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The Enlightenment: Conditions and Society

The Enlightenment: Conditions and Society. “Man’s Emergence from his self-imposed immaturity.” -Immanuel Kant. 1700-1800. Why now? Well its got a lot to do with farming….

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The Enlightenment: Conditions and Society

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  1. The Enlightenment:Conditions and Society “Man’s Emergence from his self-imposed immaturity.” -Immanuel Kant 1700-1800

  2. Why now? Well its got a lot to do with farming… • The late 17th century saw the emergence of the enclosure movement, superseding the open field system of farming that had existed since the middle ages. • The enclosure movement began in England and stressed the importance of crop rotation between specified fields. • This new farming system allowed for more food to be grown, including crops brought back from the New World. • The potato, for example, added significantly to the nutrient intake of individuals from all classes.

  3. All this leads to… • The relative abundance of food led to increased populations as larger families could be supported. • Better sanitation, the introduction of quarantine measures, and the elimination of the black rat all led to the disappearance of the plague and other diseases, another reason for population growth. • Improved health care had little to do any of with this.

  4. And then… • These increases in population meant that more people needed places to live and jobs to work. This was the beginning of a trend towards increased urban populations. • The increased populations of towns and cities throughout Europe, developments jumped the channel quickly, changed the way people lived dramatically. • London (Roman town 50 AD): 500 000 in 1700  1 000 000 + in 1800 Hogarth’s “Gin Lane”, 1750.

  5. Paris (founded 250 BC): 515 000 in 1700  1 051 000 in 1850 There are so many more people here in Paris these days. Oh absolutely! It sure allows some people to focus more on thinking… Notre Dame in 1750 (completed in 1345)

  6. Edinburgh ( rebuilt 1100 AD): 50 000 in 1700  100 000 in 1800 Edinburgh in the 17th Century Edinburgh at the end of the 18th Century

  7. So all of this is important because…. • Increased crop yields meant that some people in the rapidly expanding cities could focus on production, artistry, thinking, teaching and learning. • As a result, the beginning of the population shift from rural to urban helped usher in the ENLIGHTENMENT. (Not that kind)

  8. Wait… what about the Scientific Revolution? • While the ideas of Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Descartes, and others were groundbreaking and changed the way humanity studied the world, they only affected a small portion of Europe’s educated elite. • It would be the Philosophes of the 18th century who would popularize the Scientific Revolution’s ideas and then adapt them to all aspects of life. Nobody cares, Copernicus! Science! I’m hungry…

  9. The Salons • With urban life flourishing in the social and intellectual hotbed of 18th century that was Paris, women (wealthy ones) took the initiative concerning new ideas. • They opened up their drawing rooms to groups of intellectual men and women in order to discuss the latest ideas with/from the philosophes. • Brought together writers and artists with the aristocrats, government officials, and wealthy bourgeois (middle class) • Provided women with a chance to enact/influence real change in politics and culture Decapitation is rough… Marie-Jeanne Phlippon Roland, a member of the Girondist group in the French Revolution.

  10. - The power the salons afforded to women made them unpopular to some and the status of any woman’s salon was still primarily defined by the men who visited it -Salon’s declined in popularity during the French Revolution, but other locales of public discourse remained, including; coffeehouses, cafes, reading clubs, and libraries. Madame Geoffrin’s salon in Paris, 1755 (painted 1812)

  11. Fontenelle, Reading, and Skepticism • The works produced during the Scientific Revolution were often difficult to comprehend for most audiences, though by the late 18th century basic literacy rates amoungst the upper and middle classes sat at around 75% • Fontenelle made no major scientific discoveries, but he have a great deal of knowledge concerning the subject • He took that knowledge and wrote books that made it accessible/appealing to his audience (still largely upper-class) • His book Plurality of Words discusses the advances in cosmology that dispelled the ideas that prevailed earlier, but in the form of a discussion between lovers • He also fostered the growth of skepticism, questioning religion, by portraying the churches as enemies of scientific progress • This went counter to the actions of scientists like Kepler, Galileo, and Newton who always looked to, considered, and exalted God in their work • Skepticism towards religion was a common theme during the enlightenment, this encouraged religious toleration, and to consider reason when presented with information by the church or the bible. Fontenelle

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