Euro Hist thru Philosophy

descartes' rationalism

truths are discovered through pure thought and logical deduction, emphasizing the role of reason as the primary source of knowledge.

fungibility

ability to interchange a quality with another quality. refers to goods or assets that are interchangeable; personality and beliefs aren’t fungible.

predestination

the idea that God has a predetermined plan for people before they’re born

protestant reformation

a religious movement kicked off by Martin Luther in the 16th century that challenged Catholic doctrines because of Renaissance ideas of individualism, leading to the establishment of various Protestant churches; salvation by faith alone and the authority of scripture over church traditions.

Elizabeth I

came into succession after Mary died; she was a protestant queen who established the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, which aimed to create a compromise between Catholicism and Protestantism.

Protestant

the bible is the ultimate authority

Catholic

high religious figures hold the authority

Bloody Mary

tried to undo protestant reformation ideas; persecuted those who weren’t catholic

the catholic reformation

a direct response to the protestant reformation; jesuits and baroque art to spread catholic ideas

Ferdinand and Isabella

wanted religious homogeneity; threatened those who didn’t conform to catholic values; started the Spanish inquisition

The Spanish Inquisition

series of religious wars between catholics and protestants; expelled everyone who wasn’t catholic

consequences of the reformation

better courtship, literacy, work, charity, and the commencement of witch trials

the holocaust

the systematic persecution of 6 million European Jews by Nazi Germany during World War II.

the state of nature

a philosophical concept that refers to the hypothetical conditions of human life before the emergence of organized societies and government.

thomas hobbes

argued that a strong central authority was necessary to avoid chaos and violence in the state of nature.

john locke

believed that people were inherently good and that they have natural rights to life, liberty, and property, which should be protected by government.

Locke: tabula rasa and memory chain

the blank slate fills up over time, consisting of all your memories chained together. the memories connect you back to your previous self, therefore, identity persists over time

Hume

believed that there is no self and that perceptions are fleeting so therefore identity doesn’t persist over time and is ever changing

free will

the ability to make choices unconstrained by external forces, allowing individuals to act based on their own desires and reasoning.

determinism

things are determined completely by previously existing causes, suggesting that free will is an illusion.

libertarianism

emphasizes free will and the idea that humans have the autonomy to make genuine choices.

Karl Marx: economic determinism

economics is the primary force shaping societal structures and historical development, influencing ideas, culture, and social relations.

Thomas Aquinas: 5 Ways

Motion (there must be a mover for things to be in motion and that mover is God), Causation (first cause is God), Contingency (everything is a possible because of the necessary being God), Perfection (since we judge things on degrees of perfection there must be a standard to compare to, God), Design (the world is an orderly place so there must be an intelligent designer, God)

Simone de Beauvoir

women aren’t inherently defined by their biology, but rather become “the other sex” through social and cultural constructs; she emphasized the importance of individual freedom from patriarchal structures

Sigmund Freud

Id(Child), Ego (Adult), Superego (Parent)—this is how he understands self; unconscious and layered self