The Enlightenment

Chapter 17

Matching

Notes

 Notes: Spielvogel Chapter 17
The Enlightenment

➢Enlightenment Ideas
stems from a love of the Scientific Revolution – they used reason to discover the natural world
Enlightenment thinkers used reason to understand their own lives
•Search for natural laws of social world

 

grew from popularizers (those who rewrote the Scientific Revolution in layman's terms)
•esp. Bernard de Fontenelle (1657-1757), secretary of the French Royal Academy of Science – rewrote science as conversations between two normal people
•Fontenelle was not fond of religion, so he wrote that out of the scientific revolution (still persists today)

 

 

skepticism
Pierre Bayle (1647-1706) – was a Protestant, and remained so
•criticized traditional religious attitudes of superstition, intolerance, and dogmatism

•argued for complete religious toleration

•applied rationalist principles to the Bible, re-imagining its heroes as villains (David)

 

“noble savage”
came from explorers, especially James Cook's Travels

idea that indigenous peoples are closer to nature, and therefore superior

thrives in idea of Indigenous Americans as original environmentalists

 

influence of Newton & Locke
wanted to follow Newton's rules that constructed a “universal law” for planetary motion, and created universal laws of politics, economics, justice, religion, & the arts

Locke posited a “tabula rasa,” or “blank mind”
•we are born with no knowledge, and acquire everything from experience, not heredity

 

Philosophes
all Enlightenment thinkers were known as philosophes, French for philosophers
•important that it is a French word, because Paris was the center of the enlightenment

 

 

➢Some Political Philosophes
Charles de Secondat, the baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755)
Persian Letters, written as a conversation between two Persians traveling through France
•attack traditional religion

•advocates religious toleration

•denounces slavery

•use of reason to free humans from their prejudices

•all of these are the “program” of the Enlightenment (to use Spielvogel's word)

 

The Spirit of the Laws – attempt to apply scientific method to social and political life
•uncover natural, universal laws that govern social life

•three basic kinds of governments
•republics (for small states)

•monarchy (for middle-sized states)

 

 

 

•despotism (for large empires)

 

•Most significantly, advocated the importance of checks and balances, as in England

 

Voltaire (1694-1778)
began his career as a playwright, but became hugely famous (& infamous) when he published his Philosophic Letters on the English in 1733
•he praised [& exaggerated] English freedom of religion, forcing him out of French public life

 

Treatise on Toleration 1763 – England & Holland have had no problems by allowing religious toleration

believed in deism – the idea that God had created the universe, but has no present involvement in it
•most Enlightenment thinkers were deists (so was Thomas Jefferson)

 

Denis Diderot (1713-1784)
famous for his attacks on Christianity, which he viewed as fanatical and unreasonable

wrote the Encyclopedia, or Classified Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Trades
•twenty-eight-volume work designed to bring most of society into Enlightenment thinking

 

 

➢Some Social Science Philosophes
David Hume (1711-1776)
wrote the Treatise on Human Nature, arguing for a systematized “science of man”

 

Physiocrats, led by François Quesney (1694-1774) – economic rules
Physiocrats' Economic Laws
•land is the only source of wealth (argued against Mercantilist idea of gold/silver as only source of wealth)

•laissez-faire economics is best

 

Adam Smith (1723-1790), wrote Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
gave three principles of economics (which also attacked Mercantilism)
•No protective tariffs – buy instead of produce if it's cheaper

•wealth of a nation comes from labor

•state should not interfere with economic matters (laissez-faire again)
•government should only provide an army, police, & public works

 

 

➢Philosophes – the Next Generation (let's criticize the other Philosophes)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (d. 1778)
had the leisure of writing, courtesy of his mistress

Discourse on the Origins of Inequality of Mankind
•in primitive state, mankind was happy & free – private property destroyed happiness, led to laws & governors

 

The Social Contract – 1762
•the social contract is an agreement by an entire society to be governed by its general will (the wishes of everyone together)

•the general will would automatically be what is best for each individual

•requires direct democracy, since the laws must be equal to the general will

 

Émile – 1762, on education, suggested that education should foster children's natural instincts, and lead to a balance between heart and mind

 

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) – Vindication of the Rights of Women

 

 

women should not have to obey men (it's like obeying monarchs, which Enlightenment thinkers opposed)

women should have equal rights with men, since they have the capacity to reason

 

➢salons
occurred in the drawing rooms of wealthy & aristocracy (middle class was largely unaffected by Enlightenment)

hostesses would gather together philosophes and guests to have conversations (like modern “entertaining”) – gave women political/social power to influence decision-makers
it was also common for women to influence men more directly. Rousseau was funded by an older female lover; Voltaire lived on his mistress's estate.

 

ended during French Revolution due to complaints of undue female influence.

 

➢Rococo – architectural style emphasizing grace (curves) and gentle action (pursuit of pleasure/happiness/love)

➢Classical Period (Music) 1750-1820
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) – eschewed patronage for public concerts

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
prodigy

couldn't get along with patrons

Wrote for patrons and public (The Magic Flute)

 

➢Books of the Enlightenment
growth of the novel (came from romance novel tradition)

Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
reflected Enlightenment ideals at the time – blame Christianity for fall of Rome; saw Middle Ages as especially gruesome due to Christian control (not accurate)

HISTORY ALWAYS REFLECTS IDEALS OF WHEN IT IS WRITTEN

 

➢High Culture
available to the middle class (lending libraries, newspapers)

move from patronages to public (example: the novel, which began to be published by publishing houses)

 

➢Popular Culture
vs. high culture

festivals – mostly in Southern Europe (Catholic), incl. Carnival

Taverns were primary meeting places; local churches were also important

Chapbooks – possible because of spread of literacy

 

➢Other cultural changes
education moved from emphasis on Classics to emphasis on practicality (i.e. German Realschule – 1747, which gave modern languages, geography, etc.)

criminal justice
Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) – On Crimes and Punishment, argued that punishment should equal deterrent and no capital punishment.

decline of torture & executions

 

medicine
move from barber-surgeons to trained surgeons

 

Churches
nationalization of Catholic churches (like Protestant churches) – end of Society of Jesus/Jesuits

 

 

pogroms – massacre & looting of Jewish communities
•most Enlightenment thinkers were as critical of Judaism as they were of Christianity

•some said Jews should have rights because they were human

 

John Wesley (1703-1791)
•advocated personal religious experiences

•preached to common people

•people organized together into Methodist communities