1 / 32

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”

jerod
Download Presentation

The Age of Reason & Enlightenment

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  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

More Related