HIST 165b Midterm Study Guide

 “between faith and theology on the one side and philosophy on the other there is no  relation and no affinity… The aim of philosophy is, quite simply, truth, while the aim of  faith, as we have abundantly shown, is nothing other than obedience and piety.  Philosophy rests on the basis of universally valid axioms, and must be constructed by  studying Nature alone, whereas faith is based on history and language, and must be  derived only from Scripture and revelation.” 

• Spinoza, Theologico Political Treatise (1670)

• Arguing that religion teaches you obedience and piety and philosophy is meant to teach you the truth

• The scripture doesn’t inhibit reason and has nothing to do with philosophy

• You can’t place the scripture as truth because the scripture is also meant to be adaptable on an intellectual level for the one that is reading it 

• Contributed to the movement that intellectual inquiry can take place outside of clerical oversight 

  • Was taken as an attack on Christianity and considered an atheist POV

• Contributed to philosophical heterodoxy, advocated for freedom of thought, and influenced modern biblical criticism/17th century rationalism

 “Thus every Part was full of Vice,  

Yet the whole Mass a Paradise; 

Flatter'd in Peace, and fear'd in Wars 

They were th'Esteem of Foreigners, 

And lavish of their Wealth and Lives, 

The Ballance of all other Hives.” 

• Bernard Mandeville, Fable of the Bees (1670-1733)

• Without vices and personal gain fueling your economy the commonwealth would fall into collapse. A restriction on accumulation prevents economic growth

• Individual morality according to a laundry list of standards won’t suffice in a new commercial world. It is social interaction and give-or-take interactions that produce individual moral orientations that are virtuous or social standards that enable virtue

• Argues that capitalism is a necessary evil for your economy to function. 

“The labour of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his.  Whatsoever then he removes out of the state that nature hath provided, and left it in, he  hath mixed his labour with, and joined to it something that is his own, and thereby makes  it his property.” 

• John Locke, Second Treatise, Two Treatises of Government (1689)

• Humans are able to claim ownership of something by weaving in their own labor with natural resources. It justifies private ownership based on effort. 

• Introduced a new interpretation of natural law, is a foundational document for natural rights/consent of the governed, was responsible for limiting power in the government (life, liberty, pursuit of propert

 “that to have the natural, kindly or generous affections strong and powerful towards the  good of the public is to have the chief means and power of self-enjoyment and that to  want them is certain misery and ill.” 

• Anthony Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury – Characteristics of Men, Manners, and Opinions (1711)

• Antithesis to Hobbe’s argument on human nature

• There is little evidence that people only act in self interest which shows through how humans will do many things that seem purposeless/no pay-off for yourself

• Being naturally affectionate isn’t because people have devious ulterior motives but because it is human nature to seek out community, kindness

• Foundation of human happiness is satisfying your self interests but also because you love others

• Two fundamental drives/passions, humans have intrinsic moral compasses and are fundamentally interested in happiness that does not come just from the acquisition of goods but from relationships with others

• Significance: Foundational documents to moral foundations of government and a more humanist approach to famous philosophers at the time like Descartes/Hume, emphasizes common sense over being purely rational

 “There is no great share of probity necessary to support a monarchical or despotic  government: the force of laws, in one, and the prince’s arm, in the other, are sufficient to  direct and maintain the whole: but, in a popular state, one spring more is necessary,  namely, virtue.” 

• Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws (1748)

• In order to maintain a monarchical/despotic government you need the law and the prince’s power in order to maintain it but those values don’t apply to a republic because virtue is the trait that is necessary for them and not a monarchy/despotic govt.

