Title: Restoration and Enlightenment
1Restoration and Enlightenment
- (1660-1798)
- What does restoration mean?
- The act of reintroducing, reviving, or bringing
back something. - Restoration here refers to the return of the
monarchy (sole absolute ruler, usually for life
and by hereditary right), which in turn signaled
a return to social and political stability.
2History
- Oliver Cromwell Roundhead 1599-1658
Puritan note Puritans were a group of English
Protestants, felt Church of England too closely
associated with Catholic Church in many ways - Under Cromwell, the Royalists were defeated and
Charles I was executed (1649).
3History
- The son of Charles I, Charles II, is exiled to
France. - The monarchy is abolished and a republic
established. - What is a monarchy?
- form of government in which supreme authority is
vested in a single and usually hereditary figure,
such as a king, and whose powers can vary from
those of an absolute despot to those of a
figurehead
4History
- What is a republic?form of government in which
the people or their elected representatives
possess the supreme power
5History
- What is a democracy?
- political or social unit governed ultimately by
all its members
6History
- What form of government does the United States
have? - It is a true republic that practices a form of
democracy. - In the United Kingdom, people vote for
representatives in Parliament, the countrys
lawmaking body), but they also have a monarch as
a figurehead.
7History back to Cromwell
- Cromwell, and after his death, his son, leads the
Commonwealth of England (1649-1660). - Oliver Cromwell invades Ireland (1649-1650) and
Scotland (1650-1651)
8Restoration
- In 1660, a new Parliament invited Charles II to
return from exile in France and assume the throne - Milton arrested for his propaganda writings,
Andrew Marvell used his political status to free
Milton and quite possible saved his life - On January 30, 1661, after the Royalists had
returned to power, Cromwells corpse (he died in
1658) was - what strange thing supposedly happened to his
body?
9- Anglicanism returns as state religion
(previously under Cromwell, it was Protestant) - Charles II dies (1668) - has no legitimate heirs
- Who takes the throne?
- His Catholic brother, James II (1685-1688)
- 1688 - Glorious Revolution
- Also known as?
- Bloodless Revolution
- This campaign began because the Whigs in
Parliament wanted to replace James II
10- James II has a Catholic son, James Francis Edward
The Pretender but the Whigs are not
supportive of the Catholics - So, who takes the throne?
- James IIs Protestant daughter, Mary, and
- her husband, William, take the throne
- 1707 Scotland unites with England and Wales as
Great Britain
11Enlightenment
- What does enlightenment mean?
- The act of educating, informing, or bringing
knowledge. - Enlightenment here refers to the philosophical
movement that emphasized the use of reason in
ethics, government, and logic, to obtain
objective truth about the universe.
12Philosophy
- The 17th century - a time when scientific
advances explain things previously attributed to
God - Philosophy during this time concentrated on
epistemological questions - Epistemology study of the origin, nature,
methods, and limits of human knowledge (asks
what can truly be known about reality)
13 Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
- English political philosopher who replaced the
idea of divine justification of political
authority with absolute sovereignty (domination) - For Hobbes, this was the only kind of government
that could resolve problems caused by the
selfishness of human beings
14Thomas Hobbes
- Human nature basically selfish
- people act on evil impulses
- people should not be trusted to make decisions
on their own - even with abuses of power, life under the
absolute ruler preferable to living in chaos
15 Thomas Hobbes
- state of nature condition of humanity before
the STATEs foundation before the laws - state of nature began to be used as a term in
social contract theories. In this state,
people have the natural right to do anything to
preserve safety or liberty.
16Thomas Hobbes
- State of nature is the state of human beings
without civil society war of every person
against every person
17Thomas Hobbes
- Hobbes believed people would behave immorally
towards one another - His state of nature is solitary, poor, brutish,
and short.
18??
