The West on the Eve of a New World Order :

Toward a New Heaven and a New Earth: An Intellectual Revolution in the west

Focus Questions/ID’s

• Who were the leading figures of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, and what were their main contributions – Montesquieu Voltaire Rousseau– Diderot Rene Descartes– Philosophes– Mary Wollstonecraft – Adam Smith

Toward a New Heaven and a New Earth:

• 17th C scientists fomented a Scientific Revolution: • Changed the way people viewed the universe

their place in it• Challenged conceptions and beliefs about the

nature of the external world• Affected only a small number of European

elite

18th C Intellectuals• Intellectuals popularized the ideas of the

scientific revolution• Used ideas to re examine all aspects of life

and existence• Challenged conceptions and beliefs about the

world that were dominant in the Late Middle Ages

Toward a New Heaven and a New Earth:

The Scientific RevolutionToward a New Earth

• French Philosopher Rene Descartes

• (1596 – 1650) • Father of Modern

Rationalism

• Discourse in Method, 1637– would accept only things

that his reason said were true.

Descartes

Cartesian Dualism: Argued the separation of mind and matter

• since the mind cannot be doubted but the body and material world can the two must be radically different

Scientific Revolution

• John Locks, Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690, – Theory of knowledge

• denied the existence of innate ideas

• Tabula Rasa– people molded by environment– changing the environment and

subjecting people to proper influences they could be changed and a new society created?

Enlightenment

• a movement of intellectuals who were greatly impressed with the accomplishments of the scientific revolution.

• Advocated the use of Reason, or the application of the scientific method to the understanding of all life. – Hoped that they could make progress towards

a better society than the one they inherited

Enlightenment

• Intellectuals or Philosophes of the Enlightenment– literary people, professors, journalists,

economists, political scientists, social reformers.• Nobility, middle class, a few from lower middle class

origins

• Center of the enlightenment, Paris, France – They affected intellectuals elsewhere and

created a movement that touched the entire western world

The Philosophes• Montesquieu (1689-1755) • French nobility• The Spirit of Laws, 1748

– Comparative study of government– Attempted to apply scientific method to

the social and political arena to ascertain the “natural laws” governing the social and political relationships of human beings

Montesquieu

3 basic kinds of government 1. Republic 2. Monarchy

(England) 3. Despotism

The Philosophes

• Voltaire (1694-1778) – prosperous middle class family from Paris– Studied law, Play write, Prolific author– Criticized traditional religions– Advocated religious toleration

• He was famous for his declaration “Crush he infamous thing” being religious fanaticism, intolerance and superstition

Voltaire and Deism

• Championed Deism– religious outlook shared

by most other philosophes

– built on the Newtonian World Machine,

– implied the existence of a mechanic or god who created the universe.

The Philisophes

• Diderot (1713-1784) – Son of a skilled

craftsman from eastern France

– Writer– He condemned

Christianity as fanatical and unreasonable

Diderot

• Encyclopedia, or Classified Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Trades (28 Volumes)– Purpose to change

peoples general way of thinking

New “Science of Man”

• The enlightenment belief that Newton’s scientific methods could be used to discover the natural laws underlying all areas of human life led to the emergence in the 18th C of social sciences

• Economics, Education, Politics or political science

Adam Smith• Adam Smith (1723 – 1790)

father of economics– Believed that individuals

should be free to pursue their won economic self interest

– Through the actions of these individuals all society would ultimately benefit

– Advocated laissez-faire Economic policy of government

Adam Smith

• He allotted government 3 basic functions– Protect society from invasion– Defend its citizens from injustice by means of

police force– Keep certain public works such as roads and

canals that private individuals cannot afford

Later Enlightenment• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778)

– Political beliefs presented in two major works

• Discourse on the Origins of the Inequality of Mankind

– He argued that people had adopted laws and governors in order to preserve their private property

– In the process they became enslaved by government

» What should people do to regain their freedom?

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• The social contract, 1762– He found the answer in the

concept of the social contract– An entire society agreed to be

governed by its general will • which was in theory in the best

interest of society by representing what was ethical

The “Woman’s Question”

• Maria Winkelmann, Germany– Practiced astronomer

• She applied for a position as assistant astronomer at Berlin Academy– Though highly qualified, denied

the position• Members feared setting a

precedent by hiring a woman

A London Coffeehouse•Associated with anti-government activity, means of spreading enlightenment ideas © British Museum/The Bridgeman Art Library

The “Women’s Question”

• Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 – 1797) – viewed by many as the founder of modern

European feminism

• Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 1792– The enlightenment was based on an ideal of

reason innate in all human beings,• if women have reason they too are entitled to the

same rights that men have in education and in economic and political life

Roots of Feminism

• Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792)– (The Feminist Bible)

– First Serious political & social manifesto to address women’s servitude

• Linked demands to fundamental principles of American democracy

• Helped make women’s movement part of mainstream reform

• Sociological approach to ideas of feminine & masculine challenged argument of female limitation

Mary’s Criticism of Political status

– Rights of Man should be extended to women

– “Natural Rights” – White Men and slave

justified in rebellion against monarchy & Patriarchy

– Women also

Mary’s Criticism of Education

• Unequal education created women’s dependency on men

• Women taught virtues that boys were punished for

• If women exhibited true virtues they were punished– Curiosity– Independence– High spirits

Mary’s Criticism of Marriage

• Legitimized prostitution– Women trading bodies & Procreation for economic

security– Not good for men either long term

• Demanded replacing dependency with equality• Marriage of friendship, respect & love

• Institution that subordinated women– Economically– Socially– Psychologically– Physically

The Enlightenment

in Europe

Economic Changes & Social Order

• Focus Question: – What changes occurred in the European

Economy in the 18th C, and to what degree were theses changes reflected in social patterns?

– Population growth– Cottage industry– Putting out system– High and popular culture

Economic Changes and the Social Order

• New Economic Patterns– Population growth

• 1700 120 million – 1790 190 million

– Factors in population growth• Falling death rate• Disappearance of bubonic plague• Relief of famines• Improvement in diet• Better transformation of food supplies

Improvement in Diet

• Improvement in agricultural practices– More land farmed– Yields per acre increased

• Little ice age of the 17th Century waned– Better growing conditions

• Potato and Maize of Americas– More plentiful and nutritious

Global Economy: Commercial Capitalism

• Cottage Industry/Putting-out system

• 18th C oversea trade boomed– Gold from the Americas to Spain– