The Scientific Revolution and The Enlightenment Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, thinkers, and concepts from Chapter 6 study guides on the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment.

Scientific Revolution

A new way of viewing the natural world based on careful observation and questioning of accepted beliefs.

Geocentric Theory

An earth-centered view of the universe in which the moon, sun, and planets revolve around the Earth, supported by medieval church teachings that God placed Earth at the center.

Heliocentric Theory

A sun-centered astronomical theory holding that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun, mathematically proven correct by Galileo.

Scientific Method

A series of steps, including observation, experimentation, and scientific reasoning, used to gather knowledge and draw conclusions about the physical world.

Old Science

An approach to understanding the physical world where scholars relied on ancient authorities, church teachings, common sense, and reasoning.

New Science

An approach where scholars began to use observation, experimentation, and scientific reasoning to gather knowledge and draw conclusions about the physical world.

Thomas Hobbes

A political thinker who believed humans are naturally selfish and wicked, requiring an absolute monarch and a social contract where citizens give up rights for law and order.

John Locke

A political thinker who believed people are reasonable beings with natural rights (life, liberty, property) and supported self-government and the right to overthrow unjust rulers.

The Enlightenment (Age of Reason)

An intellectual movement in the 1600s and 1700s that stressed reason, thought, and the power of individuals to solve problems.

Philosophes

French social critics in the mid-1700s whose core beliefs centered on Reason, Nature, Happiness, Progress, and Liberty.

Voltaire

An Enlightenment philosophe who championed free speech and religious toleration, influencing the U.S. Bill of Rights.

Baron de Montesquieu

An Enlightenment thinker who proposed the separation of government powers into three branches and a system of checks and balances.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

An Enlightenment philosopher who supported direct democracy and famously declared that 'Man is born free, and he is everywhere in chains'.

Mary Wollstonecraft

An Enlightenment writer who authored 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman', advocating for women's education and equal opportunities in society.

Cesare Beccaria

An Italian philosophe focused on social justice who argued laws exist to preserve order rather than avenge crimes, advocating for rights of the accused and opposing torture.

Paris

The cultural and intellectual center of the Enlightenment during the 1700s.

Salons

Regular social gatherings held in Paris where Enlightenment thinkers, philosophers, and artists met to discuss and debate new intellectual ideas.

Encyclopédie

A major multi-volume collection of essays written by Enlightenment thinkers that helped spread intellectual ideas across Europe.

Enlightened Despots

Absolute monarchs, such as Frederick the Great, Joseph II, and Catherine the Great, who enacted reforms to foster education, justice, and economic advancement to strengthen their states.

Articles of Confederation

The first government plan for the U.S. republic where citizens ruled through elected representatives, resulting in a weak national government that failed to provide order.

Federal System

A form of government established by the U.S. Constitution in which power is divided between the national government and state governments.

Checks and Balances

A system built into government branches to ensure that each branch checks the power of the others so that power is shared equally.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution that safeguard individual freedoms such as free speech and religion, and protect the rights of the accused against cruel punishment.