Unit 4: Scientific, Political, and Philosophical Questions

From 1550-1750

Pre-Scientific Revolution World View

  • Aristotelian-Ptolemaic view of the universe

  • “rest” was more natural than motion

  • 10 progressively purer spheres

  • Ptolemy: 80 encased spheres

  • both fit church’s view

  • no possibility that man could alter or master nature

  • inquiry was designed to explain God’s way

Aristotle

  • Greek dude

  • Wrote Mathematics, foundation of the field of Mathematics

  • Wrote Science, foundation of the field of Science

  • Wrote many books on many ideas

  • His ideas dominated classical education before the scientific revolution

  • Geo-centric universe

Ptolemy

  • Roman guy

  • Also has geo-centric universe

  • Created the Ptolemy sky, which had fixed stars and contained fixed stars.

Ptolemy Sky - A drawing of a circle with a sun in the middle -

Scientific Revolution

  • scientific method

  • system observation of natural phenomena

  • experimentation

  • logic and reasoning

  • inquiry was to further man’s progress

Nicholas Copernicus

  • Concerning the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres

  • sun lies at center of universe

  • earth rotates on axis once a day, revolves around sun every 365 days

  • published his work after death

Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler

  • elliptical orbits

  • no uniform speed

  • orbit related to distance from sun

Galileo Galilei

  • theory of inertia

  • universe was mathematical

  • Condemned by Inquisition in 1633

Isaac Newton

Newton’s Synthesis

  1. Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

  2. Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

    1. Newtonian Universe: Copernicus’ Astronomy + Kepler’s Laws + Galileo’s Physics

    2. Proposed Laws of Universal Gravitation and 3 Laws of Motion

  3. Laws of Motion

    1. Objects at rest remain at rest and objects in motion remain in motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

    2. Force equals mass times acceleration.

    3. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Bacon, Descartes, and the Scientific Method

  1. Francis Bacon (1561-1562)

    1. Formalized and created the concept of deductive reasoning.

    2. Start with data, infer conclusions, and do qualitative research.

  2. Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

    1. Created deductive reasoning.

    2. Start with a theory, confirm with a hypothesis, and do quantitative reasoning.

  3. Cartesian Dualism

Vesalius

  • Build upon works of Galen and Ptolemy

  • On the Fabric of the Human Body

    • founder of modern biological science and anatomy

    • assembled 1st human skeletons

The Enlightenment

Definition: Influential intellectual and cultural movement of the late 17th-18th centuries that introduced a new worldview based on the use of reason, the scientific method, and progress.

Rationalism: A secular critical way of thinking in which nothing was to be accepted on faith and everything was the be submitted to reason.

  • Skepticism: Necessary and the starting point to true understanding

Political Impact: People should be ruled by law, not rulers.

  • separation of powers to prevent too much power to too few.

  • popular sovereignty

  • rulers are to look after welfare of the people.

John Locke

  • Advocated religious toleration

  • experience was source of knowledge

  • Two Treatises on Government

  • endorsed constitutional gov’t in which power derives from consent of governed

    • Social Contract

  • Tabula Rasa: Blank slate

  • “Life Liberty and Property” - excluded lsaves

  • advocated for educational reform, freedom of press, and separation of powers

Montesquieu

  • France

  • Persian Letters (1721): nature has a universal standard of justice

    • slavery is against natural law

  • The Spirit of Laws (1748)

  • Seperation of powers

  • Constitutionalism over despotism and/or republicanism

  • sovereignty came from people, not God

Voltaire (1694-1778)

  • France

  • Candide- one must cultivate one’s own garden

  • Freedom of Speech

  • Need for Change

  • Against corrupt officials, slavery, religious persecution

  • Seperation of Church and State

  • championed virtues of Britain

  • thought enlightened monarch could protect the people from the self interest of the nobles

  • “Crush the horrible thing!”

    • Why should religion exist

    • If God didn’t exist, one would have to invent him. I want my attorney, tailor, servants, and my wife to believe…

Rousseau (1712-1778)

  • born in Geneva

  • The Social Contract (1762)

  • people are naturally good

  • “general will”

  • power lies with the people

  • democracy

  • emphasized emotion and instict

  • civilization corrupted man’s natural goodness

  • believed women had capacity for intellectual development

Enlightened Absolutism

  • Frederick the Great

  • Catherine the Great

  • Maria Teresa

  • Joseph II

Absolutist Rulers claimed to PART of the enlightenment, but it was just a TRAP

P- Patronage of the philosophers

A- Absolutism

R- Reform of institutions

T- Toleration of Religious Minorities

Catherine the Great

Born 1729, Died 1796

  • 1st printing press- more books

  • jews granted civic equality

  • partition of Poland, 1772, 1793, and 1795

  • Championed French culture

  • legislative commission to reflect desires of nobles, gentry

  • Smolny Institute- 1st state institution for higher education of (noble) women

  • modeled her reign after Peter the Great creating the golden age of Russia

  • pugachev rebellion of 1773

  • splits poland between prussia, russia, and austria