13. age of reason€¦ · 13. age of reason author: windows user created date: 10/22/2019 8:56:59...
TRANSCRIPT
Scientific Revolution
Scientific Revolution
Definition:
• new way of thinking about the natural world based on careful observation and a willingness to question
Scientific Revolution
Influences:
• Renaissance inspired new curiosity
• Exploration broaden European horizons
• Scientific discoveries challenge excepted thinking
• Printing press spread ideas
Nicolaus Copernicus
Contribution:
• Wrote: On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres
Nicolaus Copernicus
Old View:
• believed the earth was the center of the universe (geocentric)
New View:
• theorized that the sun was the center and the earth rotated around it (heliocentric)
Johannes Kepler
Contribution:
• gave three fundamental laws of planetary motion
Johannes Kepler
Old View:
• planetary orbits are circular with the sun sitting in the center
New View:
• planetary orbits rotated following an elliptical course (egg-shaped) with the sun sitting towards the end of the ellipse
Galileo Galilee
Contribution:
• first known scientist to regularly observe the universe using a telescope
Galileo Galilei
Old View:
• Moon was a pure substance
New View:
• Moon had a rough surface, supported Copernicus ideas
Sir Isaac Newton
Contribution:
• Wrote: The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy
Sir Isaac Newton
Old View:
• a divine spirit present in all the material things that allowed for movement (hermetic theory)
New View:
• gravity is the reason for planetary motion
• everything worked together in order like pieces to a clock and God was at the center of it that set everything in motion like a clock maker
Other Contributions
Scientific Method:
• “I think therefore I am” Rene Descartes
• French intellectual who challenged traditional ideas
• said that human reason was capable of discovering and explaining the laws of nature and man
• accepted nothing as true unless it was proved
Enlightenment
Enlightenment
• a period which produced new ideas about government
• Newton discovered natural laws governing the universe
• many believed there were natural laws governing politics, economics, and other aspects of society as well
John Locke
• Writings: “Second Treatise on Government”
• In a natural state all people are equal and independent, and none have a right to harm another’s “life, health, liberty, or possessions.”
John Locke: Ideas
• knowledge and worldview comes from one’s environment and experiences
• reason above simple faith
• people could be changed by altering their surroundings
John Locke: Ideas
• challenged the old view that monarchs possess a God-given right to rule
• people were born with natural rights that included life, liberty, and property
• For the good of society, people give up certain freedoms and empower governments to maintain order
• citizens have the right to replace any government that fails to serve the public good
John Locke: Impact
• fundamental to US Declaration of Independence
• influenced Thomas Jefferson, “life, liberty and the pursuit of hapiness”
Voltaire
• Writings: “On Intolerance”
• “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
• “I may not like what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”
Voltaire: Ideas
• known for his criticism of Christianity
• belief in religious toleration
• championed deism (an eighteenth-century religious philosophy based on reason and natural law)
– Deists believe the world is like a clock that God created and set according to his natural laws, and then let run without his intervention
Voltaire: Impact
• guaranteed in US Bill of Rights and French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
• European Monarchs reduce persecution
Jean Jacques Rousseau
• Writing: “The Social Contract”
• “No man has any natural authority over his fellow men.”
Jean Jacques Rousseau: Ideas
• argued that the general will of the people acted as a “social contract”
• Everyone, citizens and the government, should abide by this agreement
• In other words, the government should reflect the will of the people
Jean Jacques Rousseau: Impact
• inspired many of the leaders of the French Revolution who overthrew the monarchy in 1789
• influenced socialism, and nationalism
Effects of the Enlightenment
• a growing belief in progress
• a more secular outlook
• the growing importance of the individual
• a period of Revolutions