Chapter 19: Culture and Society in Eighteenth-Century Europe

• The Enlightenment (1720-1790) was a period of time in which scholars believed in the use of reason and scientific methods
  • Use of reason sparked a revolution throughout the world
  • This was a new way to view politics, religion, and society
  • Philosophers based their ideas on discoveries from Scientific Revolution
• Principles of Enlightened Thought
  • Reason
  • Nature
  • Happiness
  • Progress
  • Liberty
• France, Scotland, Austria, German states, Prussia participated in the Enlightenment
• Treaties of Toleration (1763)
  • Tried to clear memory of Jean Cala who was accused of murdering his son in order to stop conversion to Catholicism
• Traditional Roman values were destroyed due to decadence
• The British system consisted of a monarchy with a strong independent aristocracy that placed a check on the monarchy
• Cesare Beccaria believed that laws should be instituted to promote happiness within society
• The Enlightenment was developed in Western Europe
  • Had a greater impact on governments in Eastern Europe
  • Presented a brand new educational model
  • Key to creating a better society was seen as social reform through education
  • Russian and Austrian states increased primary education for the nobility
• Enlightenment philosophers believed that it was possible to better society
• The Progress of the Human Mind (1795) combined the ideas of educational and social reform that advanced the idea that the human mind was in a state of educational evolution
• Religious Toleration
  • Was impactful on both Eastern Europe and Western Europe
  • Increased the toleration of dissenting religious positions
• Individuals believed that the purpose of life was to increase their happiness through the advancement of their self-interests

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