Enlightenment Through the Scientific Revolution: Impact on Philosophy, Religion, and Natural Rights

1. Scientific RevolutionChapter 22

2. Why did it start? • It started with the Renaissance! • A new secular, critical thinking man began to look at the world around him. • New Greek resources were available that expanded on the Latin resources that learning was based • The weakening of the Church’s intellectual/scientific control of thinking.

3. “The Star Gazers” Men who studied the heavens

4. Ptolemy • 2nd Century Roman Astronomer • Geocentric world view (Earth Centered) • Series of concentric spheres surrounding a motionless earth • Christianity shaped its view of heaven to correspond to Ptolemy’s world view • Heaven above the outer sphere and Hell in the interior of earth.

5. Nicholas Copernicus • Polish astronomer • 1543 • On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres • Concluded that the sun is the center of our solar system, or Heliocentric world • The earth is merely one of several planets revolving about the sun.

6. HELIOCENTRIC THEORY

7. Johannes Kepler • German Astronomer & Mathematician • Kepler used math to prove and extend the ideas of Copernicus • Determined that the planets follow an elliptical, not a circular, orbit in revolving about the sun. • Helped explain the paths followed by human-made satellites today.

8. Galileo Galilei • Italian Astronomer and Physicist • First to use a telescope to study the heavens; discovered the moons of Jupiter and mountains on the moon; • Shows that the universe was made of the same material • Demonstrated the law of falling bodies and greatly improved the telescope • Did the most to bring the heliocentric conception of the universe to the world

9. The Scientific Method

10. Galileo and the Church • The Church took a stand against the Copernican idea and brought Galileo to Rome for a trial in 1610 • Faced with the choice of recanting his beliefs or execution, Galileo chose to recant and abandoned his studies of the heavens.

11. The Thinkers

12. Isaac Newton • English mathematician, astronomer, and physicist • Principles of Natural Philosophy or Principia 1642 • Invented calculus • Discovered laws of light and color • Formulated the laws of motion • Objects are in a state of rest or motion in a straight line; • Rate of change is proportional to the forces acting on it; • For every action is a opposite and equal reaction; • Law of gravitation, which explains why the heavens are in motion • World as a machine view of natural laws!

13. Francis Bacon • Lawyer from England • Concept of inductive, experimental thinking. Better understanding of the world would improve peoples lives. • He popularized the new scientific method of observation and experimentation. • English Royal Society: Meetings of scientist who share ideas. • Attacked medieval thinking

14. Rene Descartes • French Scientist, Mathematician, and philosopher • Discourse on Method 1637 • Cartesian Dualism: Separation of Mind and Body - father of Rationalism • Discovered laws of optics and is considered the founder of analytic geometry. • Doubt everything; all must be proven • “I think, therefore, I am.”

15. Modern Science is based around the ideas of Bacon and Descartes

16. Studying the Body and the World

17. Vesalius Flemish Physician • On the Fabric of the Human Body (1543) • Undertook dissections of the human body as a professor of surgery • Founded the science of anatomy

18. William Harvey • English Physician, demonstrated that blood circulates through the body • On the Motion of the Heart and Blood (1628) • Disproved the Greek Galen’s theories that had been held for 1500 years.

19. Leeuwenhoek • Dutch naturalist • Perfected the microscope and the study of micro-organisms.

20. What was the Impact of the Scientific Revolution on: • Philosophy: Enlightenment and ideas on government • Religion: the Church, rather than embracing the ideas created a conflict between faith and science; • World: challenged traditional beliefs about the organization of society, application of science to solve problems in society

21. Natural Rights: The Enlightenment • During the Scientific Revolution, people began to use the scientific method to determine the truth. • Scientific Method • People should use reason and observe nature to find the truth • Shouldn’t rely on superstition or tradition. When thinkers began to apply this method to morals, beliefs, laws, and governments, they developed the idea of “Natural Law”

