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The Age of Reason & Enlightenment

The Age of Reason & Enlightenment. An Overview of the 18 c. Political History  >>> Reform Intellectual History  Newtonian Physics  Reason Cultural History  Individualism Social History  Increased Literacy  “Age of Aristocracy”

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The Age of Reason & Enlightenment

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  1. The Age of Reason & Enlightenment

  2. An Overview of the 18c • Political History >>> Reform • Intellectual History Newtonian PhysicsReason • Cultural History Individualism • Social History Increased Literacy“Age of Aristocracy” • Economic History > Mercantilism to Capitalism

  3. 18c Politics • BRITAIN– Constitutional Monarchy • FRANCERoyal Absolutism (cultural and religious unity) • PRUSSIA, HABSBURG EMPIRE, RUSSIA“Enlightened Despotism” • OTTOMAN EMPIRE –traditional empire

  4. The Origins of Enlightenment? • SCIENTIFIC: • Newton’s system was synonymouswith the empirical and the practical. • Scientific laws could be expressed as universal mathematical formulas. • Science allowed alternatives to beimagined in everything from politicsto religion.

  5. William Blake’s Newton, 1795

  6. The Royal Academy of Sciences, Paris

  7. Zoology & Biology A dissection at the Royal Academy, London.

  8. Chemistry Labs & Botany Gardens

  9. Natural History Collections • Cocoa plant drawing. • Sir Hans Sloane(1660-1753). • Collected from Jamaica.

  10. Natural History Collections James Petiver’s Beetles(London apothecary)

  11. Private Collections The Origins of Modern Museums.

  12. Women & Science The German astronomer Hevelius & his wife examine the heavens.

  13. The Origins of Enlightenment? • RELIGIOUS: • physico-theology an attempt (inspired by science) to explain God’s Providence by reference to his work in nature & not primarily through his biblical Word. • support of a “rational” religion, free from mysteries, miracles, andsuperstitions.

  14. The Origins of Enlightenment? • RELIGIOUS: • Deism • The belief in the existence of a God or supreme being but adenial of revealed religion, basingone’s belief on thelightof natureand reason. • Deists saw no point in any particularreligion; they recognized only a distantGod, uninvolved in the daily life of man.

  15. The Origins of Enlightenment? • RELIGIOUS: • Pantheism • The belief that God andnature are one and the same. • Gradually, highly educated Protestants & Catholics thought more about God’s work as revealed through science, rather than through the Scriptures.

  16. Centers of the Enlightenment

  17. The Characteristics of the Enlightenment Rationalism  reason is the arbiter of all things. Cosmology  a new concept of man, his existence on earth, & the place of the earth in the universe. Secularism  application of the methods of science to religion & philosophy.

  18. The Characteristics of the Enlightenment • Scientific Method • Mathematical analysis • Experimentation • Inductive reasoning. • Utilitarianism  the greatest good for the greatest number. • Tolerance  No opinion is worth burning your neighbor for.

  19. The Characteristics of the Enlightenment • Optimism & Self-Confidence • The belief that man is intrinsically good. • The belief in social progress. • Freedom • Of thought and expression. • Bring liberty to all men (modern battle against absolutism). • Education of the Masses

  20. The Characteristics of the Enlightenment • Legal Reforms • Justice, kindness, and charity  no torture or indiscriminant incarceration. • Due process of law. • Constitutionalism • Written constitutions  listing citizens, rights. • Cosmopolitanism.

  21. The “Enlightened” Individual The Philosophe • Not really original thinkers as a whole, but were great publicists of the new thinking CHANGE & PROGRESS! • They were students of society who analyzed its evils and advanced reforms.

  22. The “Great Debate” Reason& Logic TraditionsandSuperstitions • rationalism • empiricism • tolerance • skepticism • Deism • nostalgia for the past • organized religions • irrationalism • emotionalism

  23. PopularizingtheEnlightenment

  24. A Parisian Salon

  25. Madame Geoffrin’s Salon

  26. The Salonnieres Madame Geoffrin(1699-1777) MadameSuzanne Necker(1739-1794) MademoiselleJulie de Lespinasse(1732*-1776)

  27. Other Female Salons • Wealthy Jewish women created nine of the fourteen salons in Berlin. • In Warsaw, Princess Zofia Czartoryska gathered around her the reform leaders of Poland-Lithuania. • Middle-class women in London used their salons to raise money to publish women’s writings.

  28. The “Republic of Letters” • URBAN –gathering of elites in the cities.(salons) • URBANE– cosmopolitan,worldly • music, art, literature, politics • read newspapers & the latest books. • POLITENESS –proper behavior [self-governed]

  29. Reading During the Enlightenment • Literacy: • 80 % for men; 60 % women. • Books were expensive (one day’s wages). • Many readers for each book (20 : 1) • novels, plays & other literature. • journals, memoirs, “private lives.” • philosophy, history, theology. • newspapers, political pamphlets.

  30. An Increase in Reading

  31. An Increase in Reading

  32. “Must Read” Books of the Time

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