Period 4 Vocabulary

Contextualizing the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment & The Scientific Revolution

Francis Bacon

English philosopher, statesman, and essayist who emphasized inductive reasoning (empiricism), specific to general.

Inductive reasoning

a method of drawing conclusions by going from the specific to the general

Rene Descartes

French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, considered an influential figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Emphasized deductive reasoning (rationalism), general to specific.

Deductive reasoning

a basic form of reasoning that uses a general principle or premise as grounds to draw specific conclusions.

Geocentric vs. Heliocentric

The geocentric says that the earth is at the center of the universe, and everything revolves around it. Heliocentric considers the sun as the center, and the planets revolve around the sun.

Kepler

German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher, and writer of music. Developed elliptical planetary orbits

Copernicus

A Renaissance polymath, mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic, who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center. (Heliocentric Universe)

Galileo

Italian astronomer, physicist, and engineer. Invented the telescope, and observed the stars of the Milky Way, the phases of Venus, the four largest satellites of Jupiter, Saturn's rings, lunar craters, and sunspots.

William Harvey

an English physician who was the first to recognize the full circulation of blood in the human body and to provide experiments and arguments to support this idea.

Rationalism

human knowledge comes from innate reason; humans can derive knowledge of things they have not experienced based on this innate logical and mathematical reasoning.

Empiricism

knowledge comes through sensory experience alone; generalizations are a synthesis of sensory experience

John Locke

Humans are endowed with some natural rights by God, regardless of what society they live in

Minds are a blank slate (tabula rasa); people become know what they know purely from experience; people are driven by self-interest

People willingly come together to form governments in a social contract

Natural rights

the idea that people are born with certain rights, such as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that are not dependent on laws or conventions

Deism

belief in the existence of a supreme being, who does not intervene in the universe.

Social Contract

The State and the People must work together, consent of the governed

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (The Social Contract)

A Genevan writer that wrote The Social Contract, this contract questioned the purpose and place of government and its responsibility for its citizens.

Atheism

philosophical or religious position characterized by disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods

Mary Wollstonecraft (A Vindication of the Rights of Woman)

An early feminist that challenged Jean-Jacques Rousseau, believed that women should have equal access to education, citizenship, and financial independence.

Voltaire (Candide)

A deist that advocated for the freedom of religious, he also believed that society couldn’t progress further.

Skepticism

the theory that certain knowledge is impossible, and all knowledge and belief should be approached with doubt

David Hume

A Skeptic British empiricist philosopher that believed human senses were fallible, and could not be trusted to reliably relay the truth about the world to the mind. He was a Skeptic.

Denis Diderot (Encyclopedie)

An Atheiest that believed that all forms of knowledge are derived from human reason, published the Ecyclopedie

Salons

Gatherings hosted in private homes, often by an influential woman called a salonniere. Where intellectual conversations occured.

Capitalism

an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit.

Adam Smith (An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations)

The “Father of Capitalism” that believed individuals in an economy should make decisions based on self-interest. Argued against mercantilism.

John Wesley

an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism.

Methodism

a Protestant Christian tradition that originated in 18th-century Britain and is based on the teachings of John Wesley. Emphasized the individual’s relationship with God and personal experience of salvation.

Variolation

a technique for intentionally infecting people with smallpox to create immunity to the disease

Edward Jenner

Invents an inculcation (vaccine) for smallpox using the cowpox virus to create immunity.

Inoculation

the action of immunizing someone against a disease by introducing infective material, microorganisms, or vaccines into the body.

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

An English medical pioneer that was responsible for the smallpox inoculation to Western Europe.

• Made tiny cuts on the skin and rubbed small amounts of pus from a live smallpox sore.

Rococo

Late Baroque is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration; It was secular, graceful, and hedonistic.

Mozart

a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Was most known for opera, symphony, and piano concertos, synthesized Requiem in D Minor.

Consumer Revolution

The Middle Class grew, which lead to more disposable income, and greater demands for consumer goods. There was an increase in commercial production of consuemer goods.

Neoclassicism

a Western cultural movement that emerged in the 1750s in Britain and France and drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical Greece and Rome.

Edict of Toleration

Freedom of religion for Jewish, Protestant, or Greek Orthodox citizens

Joseph II

Monarch of the Austrian Habsburgs (1765-1790) that limited the power of the Catholic Church and created the Edict of Toleration (1782)

Federick II

An Enlightened Monarch of Prussia that believed it was king’s duty was to protect and serve his people through efficient government. He reigned 1740  - 1786 and Created new departments to manage mines, forests, and commerce.

Catherine the Great

Born as a German princess, but selected to marry Peter’s grandson Peter III. Enlightened Monarch who read English and French Enlightenment philosophy. Embraced Enlightenment ideas that could further her goals, but rejected concepts that limited her political power

Enlightened Absolutism

An absolutist monarch who exercises their political power based upon the principles of the Enlightenment. They claim to rule for the well-being of their citizens

Andreas Vesalius

Renaissance anatomist who emphasized the importance of dissecting human bodies; He pioneered the study of human anatomy. one of the first physicians to accurately record and illustrate human anatomy