Chapter 18 Part 2

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Chapter 18Part 2

• The Enlightenment

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A Secular World View

• For the first time in human history
• Belief that science and reason could explain all
  aspects of life
• Belief in the autonomy of mans intellect APART
  FROM GOD
• Faith in reason rather than faith in revelation

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Deism

• The Religious arm of the Enlightenment
• The existence of God was a rational explanation
  of the universe and the form it has taken
• God is seen as a cosmic creator (a cosmic
  clockmaker) who created the universe and then
  stepped back and left it runninglike a clock

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Deism

• The universe is governed by NATURAL LAWnot by a
  personal God
• Some called it, The ghost in the machine
• The supernatural has no place in human life
• Deism grew out of Newtons theories regarding
  natural law

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Belief that Scientific Method could explain the
laws of society

• Progress in society was possible if natural laws
  and how they applied to society could be
  understood
• Education was seen as a key to helping society to
  progress

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John Locke (1632-1704)

• 1690 Two Treatises of Civil Government
• Was the Philosophical defense of the Glorious
  Revolution
• In the state of nature humans are basically
  good but need protection (differed from Hobbes,
  Machiavelli)
• Governments to provide rule of law BUT only with
  the consent of the governed

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The Purpose of Government

• To protect the NATURAL RIGHTS of the people
  Life, Liberty and Property
• The Right to Rebellion the people have a right
  to abolish a government that does not protect its
  citizens natural rights

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Locke Essay Concerning Human Understanding
(1690)

• Stressed the importance of the environment on the
  individual
• Education was seen as the key
• Tabula Rasa the human mind is born as a blank
  slate and registers input from the senses

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Locke

• Saw all human knowledge as the result of sensory
  experiences without any preconceived notions
• Rejected Descartes view that all people are born
  with certain basic ideas and ways of thinking
• BUT education was necessary for social progress
  and human development (both)

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Toleration was popularized

• Remember Montaigne and Skepticism
• Bernard de Fontenelle (1657-1757) made very
  complicated scientific ideas accessible to the
  public (explained in simple terms)
• Was skeptical of absolute truth and questioned
  claims of organized religion

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Pierre Bayle (1647-1706)

• 1697 Critical and Historical Dictionary
• Advocate of complete toleration of ideas
• A person should be free to worship any religion
  or NONE AT ALL!
• WAS A MAJOR CRITIC OF Christianity and its
  attempt to impose its beliefs
• Was a skepticlike Montaigne

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The Philosophes

• Were committed to fundamental social reform
• Were not professional philosophers (like Locke
  and Descartes) but DID successfully popularize
  Enlightenment ideas
• By 1775 most of Western Europes educated elite
  had embraced the Enlightenment

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The Philosophes

• Believed in progress through discovering the
  natural laws governing nature and human existence
• Were radically optimistic about how people should
  live and govern themselves (though most did not
  have faith in the idea of true democracy for the
  great unwashed)

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Voltaire (1694-1778)

• Maybe the most influential of all of the
  Enlightenment Philosophers
• Used sharp criticism and ridicule on those who
  disagreed with his views
• Was a huge critic of the Catholic Church

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Voltaire and the Catholic Church

• Believed that prayer and miracles had no place
  with natural law
• Was strongly Deist
• Believed that human reason (not faith) was the
  key to progress (along with education, of course)

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Voltaire

• Was so critical of society that many believe he
  set the stage for the French Revolution
• He hated bigotry and injustice
• His most famous quote against religious
  intolerance, Ecracsez linfame (Crush the
  infamous thing!)