22. The Age of Enlightenment

23. Also known as “The Age of Reason” • Scientific Revolution paved the way as Natural Laws that applied to nature were now Natural Rights that applied to society. • Led to discovery of the world outside of Europe and the Columbian Exchange • Enlightened philosophers (aka philosophes in French) and writers

24. Enlightened Philosophers (aka philosophies in French) and Writers

25. Thomas Hobbes • The Leviathan published in 1651. • Without government, people would constantly be fighting amongst themselves. • Life without government would be "poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” • The purpose of government is to ensure peace and security through whatever means necessary. • Government is a contract between citizens and their ruler. In this contract, citizens give up rights for the guarantee of peace and security. • The best government is one in which the ruler has absolute power. • People never have the right to rebel.

26. John Locke • Government is a contract between citizens and their rulers. • People have a natural right to life, liberty, and property. • The purpose of government is: • to protect the rights of life, liberty, and property. • to create order in society. • Citizens have the right to rebel against a government that does not respect the rights of its citizens. • Rulers should stay in power only as long as they have the consent of the people they govern. • Locke’s ideas influenced authors of US Declaration of Independence and French revolutionaries in the 1790s.

27. Locke • Essay Concerning Human Understanding • Every human is born a tabula mind, or blank slate. • Nothing is inherited, human knowledge is created by the environment as we experience the world. • Foundation for equality • We learn from reason • By controlling the environment we can create a better world

28. VoltaireFrançois-Marie Arouet • Considered one of the most important of the enlightenment philosophers • Prolific writer; His satire Candide is his most famous work. • Fought for tolerance, reason, and freedom of thought, expression, and religious belief • Twice imprisoned in the Bastille

29. Fought against prejudice and superstition • Deism: system of thought that denies the interference of the Creator with the laws of the universe (creates, then backs off). • Freedom of thought is most important: "I do not agree with a word you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

30. Baron d’Montesquieu • The Spirit of Laws 1748 • Advocated separation of powers and checks and balances to keep any individual or group from gaining complete control of the government. • One of the greatest influences on the US Constitution.

31. Rousseau • Swiss philosopher • The Social Contract (1762) • Although born good, people are corrupted by society. • Government should be a contract between people, not between the people and a ruler. • People should give up some freedom in favor of the General Will of the people. • People are equal and have a right to individual freedom.

32. Beccaria • Believed laws existed to preserve social order • Advocated a criminal justice system based on fairness and reason

33. Adam Smith • A Physiocrat: Natural laws govern the economy. • Wrote The Wealth of Nations (1776) • Called for the economic freedom of individuals, by keeping the government from interfering in the economy. • Believed an “invisible hand” (the law of supply and demand and competition) would guide the economy.

34. Mary Wollstonecraft • Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) • Argued for women’s right to become educated and to participate in politics • Believed women, like men, need education to become virtuous and useful.

35. Denis Diderot • Spread enlightened thinking in all areas by publishing the Encyclopedia (1751-1772), a 28 volumes of collected knowledge and the new ideas of the Scientific Revolution and the enlightenment • First to use an alphabetical format

36. How did Enlightenment writers and thinkers set the stage for revolutionary movements? • Encouraged people to judge for themselves what was right or wrong in society • Rely on human reason to solve social problems

37. Questions for Discussion: • Voltaire is credited with saying: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend your right to say it.” • What does this statement indicate about Voltaire’s views on free speech? • How is it similar to beliefs about free speech in the U.S.?

38. Questions for Discussion: • “Man will only truly be free when the last king is strangled with the intestine of the last bishop.” Percy Shelly • How is this quote reflective of the attitudes of the enlightenment philosopher?

39. Hobbes People are selfish, self-serving, and brutal. Without control, society would be chaotic Locke People are reasonable and able to make decisions. People should be able to rule themselves. Who’s ideas are most like your own?

40. 1776 • In 1776, two famous works were published, Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence and Smith’s Wealth of Nations. Jefferson’s work is about man’s political independence and Smith’s is about man’s economic freedom and independence. • Which do you think has been the most important to the development of the USA? A citizen’s political or economic freedom? Why?