BELL WORK
Add these vocabulary words to your notes Natural Law – rule or law that governs human nature Social Contract – an agreement by which people give up
their freedom to a powerful government in order to avoid chaos
Natural Right – rights that belong to all humans at birth Philosophe – member of a group of Enlightenment
thinkers who tried to apply the methods of science to the improvement of society
Physiocrat – Enlightenment thinker who searched for natural laws to explain economics
Laissez Faire – policy allowing business to operate with little or no government interference
THE AGE OF INVENTION
The Scientific Revolution 1550-1700
Galileo formed part of the basis for developments historians call the Scientific Revolution.
This revolution caused controversies in religion, philosophy, and politics, and ended up changing the way Europeans viewed nature.
The "Scientific Revolution" refers to historical changes in thought & belief, to changes in social & institutional organization, that unfolded in Europe
Nicholas Copernicus asserted a heliocentric (sun-centered) cosmos, it ended with Isaac Newton, who proposed universal laws and a Mechanical Universe.
Change in Thinking
Renaissance and Reformation- Looked to the past for wisdom and direction
Scientific Revolution- forward thinking toward the physical universe
Scientific Revolution
THE AGE OF REASON
The Enlightenment
1685-1815
In his essay "What Is Enlightenment?" (1784), the German philosopher Immanuel Kant summed up the era's motto in the following terms: "Dare to know! Have courage to use your own reason!"
The Age of Reason
•Thinkers in Britain, in France and throughout Europe questioned traditional authority and embraced the notion that humanity could be improved through rational change.
•The purpose was to reform society using reason, challenge ideas grounded in tradition and faith, and advance knowledge through the scientific method.
The Age of Reason
The Enlightenment promoted:• Scientific Thought
• Skepticism and Intellectual Interchange
The Enlightenment opposed:• Superstition• Intolerance
THE THINKERS BEHIND THE MOVEMENT
Wrote Leviathan, which was an influential work concerning the structure of society and legitimate government.
Leviathan is regarded as one of the earliest and most influential examples of social contract theory.
Hobbes argues that people were naturally cruel, greedy, and selfish. If not strictly controlled, they would fight, rob, and oppress on another.
In order to escape the “brutish” life, people entered an agreement(social contract) by which they gave up the state of nature for an organized society.
THOMAS HOBBES
The Thinkers behind the movement
JOHN LOCKE
Viewed humanity more optimistically than Hobbes.
Saw people as basically reasonable and moral. Believed that all people had natural rights, or rights that belonged to all humans from birth.
Including the right to life, liberty and property.
Two Treatises of Government, locked argues that people formed governments to protect their natural rights. The best kind of government had limited power and was accepted by all citizens.
IN YOUR OWN WORDS, EXPLAIN WHAT IMMANUEL KANT MEANT WHEN HE WROTE –
"DARE TO KNOW! HAVE COURAGE TO USE YOUR OWN REASON!“
USE 3-5 SENTENCES AND EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWER
BELL WORK
The Thinkers behind the movement
In his work The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu created the concept of separation of powers.
He looked to improve society and human life through studying these laws scientifically
According to Montesquieu, there were three types of government: a monarchy, a republic, and a despotism.
Montesquieu believed that a government that was elected by the people was the best form of government. He believed that the success of a democracy depended upon maintaining the right balance of power and a system of checks and balances.
Montesquieu
The Thinkers behind the movement
Other famous Philosophes
Philosophe is the French word for "philosopher," and was a word that the French Enlightenment thinkers usually applied to themselves
Philosophes were public intellectuals dedicated to solving the real problems of the world.
•Voltaire
•Diderot
•Rousseau
The Thinkers behind the movement
“My trade is to say what I think”
French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher. Famous for being witty
Attacked the Catholic Church, and advocated freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state.
Voltaire wrote plays, poems, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets
Voltaire
THE THINKERS BEHIND THE MOVEMENT
Diderot is most recognized as the force behind the Encyclopédie, the foremost encyclopedia to be published in France at the eve of the French Revolution
DIDEROT
What Diderot accomplished was to create one of the most important books of the Eighteenth Century. For Diderot along with his contributors, the common purpose of which was "to further knowledge and, by so doing, strike a resounding blow against reactionary forces in church and state."
The Thinkers behind the movement
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, known as one of the most influential thinkers during the 18th-century European Enlightenment period.
He was born on June 28, 1712, in Geneva, Switzerland.
His first philosophical work, A Discourse on the Arts and Sciences, discussed how science and arts had caused the corruption of virtue and morality.
Rousseau was also a composer and music theorist.
Class Discussion1. How did the social
contract and separation of powers affect views on government?
The Social Contract and separation of
powers had a large affect on the views
on government. The Social Contract
was an agreement by which citizens
would give up the state of nature (absolute freedom) for an
organized society. The organizers of this
society would be the government and
would have to protect citizens from their
wild ways
At this time Separation of Powers
was seen as the best possible way
to protect liberty from government. One branch
would be too powerful, if there are separate branches:
legislative, executive, and judicial, then
each branch has its own responsibilities and leads to a system of checks and
balances.
Class Discussion
2. Explain and discuss the views of Hobbes.
Hobbes had a negative view on
human nature; people need to be controlled
by a powerful government
Class Discussion
3. Explain and discuss the views of Locke.
Locke thought that people were basically reasonable and moral;
they need a limited government to protect
their rights
Class Discussion
4. Explain and discuss the views of Montesquieu.
Montesquieu thought that people needed to
create government that protects against
tyranny through separation of powers.
Class Discussion
5. How did the achievements of the Scientific Revolution contribute to the Enlightenment?
The achievements of the Scientific Revolution
contributed to the Enlightenment by leading to greater
faith in the power of reason. People began
to apply reason to human nature and
government as well as to the physical world.
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