in China

Series of missionaries in the late sixteenth centuries who, inspired by the work of Matteo Ricci, made extraordinary efforts to understand and become part of the culture of an Asian country in their efforts to convert the elite, although with limited success.

Ursula de Jesus

Slave and later religious lay woman at the Peruvian Convent of Santa Clara (1606-1666), a lucky escape inspired her to pursue a pious life of mortification and good works. She gained a reputation as a woman of extraordinary devotion and humility as well as a visionary and mystic.