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The Enlightenment & Enlightened Thinkers. Children of the Scientific Revolution. The Enlightenment. Followed & built on the lessons of the Scientific Revolution (that Math and Science could find physical truths)
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The Enlightenment & Enlightened Thinkers Children of the Scientific Revolution
The Enlightenment • Followed & built on the lessons of the Scientific Revolution (that Math and Science could find physical truths) • The Enlightenment was when people believed that one could find societal truths by using reason and logic.
The Characteristics of the Enlightenment Rational - use reason to solve problems Secular - not atheist. Just not concerned with religion. Utlititarian - the greatest good for the greatest number Tolerance - no opinion is invalid due to irrational bias Freedom -one has to be free to think and discover Educate the Masses – who knows where knowledge lies Optimistic & Reform Based –Change the world!!!
The Philosophe • Believe in CHANGE & PROGRESS • Students of society who analyzed & advanced reforms.
Salons • Coffee houses where leading intellectuals met to discuss themes of day • Often hosted by women (Madame de Pompadour)
Other Salonnieres Madame Geoffrin(1699-1777) MadameSuzanne Necker(1739-1794) MademoiselleJulie de Lespinasse(1732*-1776)
The “Great Debate” TraditionsandSuperstitions Reason& Logic • rationalism • empiricism • tolerance • skepticism • Deism • nostalgia for the past • organized religions • irrationalism • emotionalism
Thomas HobbesPRE-ENLIGHTENED THOUGHT • Leviathan • w/o Govn’t, life is “nasty, short and brutish” • Absolutism the best, keeps security • Social Contract
Enter the Enlightenment - John Locke • People are good • Tabula Rasa (we are molded by experience) • Democracy • Natural Rights (from Natural Law) need to be protected by gov. • If not… REVOLUTION • Video Clip Two Treatises on Govn’t
Charles de Secondat, The Baron de Montesquieu • Noble himself, feared absolutism and democracy alike. Liked English model • King = Executive Parliament= Leg Courts = Judicial • Checks & balances • Separation of power On the Spirit of the Laws
Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet) • Controversial defender of free speech • Attacked clergy, kings, politicians, nobles, etc • Sent to prison twice & exiled • 4 Corner – There should be a limit on Free Speech. “The Customs and Spirit of Nations” and “Candide”
Voltaire’s Wisdom • Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do. • It is dangerous to be right when the gov. is wrong. • Love truth and pardon error. • Judge of a man by his questions rather than by his answers. • Men are equal; it is not birth, but virtue that makes the difference. • I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Hugo Grotius • If Natural Law is, there should be universal international laws • Foresaw ideas like the UN and the Geneva Convention • THOUGHTS???
CesareBeccaria • Anti-death penalty & torture. • The state doesn’t have the right to take life • Torture may not always produce truth • Enlightened principles should guide justice • Rehabilitation & Reintegration On Crimes and Punishment
William Penn • If Natural Law governs all & IF logic and reason can solve any issue… WAR & KILLING ARE ALWAYS WRONG • Killing does not determine who is right, just who is left • Developed Pacifism • 4 Corner Debate • The death penalty is wrong
Jean Jacques Rousseau • The Consent of the Governed, the “general will”, is why government has power (direct democracy is the key). • People are good, society makes us bad • “Man is born free, yet everywhere he is in chains.” The Social Contract
Mary Wollstonecraft A Vindication of the Rights of Women • Women should enjoy the same rights as men in intellectual areas • Men conspire to hold women down (due to smaller physical frames)
Denis Diderot • Effort to find and classify EVERYTHING • If we are going to learn Natural Law, we need to know what’s out there first. The Book Was Banned!!!
Classical Art • Effort to reflect the Enlightenment by using simple geometric lines • LOOK AT THE BAROQUE TO CLASSICAL ART PRESENTATION
The Enlightenment and Religion George Washington Benjamin FranklinThomas Jefferson James MadisonThomas Paine Ethan Allen James Monroe • Deism – God as the watchmaker • If we can figure out the machine, we can run it • Built w/ Math • Many founding fathers were deists, not Bible-believing Christians
Enlightened Despots Joseph II of Austria Frederick the Great of Prussia Catherine the Great of Russia • Believed in applying Enlightenment ideals to their Governments • Desire to make life better for subjects... • End Serfdom • Religious Freedom • Free Speech / Press • End Torture "Everything for the people, nothing by the people."
Backlash Against The Enlightened • The Monarchs • Peasant rebellions scared monarchs, reassert authority • Slow pace of change angered peasants • Monarchs fear democracy Pugachev’s Rebellion in Russia
Backlash in the Arts - Romanticism • An appeal to the emotional, wild and unrestrained • Bach (and Beethoven) • Pope (and Milton) • Moliere (and Racine)
Immanuel kant • German philosopher • Reason can’t explain feelings, God or beauty
Rousseau – Part Deux • Math, science and reason cannot account for emotions (love, jealousy, hate, etc) nor for God. • Enlightenment is lacking…
The Rebirth of Religious Zeal • Faith and emotion are important paths to a personal God (not science & deism) • Moravians (Zinzendorf) & Methodists (Wesley) lead back to the Bible • Mysticism & Zeal emphasized in Pentacostalism
“Irrational” Religious Zeal (Benny Hinn casting out demons from believers)