• Extremely important for modern democratic principles, advocated for checks and balances in government and also proposes that other than a despotic government, having a monarchy or having a republic would work if each of them had their respective parts fuel that machine

 “There is no trustworthy indication which will enable us among our beliefs to distinguish  the true from the false. This distinction cannot be deduced from evidence; for on the  contrary everyone says that the truths of God's revealed word are profound mysteries  which require us to surrender our intelligence in obedience to the Faith. … Nor is [the  distinction made] to satisfy our conscience, for a Papist is as satisfied with his religion,  and a Turk and a Jew with theirs, as we are with ours. Nor is it because of the courage  and zeal that belief inspires, for the falsest of religions have their martyrs… Nothing in  short can assure a man of the distinction between truth and falsehood.”

• Pierre Bayle (1682)

• One does not have a trustworthy indication that their religion is definitively correct and assuming that you just know the truth and others are wrong is faulty since those that don’t share your beliefs also have that same worldview. If you don’t have an indication that helps you distinguish truth from falsehood it is too much to ask that out of other people as well. 

• Argument for religious toleration during a time of massive religious intolerance against the Huguenots

  • Controversial text

  • Had a huge influence on the enlightenment and skepticism 

Commercial society 

• Definition: Shift into industrialization, poorer people given chances to participate in a cash economy, and turning towards the consumption model 

• Major figures: Thomas Hobbes, Mandeville, Shaftesbury 

• When did it become important: Late 17th-century

• How/Why is it important: 

  • Shift from Europe into mercantilism/needs-based/capitalistic society

  • Emergence of private property philosophy

  • Creation of Dutch East India Company/stock exchanges/exploitation of the New World

 Exclusive republicanism  

• Definition: Argument that a republic is the only legitimate form of government that grants the freedom to philosophize and ensures safety of the commonwealth’s natural rights 

• Major figures: Montesquieu, Spinoza, John Locke

• When did it became important: Late 17th-18th century, Enlightenment and French Revolution era

• How/Why is it important: Contributed to criticisms of absolutism/monarchy, eventually became assimilated into 18th-century modern world of commerce

The public sphere 

• Definition: Nebulous concept where it mostly is defined by opinion polls, dialogue, and a homogenized population. It mostly involves those that are not directly involved in bureaucratic positions and refers to what everyone is doing collectively. In the 18th-century model, it is a body of criticism that developed from “notional, moral, and ideal” spaces

• Major figures: Kant,  Shaftesbury, David Hume

• When did it become important: Late 17th century

• How/Why is it important: Development of “notional, moral, and ideal” spaces, the transformation of the word “economy” from what someone does in the household but evolved into what the collective population is doing.

“philosophe” 

• Definition: A French term for 18th-century intellectuals who were public intellectuals of many different fields. They advocated for reason and reconsideration of social institutions and accepted ideas. 

• Major figures: Kant, La Harpe, Diderot, Rousseau again, Spinoza, John Locke

• When did it become important: Late-17th century

• How/Why is it important: Significantly shaped political thought and developed ideas such as freedom of expression and government accountability/checks and balances

The reading revolution 

• Definition: A historical shift in Europe, particularly in France/Germany that shows the population transferring from intensive reading to extensive reading. People began to not just read a few books for rigorous study and instead the rise of lending libraries and new print culture led to the mass production of books for recreation. 

• Major figures: Samuel Richardson, Pierre Bayle, Marie Jeanne Riccoboni, Fanny Burney, Jane Austen, Rousseau

• When did it become important: 18th century

• How/Why is it important: 

  • Created new forms of print, novel was revolutionary , the Enlightenment was brought to more lower classes and women. 

Salons  

• Definition: The literal definition of a salon just means a room in a house that serves as a central clearing space for news, information, ideas, discourse broadly understood, and a communications center. Ultimately it was a third space for people to make contact, meet each other, and to get to know each other 

• Major figures: Voltaire, Rousseau, Du Chatalet, Diderot, Du Marsais

• When did become important: 18th century 

• How/Why is it important: 

  • Contributed greatly to the reading revolution, the rise of the lending library, and new forms of print such as novels, newspapers, moral weeklies, and literary periodicals