·
Scientific Revolution
o
Huge readjustment in Western thought
o
Religion vs. science
§ Shift
from medieval to scientific mind
·
Explain natural world, universe, & mankind’s place in it
§ Profound
shift in thought
·
Inductive thought, heliocentric & Newtonian models, &
empirical/scientific worldview
·
Emphasized facts & absolutes
·
Copernicus
o
Lived 1473-1543
o
Clergyman
o
Lived in Prussia but was Polish
o
God’s laws aren’t accessible to us, but we should strive for a
deeper understanding of God’s creation, because this understanding brings us
closer to God
o
He doesn’t want to publish his work, and publishes in 1543 right
before his death
o
Theorized heliocentric model
·
Kepler
o
Lived 1571-1630
o
Mathematician who wanted to validate the Copernican model
o
Realized the orbits of the planets were ellipses & produced
mathematical poof of Copernican model
o
Published but had little impact at time, because no one could
understand his computations
·
Galileo
o
Lived 1564-1642; contemporary of Kepler
§ Corresponded
& and helped each other with mathematics & observations
o
Made a more powerful telescope
§ Saw
Jupiter & 4 moons
§ Observed
moon and saw it was made of substance and not merely a flat painting
§ Published
The Starry Messenger in 1610
o
Even with visual & mathematical backing, idea of
heliocentric model still not acceptable
o
Galileo brought to inquisition court by Italian officials
§ He
recanted
§ Put
under house arrest 20 years after publishing book
o
Sin to use telescope; destroyed intellectual validity of
Catholic church
·
Bacon
o
Lived 1561-1626
o
Challenged deductive thought & called it backward
o
Starting with truth is wrong; truth is the product; you must
start with a question and then draw conclusions after observation &
experimentation
o
True thinkers are people who allow their minds to be molded
& shaped by information presented
o
Scientific Method
o
Emphasized useful, practical knowledge; only real knowledge is
that which is arrived at empirically
o
He changes the pace of discovery
o
Had minimal understanding of mathematics
·
Descartes
o
Lived 1596-1650
o
Embraced scientific method & inductive thought
o
Mathematician
§ Math
is deductive; thus, he used both inductive & deductive thought
o
Claimed only a fool accepted something to be true based on
faith; it needs to be proven; doubt and question, and don’t take anything for
knowledge
o
One shouldn’t accept their own existence without proof
§ “Cogito,
ergo sum”
o
Cartesian Dualism
§ Thinking
substance
·
That which is part of our own personal experiences
·
Subjective
·
Senses
§ Extended
substance
·
Objective
·
Not changeable
·
Absolute truth & the universe are accessible through reason
o
Universe ruled by rational laws
o
Wanted to reduce universe to mathematical form
·
Newton
o
Lived 1642-1727
o
Discovered gravity-Universal Law of Gravitation
§ Everything
in the universe is attracted to every other thing in the universe by a
knowable, measurable force-all things obey this rational thought
o
Created calculus
o
Gives heliocentric system dignity; humans obey the same laws as
those heavenly bodies
o
Requires readjustment of West’s view of God
§ Can
understand universe with math & reason
§ God
is like a clockmaker; he is an objective observer
·
Enlightenment
o
Man had virtue and intelligence, and had punctured natural laws
to utilize for own advantage
o
Human institutions must reflect ordered natural world
§ Political
§ Economic
§ Social
o
Secularization of Judeo-Christian mindset
·
Enlightenment Society
o
Marriage & Family
§ Nuclear
family
§ Growth
of cottage industry
§ More
marriage based on love
§ Married
in late 20’s; harder to be economically ready for marriage
§ Illegitimate
explosion 1750-1850
§ Increased
infanticide
§ Foundling
hospitals & universities grow
§ Rise
of humanitarianism (Enlightenment)
§ Young
increasingly go to work in cities
§ More
humane treatment of children
o
Status of Women
§ Protestant
women still expected to manage home
§ Catholic
upper class had self-development options in religious orders
§ Women
run salons
§ Aristocratic
women write, publish & observe
·
Some work in science
§ Mary
Astel questions the traditional role of women
o
Education
§ Protestants
educate boys and girls at the primary level
§ Humanitarian
efforts improve education
§ Elite
should still be the only ones to rule
§ Literacy
grows-most popular literature doesn’t challenge the political system
o
Health & Nutrition
§ Improved
diet=improved health
·
More fruits and vegetables, such as the potato
§ Control
of disease like plague ad smallpox
§ Poor
eat bread and vegetables
§ Rich
