The Enlightenment

Montesquieu

French nobility, classical education & studied law

Persian Letters - attack on French institutions mainly Catholic Church and Monarchy

• “History is full of religious wars; but, we must take care to observe, it was not the multiplicity of religions that produced these wars, it was the intolerating spirit which animated that one which thought she had the power of governing.”

― Montesquieu, The Persian Letters

Spirit of Laws - most famous work

Separation of Powers- based on England’s system

Voltaire

middle class family in Paris, classical education, studied law

forced to flee France - lived in England 2 yrs

Philosophic Letters on the English - praised freedom of press, political freedom and religious toleration

Treatise on Toleration - argued for religious toleration

championed deism - God no direct involvement in world

Voltaire Quotes

“the holy roman empire was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire”

“I may not agree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it”

“Crush the infamous thing”

Also wrote Candide – satire attacking war, religious intolerance, etc.

Diderot

son of craftsman France, became freelance writer

early in career attacked the intolerance of Christianity

wikipedia...more like Dideropedia

greatest work was editing 1st Encyclopedia

made available the ideas of Sci Rev and Enlightenment

David Hume

Scottish philosopher

Treatise on Human Nature- bundle theory

built on Locke - human mind is a bundle of impressions

ideas reflect experiences - reason can’t answer questions that are not verified by senses

“Science of man” or social sciences - how humans interact

Adam Smith

Physiocrat (economist) credited for modern economics

Wealth of Nations - laissez-faire economics - rejected mercantilist approach – “Invisible Hand”

free trade - do away w/ tariffs that protect domestic ind.

nations wealth based on labor

also known as 19th c economic liberalism

RousseauBorn in Geneva, spent youth wandering France & Italy

The Social Contract - “General Will”

liberty achieved by doing what is best for all people

participatory democracy

Emile - on education

“Everything is good as it leaves the hands of the Author; everything degenerates in the hands of man” – education allows man to survive a corrupt society

“Woman’s Question”

• Read the handout. How do Rousseau and Wollstonecraft differ on the role of women?

“Woman’s Question”Where did women fit in the Enlightenment and the discussion of rights? - mixed results

Many male thinkers reinforce female inferiority based on “natural” biological differences

Rousseau

Others promoted women to be no different than man

Diderot, Voltaire - “women capable of all that man are”

As hostesses of salons - women play important role

Wollstonecraft

English writer founder of modern European feminism

Vindication of the Rights of Woman

contradiction of arbitrary power of men over women same as arbitrary power of monarchs over subjects

If reason is innate in all human beings why are women not entitled to same “natural rights”?

The Issue of Race

• How was the Enlightenment used to justify racist attitudes?

Culture & Society

Rococo - lavish, power, majesty w/ emphasis on pastel colors

associated with aristocracies of Old Regime

Originated in 18th c. France

Imperial Hall - Balthasar Neumann Return from Cythera - Antoine Watteau

Culture & Society

Neoclassical - return to the ancient world - built on Renaissance developments of Greek and Rome

Republican values which criticized Old Regime

Scenes of heroism and self-sacrifice

Oath of the Haratii - Jacques-Louis David

Development of Music

New musical period - classical era (1750-1830)

new instrument - piano

Mozart - child prodigy -first opera at 12

Music composed of melody, grace and emotion

Crime & Punishment

Beccaria - Italian philosophe

On Crimes and Punishments

Punishments should be effective and just

Attacked torture and capital punishment

High vs Pop Culture

High Culture - learned folks w/ fancy books and such

Universities - still taught concepts based on Greek/Latin

Pop Culture - peeons with their oral jargon

chapbooks - helped literacy rates increase

28%-85% from 1710-1789, women remained 15%

Across the board increase in drinking at both levels

Carnivals and Taverns

Religion & Enlight.

As scientific beliefs and reason gained support, Europe became more secularized

Catholic Church removed from international affairs

Toleration for religious minorities in some Catholic countries

Joseph II of Austria - Toleration Patent

Jews remained deprived of rights

Pietism - deeper devotion to God - Wesley Methodism