UNIT 7; THE ENLIGHTENMENT BASIC VOCAB

et extra stuf from mon brain, REVIEW PG 521-524 RELIGION AND THE CHURCHES

Enlightenment

intellectual movement encouraging the pursuit of knowledge, challenging societal norms and exploring the human condition, Scientific Revolution was a catalyst for this movement, people were encouraged to leave the old, medieval, traditional way of thought behind in exchange for reason and intelligence, even leaving behind religious traditions, led to an era of discovery, change, and innovation in Europe

Skepticism

realization by some philosophies that there was something wrong with the Catholic Church, people were led to question the Church’s actions as a result of so much religious warfare and intolerance, why they cause so much bloodshed in order to force people to believe in Catholicism? with new scientific discoveries, people also questioned religious truths and traditions, and opted towards secularism

Cultural Relativism

acceptance of other cultures besides European culture, instead of judging them and placing European culture as superior as they have previously, they began to look inwards and evaluate the differences between Europeans and other cultures, such as China’s Confucism vs intolerant and violent European Christianity, showed that Europe was beginning to understand and accept other cultures rather than immediately discern that Europeans were superior as they would do in the past

John Locke

English philosopher who believed in tabula rasa, or blank mind, one’s knowledge is gathered and formed from their environment and experiences, believed that society could be changed if there was a better environment, believed that people had natural rights like life, liberty, and property, inspired many philosophes of the Enlightenment, leading them to question their equality and how European society works.

Philosophes

intellectuals of the Enlightenment, literaries, professors, journalists, political scientists, economists, statesmen, and social reformers, came from any background, even lower class, shared views and spread their ideas, circulating the Enlightenment throughout Europe.

Cosmopolitan

characteristic of sophistication, being educated, and having wide knowledge of other cultures internationally, inspired by travel literature and cultural relativism, people began appreciating and understanding different cultures and ways of life

Baron de Montesquieu

French philosophe who believed in the separation of powers in THE SPIRIT OF THE LAMB, critiqued the Catholic Church in PERSIAN LETTERS

Separation of powers

government’s power should be separated into three branches, executive, legislative, and judicial branches, prevents one person or group from possessing total power, gives a nation’s government both freedom and security, believed by Baron de Montesquieu

Voltaire

French philosophe and writer, criticized France’s absolutism and religious oppression, believed in a separation of religion and government to prevent catastrophic, damaging conflicts like wars and inquisitions, created the philosophy of Deism, his opinion against the control of the French monarchy led to more revolutions not only in France but in other countries as well

Deism

belief that god created the universe, and from there had no direct involvement ever since, world is run by natural laws, which were enacted equally on everyone no matter who they were, if god’s natural laws treated everyone equally, why didn’t societal laws also treat everyone equally?

Denis Diderot

 French philosophe and writer, believed that knowledge should be widely available to everyone, shared and collected to be easily understood, encouraging a tolerant cosmopolitan society, co editor of the ENCYCLOPEDIA, the Enlightenment was spread further with the sales of the encyclopedia.

David Hume

Scottish philosophe who studied human nature, wanted to learn about how morals were developed and affected humans, believed in observation and reflection being grounded in common sense, wrote TREATISE ON HUMAN NATURE, one of the first to study human nature

Adam Smith

Scottish philosophe who believed in the economic idea of laissez-faire. he delivered Quesnay’s economic principles and was a critic of mercantilism, tariffs, and the idea that precious metals and land were a nation’s wealth, ideals were similar to Quesnay’s and the Physiocrats, believing in the same economic principles, wrote THE WEALTH OF NATIONS, idea of laissez-faire led to modern day economics, and economic liberalism

Laissez-faire

economic idea of free market, based on one’s desires, believed by Adam Smith, shouldn’t be controlling of trade and tariff taxing, rather get products for the lowest price, leading to the lowering of prices, lead to an efficient marketplace rather than fighting over trade and competition between nations.

Economic liberalism

idea of economics, inspired by the economic principles of Smith, Quesnay, and the Physiocrats, economic liberalism encouraged each person’s individual economic freedom, leading to a free market not controlled by the government, criticizing tariffs and mercantilism.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Swiss philosophe who believed in a “social contract” between the people and the government, believed in the idea that humans began in a primitive condition, and began adopting laws and government to control private property in his Discourse on the Origins of the Inequality of Mankind, believed that the people and government form a “social contract” where the government gives the people protection and benefits, and in turn the people give up certain selfish and individual freedoms in his work The Social Contract, he also believed in a natural education, making him the catalyst for Romanticism.

Romanticism

intellectual movement based on the importance of sentiment, emotion, and heart, inspired the beginning of the nineteenth century’s art, culture, and philosophy.

Feminism

fight for women’s rights in the starting in the eighteenth century, advanced by Mary Wollstonecraft, an English writer, argued that women are entitled to the same rights as men in education, economics, and politics, fought against the notion that women should obey men, that women were inferior to men, and that men were needed to keep women under control

Salons

formal gatherings of philosophes, skeptics, and economics, hosted by wealthy elites that weren’t nobles, debated and shared their views away from the courts and high ranking nobles that did not welcome such ideas, allowed the people of the Enlightenment to share out their ideas, it also gave women a way into the conversation via working as hostesses, allowing them to voice their political opinions informally

Rococo

new eighteenth century style, originating in France, emphasized grace and gentleness, inspired by natural objects, delicacy, and soft, curved shapes, influenced architecture and decoration, and compared to the harshness of the Baroque style, had a light, charming, and elegant atmosphere

Neoclassicism

late eighteenth century style in Europe, originating in France, inspired by the classical Greek and Roman style, mood was more serious, emphasizing honor, patriotism, dignity, and simplicity, this segwayed into the French Revolution, where Neoclassicism was popular at the time due to it’s mood and emphasis.

