Scientific Revolution & Enlightenment and Social Contract

test 2

Scientific Revolution

A period (1500s–1700s) when observation and reason replaced superstition; birth of modern science.

Sir Francis Bacon

Developed inductive reasoning and the scientific method. Knowledge through experience.

Sir Isaac Newton

Formulated laws of motion and gravity; believed nature followed universal laws knowable by reason.

René Descartes

Emphasized deductive reasoning and logic (“I think, therefore I am”). Father of modern philosophy.

Galileo Galilei

Supported heliocentrism; improved telescope; tried by the Church for heresy.

Deductive Reasoning

From general → specific; uses logic (ex: All men are mortal → Socrates is mortal).

Inductive Reasoning

From specific → general; uses observation and experimentation.

Geocentrism

Earth-centered universe; supported by the Church.

Heliocentrism

Sun-centered solar system; proposed by Copernicus, supported by Galileo.

Deism

Belief that God created natural laws but doesn’t interfere; reason and nature reveal God. Term

Enlightenment

18th-century movement applying reason to politics, society, and human rights.

Natural Law/Natural Rights

Rights and laws given by nature or God — life, liberty, and property.

John Locke

Believed in natural rights; people can overthrow bad governments; influenced Jefferson.

Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan)

Believed people are selfish; favored absolute monarchy to prevent chaos.

Thomas Jefferson

Applied Locke’s ideas in the Declaration of Independence (“life, liberty, pursuit of happiness”).

Social Contract

Agreement between people and government for protection and order.

Natural Government

Based on consent of the governed, not divine right.