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Voltaire

• Was raised as a Christian but came to distrust
  organized religion as being corrupt
• Believed that the Churchs leadership had moved
  away from the central message of Jesus

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Voltaire

• Was an advocate of Enlightened Despotism
• A more benevolent form of absolutism was the best
  that we could hope for
• Believed that the people were incapable of
  governing themselves

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Voltaire

• Believed in equality before the law BUT
• NOT in the equality of the classes
• Influenced several Enlightened Despots
• Frederick the Great (Prussia)
• Catherine the Great (Russia)
• Joseph II (Austria)
• Napoleon (the Greatest of them all)

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Montesquieu (1689-1755)

• Member of the French nobility
• Hated Louis XIV
• 1748 Spirit of the Laws called for separation of
  powers in government3 branches
• monarchy
• nobility (the French Parlements (independent
  courts)
• the rest of the population
• Goal to promote liberty and prevent anarchy

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Montesquieu

• Favored the British system the Monarchy,
  Parliament, and independent courts
• Had lived for a time in England
• He supported the 13 Parlements in France as a
  check against tyrannical absolute rule by the
  monarch

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Montesquieu

• Had a big impact on the creation of the U.S.
  Constitution and the French Revolution

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Rousseau 1712-1788)

• The Social Contract 1762
• Believed that too much emphasis and property and
  not enough consideration of the people was a root
  cause of social injustice
• The General Will A consensus of the majority
  should control a nation (implied democracy)

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The General Will

• Will be manipulated and used later by dictators
  to rationalize extreme nationalism and tyranny
• Robespierre
• Hitler
• Mussolini
• No protection for the minority

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Rousseau

• Was part of the Enlightenment
• But better known as the founder of the Romantic
  movement
• After the French Revolution, the glorification of
  Reason will give way to the glorification of
  emotion

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Rousseau

• Believed that man in a state of nature was good
• The Noble Savage
• Man was corrupted by materialism of civilization
• Influenced the American Transcendentalists man
  was corrupted by vestiges of civilization
  (institutions)

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Rousseau and Education

• Believed in child-centered, hands-on education
• Progressive learning by doing
• Self-expression was encouraged
• Advice Love your children, cherish them
• 1762 Emile
• The Irony He left his 5 illigitimate children
  in an orphanage rather than educating and
  cherishing them

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The French Revolution

• Will be divided into 3 Ages
• The Age of Montesquieu (A Republic)
• The Age of Rousseau (Majority Rule the Reign of
  Terror)
• The Age of Voltaire (Enlightened Despotism
  Napoleon)

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Denis Diderot (1713-1784)

• 1765 The Encyclopedia the greatest and most
  representative work of the philosophes
• A huge collection of political and social
  critiques from various authors and Enlightenment
  Philosophers
• Emphasized science and reason while criticizing
  religion, intolerance, tyranny, and injustice

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The Encyclopedia

• Tried to teach people to think critically and
  objectively
• Was banned in France and placed in the Index of
  Forbidden Books by the pope

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Beccaria (Italian)

• 1764 On Crimes and Punishment
• Tried to humanize criminal law based on
  Enlightenment concepts of reason and equality
  before the law
• Punishment for a crime should be based rationally
  on the damage done to society
• Should NOT be linked to the religious concept of
  sin

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Beccaria

• Was opposed to the death penalty except in the
  case of serious threats against the state
• Opposed to the use of torture toextract
  confessions

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Beccaria

• Influenced Enlightened Despots
• Frederick the Great banned torture
• Catherine the Great restricted the use of torture
• Joseph II banned torture and the death penalty

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Economic Theory and the Enlightenment

• Economists were called Physiocrats
• Quesnay (1694-1774) Leader of the French
  Physiocrats
• Were opposed to mercantilism
• Wanted to institute Laissez-faire in agriculture
• Believed that the French government and nobility
  stifled agricultural production by their
  interference and control

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Adam Smith (1727-1790)

• Wealth of Nations 1776
• Considered the Bible of capitalism
• Advocated laissez-faire in economics of a nation
• Believed that the economy is governed by the
  NATURAL LAWS of Supply and Demand
• When people work for their own self-interest,
  they will be more productive
• Competition will encourage producers to
  manufacture most efficiently in order to sell
  higher quality, lower-cost goods than competitors
• Government regulation would only interfere and
  stifle production