The Enlightenment

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The Enlightenment

• Quest for Knowledge

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• Middle Ages 300 A.D. 1300 A.D.
• Feudal lords, serfs, Kings, manors
• Renaissance 1300 A.D. 1700 A.D.
• Changes in art and architecture, rebirth of
  learning
• Enlightenment 1700 A.D. Today
• Quest for true knowledge or absolute truth
  through the SCIENTIFIC METHOD

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Scientific Method

• Hypothesis- guess at how it works
• Test (experiment)- gather data
• Is the hypothesis correct
• If so good
• If not modify it and begin again

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Religion vs. Reason

• Before the enlightenment most people explained
  anything they did not understand through religion
• Lightning, earthquakes, eclipses, etc.
• The enlightenment thinkers encouraged people to
  find a scientific explanation for everything that
  occurs

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• They believed in God but many believed in the
  Grandfather Clock Theory- God created the world
  and then set it into motion and no longer
  controls the events that occur
• Deism is the belief that a supreme God exists and
  created the physical universe, but shall not
  intervene in its normal operation.
• God wants us to discover how the world really
  works, and by doing so we can become closer to God

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Monarchs

• Absolutism- was the concentration of power into
  the hand of an autocratic king
• Absolute Monarch a King who has complete power,
  the people have no say in government
• Gods representative on earth
• People follow a King or Queen because mandated
  that they rule good or bad

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Changes in thinking about Government

• John Locke
• State of Nature- a point in time before societies
  and governments when it was the survival of the
  fittest
• Social Contract Theory- people are willing to
  trade freedom for security and safety, but if
  their ruler is unjust, unfair, or ineffective
  they have the right to break the contract

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John Locke

• Natural Rights- Every person is born with the
  right to life, liberty, and property
• Revolution- If the King breaks his part of the
  contract the people have the right to revolt
• Revolution- a quick momentous change in a
  situation

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Enlightenment leads to many Revolutions

• Name some of them