19Thomas Hobbes
- He says you need to abandon your efforts to
satisfy your egoistic impulse and join society in
order to achieve peace and survive
20Thomas Hobbes
- The compromise or covenant, as Hobbes calls it,
is the agreement among people to abide by a
certain set of rules (the laws of society) and
submit to a sovereign
21Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
- French philosopher and mathematician
Portrait of René Descartes Frans Hals, 1649oil
on panel19 14 cm National Gallery of Denmark
22Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
- Note Renaissance (1485-1660)
- Restoration/Enlightenment (1660-1798)
- Questions whether the whole of our experience
may be part of a dream/imagination we are
willing to take for granted a great deal that
might be false or uncertain (The Matrix Men in
Black (the locker?)
23Rene Descartes
- What Descartes determines to be true is
- - I exist (I think, therefore I am)
- - God exists and
- - God is not deceiving us.
24Rene Descartes
- Virtuous behavior depends on free will rather
than on grace (the free and unmerited favor or
beneficence of God) - Free will is the sign of God in human nature. It
concentrates on the internal authority of reason,
not the external authority of religion - Argues that we are born with innate ideas
(born within us) (God)
25Cartesian Circle
Copy this ??
- The Cartesian Circle is circular reasoning used
by Descartes to show that whatever he perceives
clearly and distinctly is true. - Descartes argued that his own clear and distinct
perception was a guarantor of truth. This would
be so because God, who cannot be a deceiver,
would not allow Descartes to be mistaken about
that which he clearly and distinctly perceived.
The existence of God, however was predicated
solely on Descartes having a clear and distinct
perception of the thought of God, which
necessarily required the existence of God.
- This approach is saying A is true because B is
true, and B is true because A is true. Each
affirms the other, but there is no outside
affirmation (outside of the circle) of the truth
of either A or B.
26John Locke (1632-1704)
- English philosopher, emphasizes individualism
and religious tolerance, laying the groundwork
for modern democracy - human nature characterized by reason and
tolerance (e.g. peace) (opposite of Hobbes
self-interested cooperation) - every branch of human knowledge--including
religion--is based on experience and reflection - Known as empiricism (all knowledge comes from
sense experience)
27John Locke
- his theology is aligned with Deism a.
belief based on reason, and rationality, and
observation of the natural world b. no reliance
on religious authority for confirmation of God - c. God created the world and then abandoned it
- bases his politics on religious grounds
28John Locke
- the law of nature is a God given set of rules
and principles of right and justice - as opposed to Hobbes, Locke sees the normal
state of nature as one in which people live
together in peace and according to reason
29John Locke
- State of nature is one of peace, goodwill,
mutual assistance, and preservation whereas
Hobbes state of nature is one of malice,
violence, and mutual destruction
30John Locke
- Whereas Descartes argues the idea of innateness
- Locke asks how do you know they are innate?
What experience, what sensory observations offers
support? Locke argues that the mind is a blank
slate - (Frankensteins creation)
31Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
- Genevan philosopher (Republic of Geneva)
- His childhood consisted of solely reading
Plutarchs Lives and Calvinist sermons - (Frankensteins creation)
- Human society based on a contract between the
government and the governed
32Human Nature
- Defined as a set of characteristics, including
ways of thinking, feeling, and acting, that human
beings have in common
33 Jacques Rousseau
- His theory of the social contract is based on the
assumption that humans live in a state of
nature which is not ideal they need to enter
into a contract with each other, allowing them to
live in peace and harmony
34Jacques Rousseau
- Human nature is not static but evolves according
to the sorts of civilizations that form it - Attributed evil not to human nature but to
society, insisting that in the natural state a
human being was essentially good and happy a
noble savage - (Frankensteins creation ??)
35Jacques Rousseau
- Noble savage represents goodness and simplicity
when not encumbered by civilzation - (e.g. Enkidu in Epic of Gilgamesh)
- This idea of the noble savage led to the
sentimentalized perception of Native Americans
and Africans by British writers (Brave New World)
36- The state of nature eventually degenerates into a
brutish condition without law or morality, at
which point the human race must adopt
institutions of law or perish
Laws must be made by legislative assembly
composed of all citizens who are then obliged to
obey their own laws as subjects
Need to obey that which is for the greater good
of the state, thus eroding individual rights
(e.g. airport security, USA Patriot Act)
37Directions Create this chart and fill it in to
help when studying for the Final Exam.
Hobbes Locke Rousseau Descartes
State of nature
society
Reality ------ --------