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Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment

Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment. Forces for Change in Europe. Renaissance – Humanism (individualism) and Secularization Discovery of the Americas 200 years of church decline Growth of national monarchies Emergence of capitalism and an independent merchant class. Medieval Worldview.

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Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment

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  1. Scientific Revolution andEnlightenment

  2. Forces for Change in Europe • Renaissance – Humanism (individualism) and Secularization • Discovery of the Americas • 200 years of church decline • Growth of national monarchies • Emergence of capitalism and an independent merchant class

  3. Medieval Worldview • Authoritarian – religious (Church) and secular (King) • Theocratic – rule by God’s agents, Top-down • Theocentric-all life and thought revolves around the church

  4. Influence of the “New Thought” on other fields of thought • Political Thought – Locke and Hobbes HobbesLocke Nature of Man passions reason State of nature war inconvenience Social Contract surrender of surrender of all power to some power to a sovereign a government (absolutism) (constitutionalism) Alternative none revolution

  5. The Copernican Universe • Reconception of the Universe • Reliance on 2nd-century Greek scholar Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria • Motionless earth inside nine concentric spheres • Christians understand heaven as last sphere • Difficulty reconciling model with observed planetary movement • 1543 Nicholas Copernicus of Poland breaks theory • Notion of moving Earth challenges Christian doctrine

  6. The Scientific Revolution Johannes Kepler (Germany, 1571-1630) and Galileo Galilei (Italy, 1564-1642) reinforce Copernican model Isaac Newton (1642-1727) “Principia Mathematica” 1687 - theory of gravity “he found a hodgepodge of isolated facts and laws. . .and left us a unified system of laws capable of application to an enormous range of physical phenomena.” Rigorous challenge to church doctrines

  7. Traditional vs. Modern Views of • Knowledge • Humans • Nature • God/The Church

  8. The Enlightenment – The Age of Reason “The political history of the Western world since the 18th century has been dominated by the notion of individual rights.”

  9. Medieval View of Rights • -ordained by birth or status Ex. aristocracy = social organization • -fixed by custom or tradition, depending on one’s place in the social hierarchy • -group privileges, not individual rights • -ordained by God – “divine rights” monarchy (absolutism) = political organization • -religion affirmed traditional roles

  10. Core Principles of Enlightenment “the science of human beings” • 1. Reason – “self-evident” • 2. Natural Law – universal • 3. Progress – “a paradise on earth”

  11. The Theory of Progress • Assumption that Enlightenment thought would ultimately lead to human harmony, material wealth. • Decline in authority of traditional organized religion. “Humans, through reason, could discover the natural laws of human society, which, when applied, would lead to a “paradise on earth.”

  12. Philosophes – public intellectuals(Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau) “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, the point is to change it” Propagandists Social activists 1751 Encyclopédie – accumulation of the new scientific worldview, the “clockwork universe”

  13. Deism, the Natural Religion • -God the creator, the “clockmaker” • -God has revealed himself through nature • - religious freedom - “My mind is my own church” • -separation of church and state • -Voltaire “ecrasez l’infame” – opposed to organized religion • -natural morality – humans good by nature Was Tom Paine an atheist?

  14. Economics • Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776 -basic principles of capitalism • private property • individual self-interest • the market, free enterprise • supply and demand “the invisible hand” • laissez-faire – no government interference • free trade • wealth measured by total productivity of the society

  15. Law and Justice Beccaria, Italian 1761 treatise • more humane treatment of criminals • abolish capital punishment • no torture • punishment should fit the crime • rehabilitation rather than punishment • prevention of crime rather than punishment

  16. Education • Rousseau – education should be natural, “back to nature,” the modern concept of childhood • Locke – “tabula rasa” - empiricism (relying on sense experiences to determine reality) • liberal arts • training for citizenship • public, secular education • humans are rational

  17. Politics • -popular sovereignty-power for government comes from the people • -representative government – democracy • -constitutionalism • -individual rights (civil rights) • -equality • -separation of powers/checks and balances

  18. Ancien Regime “Evils” Mercantilism Absolutism Aristocracy The Church Slavery

  19. Louis XIV (The “Sun King,” 1643-1715) • L’état, c’est moi: “I am the state.” • Magnificent palace at Versailles, 1670s, becomes his court • Largest building in Europe • 1,400 fountains • 25,000 fully grown trees transplanted • Power centered in court, important nobles pressured to maintain presence

  20. Louis XIV“Dude look like a lady”

  21. Versailles

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