The Enlightenment

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The Enlightenment
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Essential Questions

• Why did the scientific breakthroughs of the 16th
  and 17th centuries have such a powerful effect on
  so many Enlightenment figures?
• The Enlightenment saw reason as the sole
  trustworthy guide to arriving at truth, not only
  about the natural world but also about human
  society. Why was this seen as such a radical and
  challenging idea in 18th-century Europe?
• Key Enlightenment thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes,
  John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau disagreed
  on many matterssuch as the nature of the
  individual, natural rights, or the basis of
  legitimate government. What ideas did these
  thinkers hold in common? Why did they disagree on
  so many fundamental issues?

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Essential Questions (continued)

• Aristocratic women such as Madame de Pompadour
  conducted salons where Enlightenment thinkers
  discussed issues with French aristocrats and
  other wealthy individuals. Why did such
  gatherings attract so much support from the very
  groups the Enlightenment often criticized?
• Why did a number of powerful European monarchs
  also show great interest in Enlightenment ideas?
• How did the Enlightenment contribute to the age
  of revolutions that began with the American
  Revolution and the French Revolution?

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What Was the Enlightenment?
The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement in
Europe during the 18th century that led to a
whole new worldview.
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What Is Enlightenment?

• According to the 18th- century philosopher
  Immanuel Kant, the motto of the Enlightenment
  was Sapere aude! Have courage to use your own
  intelligence! (Kant, What Is Enlightenment?
  1784)

Immanuel Kant
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The Scientific Revolution

• The Enlightenment grew largely out of the new
  methods and discoveries achieved in the
  Scientific Revolution

The equatorial armillary, used for navigation on
ships
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Francis Bacon and the Scientific Method

• The scientific method
• Observation and experimentation
• Testable hypothesis

Sir Francis Bacon
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Isaac Newton and the Scientific Method

• Used the scientific method to make a range
  of discoveries
• Newtons achievements using the scientific method
  helped inspire Enlightenment thinkers

Sir Isaac Newton
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Enlightenment Principles

• Religion, tradition, and superstition limited
  independent thought
• Accept knowledge based on observation, logic, and
  reason, not on faith
• Scientific and academic thought should be secular

A meeting of French Enlightenment thinkers
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The Marquis de Condorcet

• French mathematician
• Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress
  of the Human Spirit