Enlightenment

1
Enlightenment The 17th Century The Age of
Reason 
2
The Scientific Revolution 16th-17th century

• Printing presses introduced in 1480s

• Basic assumptions of scientific fields overthrown

• Main fields astronomy, anatomy, botany, physics,
  mathematics

• Confined to scientific communities, texts in Latin

3
Medieval SciencesOlder Views

• Aristotelian physics four elements
• earth, air, water and fire
• Ptolemaic view of universe - the
• Earth was the center of the universe
• Medicine four humours of the body
• Genetics inherited learning
• Philosophy deductive think

Essentially, this theory held that the human body
was filled with four basic substances, called
four humours, or humors, which are in balance
when a person is healthy. All diseases and
disabilities resulted from an excess or deficit
of one of these four humors. The four humors were
identified as black bile, yellow bile, phlegm,
and blood
4
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

• Astronomia Nova The New Astronomy, 1609
• Looking at recorded sightings of Mars
• All planets moving in elliptical orbits
•                                       

5
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

• 1609 telescope

• 1632 Dialogues on the Two Chief Systems of the
  World (forced by Church to recant)

• Universe subject to mathematical laws

• Nature inherently logical

6
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

• Overhauled principles of physics
• Principia Mathematica, 1687
• Three Laws of Motion, Principles of inertia,
  gravity
•                                     

7
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Newtons Three Laws of Motion
I. Every object in a state of uniform motion
tends to remain in that state of motion unless an
external force is applied to it.
II. The relationship between an object's mass m,
its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F
ma.
III. For every action there is an equal and
opposite reaction.
8
John Locke (1632-1704)

• Father of modern psychology, sociology

• Essay Concerning Human Understanding

• Two Treatises on Government (1689) Natural
  rights

• all knowledge is derived by experience

• Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)

9
Enlightenment The 18th Century
10
Philosophy of the Enlightenment

• philosophes, Republic of Letters
• Stress on reason, optimism, civic reform
• Religious tolerance and political equality

• Faith in science and education

• Believed in improvement and experimentation

• Secular and cosmopolitan

11
18th Century Changes

• Stable food supply
• Industrial Revolution
• (approx. 1750s-1850s)
• Commercial revolution

• Social mobility
• New strains on government

12
Science v. Religion

• End to witch trials, ca. 1700
• Criticism of the French Monarchy and the French
  Church

Belief in God based on reason rather than
revelation or the teaching of any specific
religion. A form of natural religion, Deism
originated in England in the early 17th century
as a rejection of orthodox Christianity. Deists
asserted that reason could find evidence of God
in nature and that God had created the world and
then left it to operate under the natural laws he
had devised.

• Deism
• Toleration, hatred of
• superstition
•                              

13
Voltaire (1694-1778)

• Granddaddy of Enlightenment
• Defender of religious toleration
• Critic of French church and
• state
• Favored enlightened
• monarchies                       

14
Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755)

• Spirit of the Laws, 1748

• Inspired American Constitution

• Balance of Powers theory

• Admired British system, critic of French

15
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

• Social Contract, 1762
• Theory of the General Will
• Civilization corrupting influence
• Inspiration to French Revolution

in a democratic society the state represents the
general will of the citizens, and that in obeying
its laws each citizen is pursuing his own real
interest
16
Diderot and DAlberts Encyclopedie

• Literary compilation of Enlightenment thought

• Published 1751-1772
• 28 volumes with over 70,000 articles
•                         

17
Enlightened Despots

• Joseph II of Austria (1780-1790)

• Frederick II of Prussia (1740-1786)

• Catherine II of Russia (1762-1796)

• Reduced power of clergy, aristocrats

• Centralization, legal reform, education
•              

18
Consequences of the Enlightenment

• Urban Reforms

• Educational reforms

• Abolition Movement
• Challenges to the Church
• Spur to Revolution American, French, Haitian
•