High Culture

consisted of the educated people of society, the ruling class, and their social, literary, and artistic culture, one side of European culture during the Enlightenment, still using Latin as a sign of culture and education

Popular Culture

consisted of the working class, their writings, and speeches, because most of the masses still weren’t educated and literate much of popular culture was passed down orally, more crude and unofficial, but secretly loved by the upper classes

Pietism

belief adopted by the lower clergy of the Catholic Church, founded by Nikolaus von Zinzendorf, wanted to form a closer and more personal experience and connection with god

Aristotle

• Lived: 384-322 BC

• From: Greece

• Idea/Philosophy: Humans reach their highest potential when they live in an ordered society.  Favored small societies with educated citizens who all participated in the government (city states of Greece).  A king should rule with the guidance of philosophers

Plato

• Lived: 428-348 BC

• From: Athens Greece

• Idea/Philosophy: Talent determines each person’s role in society.  Feared democracy, calling it “mob rule.”  Believed that a philosopher king should rule, and be chosen for their intelligence

Elizabeth I of England

• Lived: 1558-1603

• From: England

• Idea/Philosophy: Also believed in the “divine right” to rule, but shared power with a parliament.  Thought each person was born into their proper place in society.  Viewed her role as a “caring mother” to her people   

Louis XIV

• Lived:

• From: Paris/Versailles. Monarch

• Idea/Philosophy: believed in “divine right” monarchy where a king ruled absolutely.  Argued it was the most successful type of government.

Mary Wollstonecraft

• Lived: 1759-1797

• From: England

• Idea/Philosophy: Wrote A Vindication for the Rights of Women where she argued that women should participate equally with men in both home and civic life, education, business, government, etc. 

Pierre Bayle

• Lived: 1647-1706

• From: France, Netherlands

• Idea/Philosophy: One of the most outspoken skeptics of his time.  Attacked superstition, religious intolerance, and forcing people to adopt a religion they don’t believe in (dogmatism).  Individual conscience should determine a person’s actions.  Many religions benefit the state.  Nature in all its glory should compel man to believe in god (blind faith)

Immanuel Kant

• Lived: 1724-1804

• From: Konigsberg (Germany)

• Idea/Philosophy: Transcendental Idealism: emphasizes the distinction between what we can experience and observe in the natural world as well as forces he believes to be present, but that he cannot observe (god, the human soul, etc)

Thomas Hobbes

• Lived: 1588-1679

• From: England

• Idea/Philosophy: People were naturally evil, wicked, greedy, and selfish and needed a strong government to protect them from themselves.

Francois Quesnay

• Lived: 1694-1774

• From: France

• Idea/Philosophy: Leader of the physiocrats (people who believe that agriculture should be the cornerstone of the economy, and that natural forces like supply and demand actually drive markets.

• Fierce critic of mercantilism.  He and Adam Smith believed that governments shouldn’t control or interfere with the economy.   This would later be called laissez faire  (noninterference)

Natural laws

laws of physical world that affects all people equally, discovered by Newton

Natural rights

unalienable rights that all humans have, John Locke’s rights of life, liberty, and property

Madame Geoffrin

well known for hosting salons, was open to many people for discussion and debates, became famous throughout Europe, provided a place for Enlightenment and philosophe ideas to flourish

Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle

writes a love story about the astronomical work of Kepler and Brah, abt mars and venus orbits, many people are becoming literate so this reaches people who are less literate

Travel literature

provided accounts for different cultures, led to cultural relativism and skepticism, ex. the discovery of Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia by James Cook in Cook’s Travels

Baron Paul d’Holbach

French philosophe of the later Enlightenment, known for his atheistic and materialistic views, advocating for determinism and rejecting the existence of free will. His work "System of Nature" challenged religious beliefs and argued for a scientific understanding of the world.

Marie-Jean de Condorcet

French philosophe of the later Enlightenment, victim of the French Revolution, wrote The Progress of the Human Mind

Mary Astell

daughter of a wealthy English merchant, wrote A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, argued for women’s rights to become educated, wrote Some Reflections upon Marriage, argued for equality of sexes in marriage

Antione Watteau

French Rococo painter known for his delicate and dreamlike scenes. Master of fête galante genre, characterized by elegant figures in lush landscapes, Return fron Cythera

Jacques-Louis David

French Neoclassical painter known for his historical and revolutionary themes. His works include Oath of the Horatii, recreated historical Roman scene of the three Horatius brothers

Cesare Beccaria

Italian philosophe and criminologist during the Enlightenment. Known for his work "On Crimes and Punishments," advocating for fair and humane criminal justice systems based on rationality, deterrence, and proportionality. Influenced the development of modern criminal law and the abolition of torture

Carnival

time of joy and revelry, where people come together wearing masks to indulge in food, drink, and merriment before the start of Lent, popular culture