eat meat, sugar & wine
§ Life
expectancy rises to 35
§ Health
reforms in hospitals & mental health institutions
§ Textiles,
such as underwear
o
Social Structure
§ Eastern
Europe-feudal serfdom
§ Cottage
industry in rural areas
§ Enclosure
in England
§ Natural
rights & equal protection under the law
§ Shift
of rural population to cities; growth of cities
§ Middle
class tries to catch up by assimilating upper class ways
§ Lower
class knows little of intellectual advancements
·
Lives still center around trade, festivals, & religion
§ Gap
between rich & poor grows
·
Hobbes
o
Dark, dismal view of human condition & politics
o
Long life-witnesses Cromwell, dictatorship, restoration
o
1651-Leviathan
§ Book
about governments & why they came to be
§ Contemplates
life before government & rule of law
·
Freedom is miserable
·
State of nature-life is poor, solitary, nasty, brutish, &
short
·
Government has to keep people from living like this
§ People
need to be protected from each other
§ Agree
to give up freedom to rule of law-social contract
§ Hobbes
knows state of nature because he saw his country devolve into civil war
§ Comes
to conclusion it would have been more reasonable to not overthrow the king;
advocate for absolutism
§ Before
Leviathan, anyone who defended
absolutism defended it with divine right-Hobbes instead argues that absolutism
is rational
·
Locke
o
Absolute monarchy should be rejected
o
All men are born with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, &
property
o
Defended glorious revolution & parliament
o
Government is not an unconditional contract
§ Conditions
·
Government has right to rule as long as it protects inalienable
rights
·
If government fails, people must rebel, rip it down, & build a
more rational one
§ His
ideas form basis of American political system
o
Connection to divine & god-notion that with reason &
rational thought we can access natural law
§ Pietism
develops
·
Montesquieu
o
French philosophe; lived 1689-1755
o
Aristocrat with little power
o
Believes all political power in the hands of one person leads to
corruption, thus political power should be divided
§ England
is example
·
Monarchy limited by parliament; check one another and keep each
other balanced
o
Limited monarchy is the best form of government; believes
aristocrats should have power
·
Voltaire
o
French philosophe; lived 1694-1778
o
Middle class
o
Famous writer; celebrity of the 18th century
§ Witty
& sarcastic
o
Preoccupied with religious toleration-could not see killing
one’s neighbor over the issue of religion to be rational
§ Despised
closed-mindedness & bigotry- “crush the infamous thing”
§ Thought
religion promoted irrational thought
o
Concerned about the dissemination of information
o
Believed people should change society if suffering
o
Worked in Louis XV’s government for a time thanks to Mme. de
Pompadour
o
Served time in Bastille
o
Worked for Frederick the Great but later had a falling out
o
Believed Enlightened Despotism was the best form of
government-if a person is rational, give them all the power
§ First
servant of the state
§ Improve
lives of citizens, build up the army, & improve the economy
§ Easiest
system to implement based on governments of the day
·
Rousseau
o
Lived 1712-1778
o
Lower class & Swiss
o
Revisits Hobbes, the notion of social contact & the state of
nature
§ State
of nature-said people are living as noble savages
·
Humans have qualities that are beautiful & positive
§ Government
should encourage better nature
§ It
is an act of selflessness to give up freedom; it strengthens others
§ General
will-what is sovereign in a political society is what comes about when people
work together
·
Various political movements have decided he is addressing their
idea
o
His ideas were not well received during his time
o
Rousseau was socially maladjusted; wanted a government where
everyone contributed
o
Wrote about intuition, feeling, and spirit as well-not rational
things but irrational-first Romantic thinker
·
Adam Smith
o
Published Wealth of
Nations in 1776
o
Laissez-faire economics
o
Critical of acquisition of precious metals-stuff is wealth
(ability to produce goods)
o
A nation is the people who produce the goods & services
o
Base of modern capitalism
o
Invisible hand drives economy
o
Wanted a favorable balance of trade, but held ono wealth-people
didn’t have it
o
If people engaged in the production of goods & services,
they would drive the economy
o
Didn’t depend on good nature, it depended on whether or not
people wanted money
o
Written in pre-industrial time and aimed at the development of
an agricultural & handicraft economy
