The Enlightenment: Dare to Know

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The Enlightenment Dare to Know

• Have the courage to use your own understanding

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Potentially Useful AP European History Test
Preparation Tip of the Day

• Virtually every AP exam has an essay question
  related to the ideas of the Scientific Revolution
  and the Enlightenment, their implementation by
  absolute monarchs, or their impact on society!!!

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Enlightenment 1690-1789

• Philosophes dedicated to solving problems of the
  real world
• Philosophes are men, women, and even monarchs who
  wrote and published
• Many works are banned because they are critical
  of the state

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Guiding Principles of the Enlightenment

1. Methods of natural science could and should be
   used to examine and understand all aspects of
   life
2. Rationalism
3. Scientific method is capable of discovering laws
   of human society
4. Progress it is possible for human beings to
   create better societies and better people

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Emergence of Enlightenment

• Human mind capable of making progress!
• Pierre Bayle
• Can religious truths ever be known with absolute
  certainty? NO!
• Historical and Critical Dictionary ? Skepticism
• Baruch Spinoza
• Mind and body are united in one substance and God
  and nature were same thing
• Travel literature from non-European lands

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Philosophes

• Bringing light of knowledge to their ignorant
  fellow creatures
• Use of reason to attack superstition, bigotry,
  and religious fanaticism
• Why in France?
• International language of Educated Class
• No restraints (compared to Eastern Europe)
• Goal was to reach larger audience of elites
• Republic of Letters

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Philosophes

• Not opposed to religion ? favored religious
  toleration
• Spread of knowledge encouraged reform in every
  aspect of life
• Intellectual Freedom
• Freedom of Press
• National Rights and Natural Law
• Progress is result of these freedoms

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Church and State

• David Hume The Natural History of Religion
• Atheists do not believe in God
• Deists believe in God but give him no active
  role in earthly affairs
• Critics attacked the states for being tied too
  closely to Churches
• Son of Calvinist Jean Calas
• Criticized support of slavery by state
• Innocent or savage?

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John Locke 1632-1704

• Essay Concerning Human Understanding
• Tabula Rasa
• Environment writes individuals understandings and
  beliefs
• Nature vs. Nurture?
• Led to Theory of Sensationalism
• Essentially forming modern psychology and the
  powerful political notion that humanity can be
  remade

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Montesquieu (1689-1755)

• Use of satire and double meaning in novel and
  plays
• The Persian Letters
• Oppression of women Eastern political tyranny
• Rebellion in harem despotism must fail
• Criticized informal power of women in absolute
  system
• The Spirit of Laws
• Conditions that would promote liberty ?
  separation of powers and 13 High courts

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Madame du Chatelet (1706-1749)

• I would reform an abuse which cuts off, so to
  speak, half the human race.
• Voltaires companion
• First translation of Newtons Principia into
  French
• Believed womens limited role due to unequal
  education

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Question to Consider

• Did the Enlightenments emphasis on reason help
  or hinder womens entrance into the public
  sphere?
• As nature has given man the superiority above
  woman, by endowing him with greater strength both
  of mind and body, it is his part to alleviate
  that superiority, as much as possible, by the
  generosity of his behavior. David Hume
• Woman is no more determined by nature than man,
  both sons and daughters should be educated in
  rationality and social graces Catherine
  Macaulay

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Voltaire (1694 1778)

• very rarely worthy to govern themselves
• Love God and your neighbor as yourself
• Glorified science and reason and looked for way
  to better individuals and institutions
• Pessimist ? what was best government people could
  hope for?
• Challenged Catholic Church and despised religious
  intolerance

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Diderot (1713-1784) and dAlembert (1717-1783)

• Encyclopedia The Rational Dictionary of the
  Sciences, the Arts, and the Crafts
• Change the general way of thinking
• Knowledge happiness

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David Hume (1711-1776)

• Scottish Enlightenment ? practical and scientific
  reasoning
• Human mind is bundle of impressions
• Similar to Locke
• Our ideas are our experiences and we cant
  experience God so

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DEAR Drop Everything And Read

• Book sales skyrocket
• Types of books people read change
• Reading Revolution read more books on more
  subjects and do so in silence, individually and
  then question the text

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Salons and Public Sphere

• Salons social gathering for uncensored
  discussion on variety of topics
• Philosophes, nobility and middle class
• Public Spheres idealized intellectual space
  where members of society came together as
  individuals to to discuss topics of society,
  economics, and politics
• Impact of Women on art ? Rococo

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Race

• Carl Von Linne System of Nature
• David Hume Of Natural Characters
• Immanuel Kant On the Different Races of Man
• Diderot Encyclopedia
• Questions European arrogance and exploitation of
  minors

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

• Goodness of Individual needs to be protected
• Rigid division of gender roles women destined to
  be passive
• The Social Contract political theory
• General will and popular sovereignty
• General will sometimes determined by outside
  minority looking in at situation

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Absolute Monarchies

• Components of Spread of Enlightenment
• Book Culture
• Free flowing Ideas
• Voltaire and Diderot in courts of Potsdam and St.
  Petersburg
• Vision of change is conservative
• Not promoting democracy or revolution
• Reform comes from above

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Frederick the Great (r.1740 1786)

• Focuses on how humane policies for subjects would
  strengthen state after Seven Years War
• Subjects believe what they want
• Improve intellect of country
• Reconstructed agriculture and industry following
  the war
• only the first servant of the state
• DID NOT free serfs however (or Jews)

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Catherine the Great (r. 1762-1796)

• Worked to bring Western culture into Russia
• Encyclopedia
• Domestic Reform
• Religious toleration, improve education, increase
  nobles privilege (freedom from taxation)
• Pugachevs Rebellion ? no relief for peasants
• No toleration for Jews ? Pale of Settlement
• Territorial Expansion
• Partition of Poland

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Austrian Habsburgs

• Maria Theresa (r. 1740-1780)
• Limit papacys political influence
• Strengthen central bureaucracy
• Revamped tax system
• Reduced power of lords over serfs
• Joseph II (r. 1780-1790)
• Revolutionary Emperor
• Abolished serfdom
• Rejected by everyonewhy?
• Tried to integrate Jews into society

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Jews

• Haskalah Enlightenment movement in Jewish
  community
• Argued that restrictions based on religion were
  immoral and unjust
• Social change within Jewish communities
• Control of Rabbi loosened
• Interaction with Christians increased

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Revisiting Voltaire and Others

• What was the best government the people could
  have expected at that time?
• What were the implications of each individuals
  beliefs? If implemented, what revolutions would
  transpire from these ideas? Who would benefit?