Unit 4 Key Terms and People

Price Revolution

period in European history when inflation rose rapidly

English Poor Laws

a series of acts and laws that gave aid to the poor working class. From the end of the 1700's to the beginning of the 1800's, the number of people needing financial relief increased greatly. The Poor Laws worked to make working conditions better as well

three-field system

a system of farming developed in medieval Europe, in which farm land was divided into three fields of equal size and each of these was successively planted with a winter crop, planted with a spring crop, and left unplanted.

capitalist entrepreneurs

these individuals replaced guilds and would provide the money and organizational skills, which they would use to direct every stage of production

heliocentrism

Sun is the center of the universe

empiricism

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

deductive reasoning

reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning.)

inductive reasoning

A type of logic in which generalizations are based on a large number of specific observations.

absolutism

A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)

social contract

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

philosphes

Thinkers of the Enlightenment (france)

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.

invisible hand

A phrase coined by Adam Smith to describe the process that turns self-directed gain into social and economic benefits for all

Laissez-faire

Idea that government should play as small a role as possible in economic affairs.

seperation of powers

dividing the powers of government among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches

checks and balances

A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power

salons

Informal social gatherings at which writers, artists, philosophes, and others exchanged ideas

Thomas Aquinas

(Roman Catholic Church) Italian theologian and Doctor of the Church who is remembered for his attempt to reconcile faith and reason in a comprehensive theology

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.

Isaac Newton

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

Galileo Galilei

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

Francis Bacon

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

Rene Descartes

17th century French philosopher; wrote Discourse on Method; 1st principle "i think therefore i am"; believed mind and matter were completly seperate; known as father of modern rationalism

Blaise Pascal

A french mathematician and scientist. He believed that religious faith was necessary because reason alone could not satisfy peoples, hopes and aspiration. Untiy and Truth. wrote Pensees (means to think)

Thomas Hobbes

English materialist and political philosopher who advocated absolute sovereignty as the only kind of government that could resolve problems caused by the selfishness of human beings (1588-1679) leviathan

John Locke

17th century English philosopher who opposed the Divine Right of Kings and who asserted that people have a natural right to life, liberty, and property.

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. Wrote Critique of Pure Reason

Voltaire

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

Adam Smith

Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of political economics. Seen today as the father of Capitalism. Wrote On the Wealth of Nations (1776) One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment. "Laissez-faire" "invisible hand"

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, Romanticism

Baron de Montesquieu

believed government should have separation of powers

Denis Diderot

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

David Hume

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

Mary Wollstonecraft

British feminist of the eighteenth century who argued for women's equality with men, even in voting, in her 1792 "Vindication of the Rights of Women."