The Enlightenment Stressed That Reason Could Cure Mankind of All Past Injustices

The EnlightenmentThe Role of Reason• The Enlightenment stressed that Reason could cure mankind of all past injustices.• In such a new world a perfect society was almost insured.• Through reason man could discover the Natural Laws that regulated society.• Once that is done man can reach Progress that would guarantee human betterment.The Intellectuals and the Enlightenment• The intellectuals who adopted this position were called Philosophes.• Not all of them were French.• Few were Philosophers in the strict sense of the term.• The philosophes were social critics, publicists, political scientists, economists, and social reformers.The Age of Optimism • This was the work of Alexander Pope who believed that it was the best of all possible worlds.• Not everyone agreed.• Once such person was Voltaire.• Voltaire did this in a satire called Candide.• While others agreed with Voltaire, for the most part, the age was overly optimistic.Concerns of the Philosophes• They attacked laws, institutions, and practices.• Everything that they considered to be unreasonable or unnatural. • The Philosophes believed that the people had the capability to make the changes that would make life better.• Their view of the future was bright.A Practical Example• The American Revolution was a model.• Particularly The Declaration of Independence.• The Declaration stressed “The Pursuit of Happiness” was a fundamental human right.• Which was on par with “Life and Liberty.”• The view people could possibly obtain them was revolutionary.• This was a clear departure from the Middle Ages.DescartesEarly Background to the Enlightenment• The key players in this were Descartes, Bacon, Locke, and Newton.• Of these men, Descartes at first is important.• He sought to find a universal mathematical formula that would explain everything.Descartes Methodological Principles• Systematic Doubt.• Logical analysis.• Strict progression of synthesis.• Careful review of procedures.• And Conclusion.• He wanted to use mathematics as a language of universal precision.The World of Isaac Newton (1642-1727) • Newton is important for his work in:• Optics• Light• Gravity• and Mathematics• But more important was he work on the Social Order of the UniverseNewton’s Important Work• Newton’s Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy was published in Latin in 1687.• He should the whole universe worked according to fixed laws.• Those laws were Natural Laws.• He saw the world as a great mechanical work of God.• Soon people thought this was better than Revelation.John Locke (1632-1704)• He wrote a treatise on the defense of England’s Glorious Revolution of 1688.• This was called Two Treatises of Government in 1690.• In the Second Treatise he noted men are free, equal, and independent.• People submit to government because they find it convenient. • Not because of a divine right of the monarchy.• People make a compact or contract with the government to be governed. Locke Challenges Tradition• He denied that people submit to authority from birth.• In his Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690). • Locke believed that the newborn mind was tabula Rasa, a blank slate.• In other words, environment and reason were more important than heredity and faith.The Result of Locke’s Work• Locke paved the way for a critical examination of the Old Regime.• Consequently the men of the enlightenment grasped for what they called “The Newtonian World Machine.”The Dark Side: A Question of Hobbes• Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) had a different view.• He believed that man was driven to government by the fear of extinction.• He supports absolute monarchy.• His main work was the Leviathan (1651).The New Thinking Supports the Philosophes• Technological advances were supported by the public faith in natural law and progress.• The Philosophes cheered each and every new advance in scientific research.Advances in Biology• A key player was Linnaeus (1707-78).• He demonstrated the natural laws in family relationships.• He classified every known plant and animal and classified them by species.• He placed species in a genus and then into a class.Work in Chemistry• Two important figures were Joseph Black (1728-88) and Lavoisier (1743-94).• Lavoisier studied gasses and introduced the term oxygen.• Lavoisier also discovered that water is composed of both hydrogen and oxygen. • Lavoisier believed that all substances were composed of a relatively small number of basic elements.• That number was 23.Astronomy • One important person was Laplace (1749-1827).• He was called “The Newton of France.”• He worked on celestial mechanics and explained the movement of the solar system in as a series of mathematical formulas and theorems.Physics• An significant American was Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790).• He demonstrated that lightening and electricity were one and the same.• His experiment with a kite in a thunderstorm drew worldwide attention.• He even visited Versailles.The Impact on the Philosophes• Almost everybody in the 18th Century who thought they were somebody tried an experiment.• Voltaire was serious about Chemistry.• Montesquieu studied Physics.• Many European countries had a Royal Society to promote knowledge.• Soon this fanned out into the countryside.The Internationalization of Knowledge• The scholars or philosophes paid little attention with national borders.• Even in wartime they corresponded with each other.• In other words, it was business as usual. The Cosmopolitan World of the Eighteenth Century Thinkers• The roots of the movement were found in France and England.• Soon it spread to Scotland, Germany, Italy, Spain, and even the New World.• But more importantly, it demonstrated French domination of the cultural scene.Thomas Jefferson on FranceThe Importance of Speaking FrenchWhat Made France So Important?• French was the mode of communication.• The Salons of Paris help spread the ideas of the Enlightenment.• The Encyclopedie served as a tool to spread the ideas of the movement.• French was the language of diplomacy too.The Encyclopedie• It was edited by Denis Diderot (1713-84).• First published in 1751.• Included articles by Montesquieu, Rouseau, Voltaire, Turgot, Candorcet, and Quesnay.• Not everyone liked it, including Louis XV, the Printers, and the Church.• Louis XV’s mistress, Madame de Pompadour managed to get it in print.

The Enlightenment Stressed That Reason Could Cure Mankind of All Past Injustices

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