Enlightenment - How Did We Get Here?
Transcript of Enlightenment - How Did We Get Here?
The Renaissance & Democratic Thinking
❖ Renaissance (1350-1600)= rebirth of culture, thought, and art $
➡ Individualism - Importance of the individual$- Civic duty$- Politics as a science $
➡ Humanism - The importance of man$- Education would lead to a better life$
➡ Secularism - Concern for worldly goods not just focusing on the
afterlife
Renaissance Art
Enthroned Madonna and Child$Cimabue$
1285
Portrait of a Man in a Turban$Jan Van Eyke$
1433
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The Reformation & Democratic Thinking
❖ Reformation (16th century)= An emergence of new thought amongst Christians that led to new Protestant Religions $
➡ Backlash against a corrupt Catholic Church - Practice of indulgences (forgiveness of sins
through pilgrimages, prayers, or donations)$- Clerical abuses $
➡ Martin Luther & John Calvin were central figures - Luther’s 3 Key Ideas$
‣ Faith alone brings salvation$‣ Faith comes through knowledge of scripture$‣ All believers are equal$
➡ Importance of the individual in religion
Reformation Architecture
St. Peter’s Basilica !Vatican City
Kandersteg Calvanist Church!Switzerland
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Discuss!
1. What was the Renaissance? What three “-isms” changed the way people thought about their own life? $
2. What were leaders and followers of the Reformation upset about? Why is education considered important to Luther and other Protestants?
The Scientific Revolution & Democratic Thinking
❖ Scientific Revolution (1500-1727)= major shifts in thinking about science and mathematics $
❖ Before the SR people mainly looked to the Bible and Aristotle’s teachings to explain the laws of nature$
➡ Scientists begin to question the natural laws and show that there were inherent truths about nature - Not just God, angered the Church$
➡ Use of reason and logic instead of faith alone - Reasoning= gaining knowledge through facts and
argumentation$- Question the laws of nature and the laws of man
Figures of the Scientific Rev.
Built a telescope to prove Copernican universe
Formulated mathematical physical laws
Gal
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Gal
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Sir I
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Discuss!
1. How did the Scientific Revolution change the way people think? What do people use instead of relying solely on the Bible?$
2. How do the ideas of the Scientific Revolution compare to the ideas of the Athenian philosophers (Aristotle and/or Plato)?
What is the Enlightenment?❖ Social critics, called philosophes, began to
question the way that society was run as well as the nature of man$
❖ Period lasted from 1680-1800 CE$
❖ Scientific Revolution showed that all things could be figured out through reason$
- Progress to better societies through reason$
❖ Enlightenment led to a shift in political thinking in Western Europe and America...
Absolutism to Constitutionalism
❖ Absolutism$
- King or Queen has absolute and total power over a land and all of its people
❖ Constitutionalism$
- Government whose power is constrained by a constitution and the monarch shares power
Magna Carta, 1215!Set limits on the King’s Power
Discuss!
1. What is the Enlightenment?$
2. What were philosophes arguing about? $
3. What is the difference between Absolutism and Constitutionalism? What Greek philosopher would like the idea of Constitutionalism? $
4. Name four core values that you think are important to Enlightenment thinkers.