FROM
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION TO ENLIGHTENMENT: 17-18TH C.
I.
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 16th-17th C: Laws
of Nature as mathematical, observable
"Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in
night;
God said, ‘Let Newton be!’ and all was Light."
from: Alexander Pope, Essay on Man
(1729)
Nicolas Copernicus, Polish monk 1543 On the revolutions of heavenly sphere
Revolutionary proposals: heliocentrism
(sun centered), rejects motion of sun
replaces it with motion of earth, no
longer central to universe
Opposition to heliocentrism: 1) common sense (sun rises, sun sets)
2) Scripture: condemned by Protestants & Catholics alike
3) classical authority of Ptolemy,
ancient Greek astronomy
4) threatens entire Christian cosmology (world view), sense
of order
Galileo Galilei (1584-1642) Astronomy: popularizer of Copernican system
invention of telescope: qualitatively new
data: sees new stars, moons of Jupiter
1625 Dialogue on Two Chief World
Systems: attack on Ptolemy & Aristotle;
public defense of Copernican
system, charged with Copernican heresy
**
1630-33 trial by Roman Inquisition, required to recant his errors
publicly; says
sotto voce, "Eppure si muove" (But it does move); house
arrest in Florence
Issac Newton 1687 Principia Mathematica: three laws of
motion, inertia & gravity
as common principles underlying
all motion both earthly & heavenly motion;
calculus: mathematical description
of motion, rates of change (not just static)
II. 18th
CENTURY ENLIGHTENMENT – progressive intellectual & cultural movement
Themes: natural law, reason, optimism,
progress through applied knowledge
rejection of tradition, custom,
religion, authority
Early
Enlightenment: extension of search for immutable "natural laws"
to society and morality; rational,
universal standards opposed to
customs and traditions which differ
from rational order
VOLTAIRE:
central figure of French Enlightenment; anti-clerical and Deist
DEISM:
philosophical position based on Creator or "clockmaker" God
who creates universe, gives it natural laws, but does not
interfere
no miracles, no prayer, no personal devotion; abstract concept of God
ENCYCLOPEDIA:
intellectual project of French philosophes to compile all rational
useful knowledge in one massive, multi-volume compendium; typical
of
Later
Enlightenment (after 1750): shift away from search for order and natural laws;
reason defined in practical, utilitarian terms; dominant theme is
liberty, freedom, self-government (this leads to French
Revolution)
CESARE
BECCARIA Italian exponent of Enlightenment thought; from Milan,
lives under "enlightened
absolutism" of Austrian Hapsburg Empress Maria Theresa
1764 Of Crimes and Punishments:
treatise against death penalty, use of torture
as part of judicial process;
opposed to "cruel & unusual punishments;"
his language is incorporated
into American Constitution, Dostoyevsky
III.
POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF ENLIGHTENMENT: possible forms of
"enlightened" gov’t
ENLIGHTENED DESPOTISM OR ABSOLUTISM
gov't by "enlightened," educated monarch, who legislates
for good of society
model in eastern Europe: Prussia, Austro-Hungarian/Hapsburg Empire
(Milan)
CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY
model of English monarchy; government by King with consent of
Parliament;
limited powers of monarch combined with representation assembly combined
to
make this a "reasonable" approach; first government of French
Revolution is
1789-92 Constitutional Monarchy: Constitution drafted by National
Assembly
REPUBLICANISM
radical, non-monarchical alternative of American colonies in 1776
Revolution
JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU late Enlightenment
political thinker; from Switzerland
The Social Contract Geneva as model of self-governing city state,
republic
1792-95 First French Republic influenced by Rousseau & by American
Republic