the age of reason began with the scientists and philosophers in europe of the 17 th and 18 th...

The Age of Reason

Began with the scientists and philosophers in Europe of the 17th

and 18th centuries

The Age of Reason

• “The Enlightenment”

• Rationalism: the belief that humans can arrive at truth by using reason– As opposed to the past and the

reliance on authority, religion, or intuition

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

• Compared God to a clock maker

• God created perfect mechanism, but let it run on its own.

• God’s gift to humanity—the ability to think logically

In the Colonies

• Early Americans had to be generalists and tinkerers—to make do with what they had

Smallpox Plague

• Scientific exploration paid off!

• Cotton Mather: religious still but willing to seek cures– Borrowed from Turkish physician the

practice of innoculation– Perspectives and practices changing—

not rigidly only religious/ seeking more scientific answers

Deism

• Seeking God through nature

• The belief that all people can discover natural laws through God-given power of reason

• The belief that the universe is orderly

• The belief that humans are good and “perfectible” through reason

View of God

• Belief that God wants us to be happy

• Best serve him by helping others

Self-Made Americans

• Rags to Riches (ie, Benjamin Franklin)

• Writings rooted in reality (pamphlets, government documents, etc.)