The Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution

Enlightenment

A movement in the 18th century that advocated the use of reason in the reappraisal of accepted ideas and social institutions.

Intellectual Movement

From right after the glorious revolution to right before the French revolution

Natural Law

God's or nature's law that defines right from wrong and is higher than human law

Empiricism

the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation

Skepticism

A philosophy which suggests that nothing can ever be known for certain.

Scientific Method

A series of steps followed to solve problems including collecting data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and stating conclusions.

Deism

A popular Enlightenment era belief that there is a God, but that God isn't involved in people's lives or in revealing truths to prophets.

Philosophes

Writers during the Enlightenment and who popularized the new ideas of the time.

Men of Letters

a male scholar or author

Voltaire

French philosopher and writer whose works epitomize the Age of Enlightenment, often attacking injustice and intolerance.

philosophic letters on the english

work in which Voltaire praised the English government and criticized the French form of government-absolutism

candide

Voltaire, satirizing society and organized religion in Europe.

Philosophical Dictionary

Volaire's work (1764) that pointed out inconsistencies in biblical narratives and immoral acts of biblical heroes, questioning the truthfulness of priests and morality of the Bible

Emile du Chatelet

Translated Newton into French, led to an interest in science by French women, notably, Marie Curie

Denis Diderot

Philosopher who edited a book called the Encyclopedia which was banned by the French king and pope.

encyclopedia

a book or set of books giving information on many subjects or on many aspects of one subject and typically arranged alphabetically.

Baron de Montesquieu

French aristocrat who wanted to limit royal absolutism

the persian letters

written by Montesquieu; described a Persian in France writing to another back in the middle east and compared Louis XIV to the Persian ruler; criticized French government

The Spirit of the Laws

This work by Montesquieu called for a separation of powers and heavily influenced the formation of American government

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A French man who believed that Human beings are naturally good & free & can rely on their instincts. Government should exist to protect common good, and be a democracy

emile

Book by Jean Jacques Rousseau that spelled out the principles of education according to which the child was allowed to follow his or her own path of intellectual development.

two spheres

women in domestic sphere, men in economic sphere

the social contract

A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules.

noble savage

The idea that primitive human beings are naturally good and that whatever evil they develop is the product of the corrupting action of civilization.

Popular Sovereignty

A government in which the people rule by their own consent.

Immanuel Kant

Greatest German philosopher of Enlightenment-separated science and morality into separate branches of knowledge-science could describe nature, it could not provide a guide for morality.

"Dare to Know"

Immanuel Kant's call for people to put away the ideas and assumptions that they have been taught and search for truth themselves. A nice motto for the Enlightenment

Categorical Imperative

an unconditional moral obligation that is binding in all circumstances and is not dependent on a person's inclination or purpose.

on the different races of man

(1775) Immanuel Kant shared and elaborated Hume's views about race claiming that the white inhabitants of northern Germany were the closest descendants of the supposedly original race of "white brunette" people.

adam smith

Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of political economics. Seen today as the father of Capitalism.

wealth of nations

This is the 18th century book written by Scottish economist Adam Smith in which he spells out the first modern account of free market economies.

3 natural laws of economics

law of self interest, law of competition, law of supply and demand

david hume

Scottish philosopher whose sceptical philosophy restricted human knowledge to that which can be perceived by the senses (1711-1776)

Treatise on Human Nature

written by David Hume; argued that observation based on reason would lead to a complete understanding of human nature and the laws which govern it

enlightenment despotism

European monarchs who were inspired by enlightenment ideas to rule justly and respect the rights to subjects, make country stronger and rule more effective

Natural Philosophy

An early modern term for the study of the nature of the universe, its purpose, and how it functioned; it encompassed what we would call "science" today.

Aristotle

Believed the earth was fixed in the center of the universe and was surrounded by ten spheres that revolved around it

Ptolemy

Alexandrian astronomer who proposed a geocentric system of astronomy that was undisputed until Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus

A Polish astronomer who proved that the Ptolemaic system was inaccurate, he proposed the theory that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the solar system.

Tycho Brahe

(1546-1601) established himself as Europe's foremost astronomer of his day; detailed observations of new star of 1572.

Johannes Kepler

German astronomer who first stated laws of planetary motion (1571-1630)

Galileo Galilei

Italian astronomer and mathematician who was the first to use a telescope to study the stars

Law of Inertia

A law formulated by Galileo that states that motion, not rest, is the natural state of an object, and that an object continues in motion forever unless stopped by some external force.

experimental method

A method of investigation used to demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships by purposely manipulating one factor thought to produce change in another factor.

isaac newton

Defined the laws of motion and gravity. Tried to explain motion of the universe.

newtons laws

law of universal gravitation, newton's laws of motion

Francis Bacon

(1561-1626) English politician, writer. Formalized the empirical method. Novum Organum. Inductive reasoning.

Rene Descartes

17th century French philosopher; believed mind and matter were completly seperate; known as father of modern rationalism

Empiricism

the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation

Cartesian Dualism

Descartes's view that all of reality could ultimately be reduced to mind and matter.

Galen's Humor Theory

relative concentrations of four humors or bodily fluids are responsible for personality traits

Andreas Vesalius

a Flemish surgeon who is considered the father of modern anatomy (1514-1564)

william harvey

English physician and scientist who described the circulation of the blood

robert boyle

Irish chemist who established that air has weight and whose definitions of chemical elements and chemical reactions helped to dissociate chemistry from alchemy (1627-1691)

international scientific community

A social group linked together by common interests and shared values as well as by journals and the learned scientific societies founded in many countries in the late 17th C and 18th C. Became closely tied to the state and its agendas

Johannes Kepler

German astronomer who first stated laws of planetary motion (1571-1630)