Enlightenment notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering key Enlightenment terms, thinkers, and ideas discussed in the lecture.

Enlightenment

An 18th-century intellectual movement emphasizing reason, science, and human potential, originating in Europe and spreading to the English colonies.

Age of Reason

Another name for the Enlightenment, highlighting its focus on logic and rational thought.

Rationalism

The belief that knowledge should be based on reason and evidence, not faith or tradition.

Natural Law

The idea that consistent, discoverable physical laws govern all matter and events in the universe.

Rationalists

Enlightenment thinkers who relied on logic and proof, remaining skeptical of claims that lacked factual support.

Secularism

A non-religious approach to knowledge that breaks the church’s monopoly on learning.

Scientific Revolution

The period of rapid advances in science; the Enlightenment gave it a major boost but did not start it.

Empiricism

Gaining knowledge through observation, experimentation, and measurement—core to Enlightenment science.

Sir Isaac Newton

English scientist whose laws of motion and gravity showed the universe operates predictably under natural law.

Principia Mathematica

Newton’s 1687 work outlining his laws of motion and universal gravitation.

Laws of Motion

Newton’s three principles describing how objects move and interact with forces.

Law of Universal Gravitation

Newton’s concept that every mass attracts every other mass with a force proportional to their masses.

Benjamin Franklin

Colonial American who practiced applied science to solve everyday problems, embodying Enlightenment ideals.

Applied Science

Using scientific knowledge for practical improvements, a hallmark of Franklin’s work.

Lightning Rod

Franklin’s invention that safely channels lightning to ground, preventing building fires.

Franklin Stove

Efficient cast-iron heater that used less wood and distributed heat more evenly than a hearth.

Bifocal Glasses

Eyewear invented by Franklin allowing users to see both near and far through one lens.

Voltaire

French Enlightenment writer who promoted reason, criticized church authority, and likened God to a ‘clockmaker.’

Deism

Belief in a creator who sets the universe in motion but does not intervene in human affairs.

Clockmaker Analogy

Voltaire’s comparison of God to a craftsman who builds a clock (the universe) and lets it run on natural law.

John Locke

English philosopher who introduced ideas of tabula rasa, natural rights, and government by consent.

Tabula Rasa

Locke’s belief that humans are born as a blank slate, shaped by society rather than original sin.

Natural Rights

Locke’s inherent human entitlements: life, liberty, and property.

Life, Liberty, and Property

The trio of natural rights that governments must protect, according to Locke.

Social Compact (Social Contract)

Locke’s idea that people create governments by mutual consent to safeguard their natural rights.

Divine Right of Kings

The doctrine Locke rejected, which claimed monarchs ruled by God’s mandate.

Republicanism (small r)

Political philosophy growing from Enlightenment thought that places sovereignty in the people rather than a monarch.

Skepticism

Enlightenment attitude of doubting claims that cannot be proven by fact or logic.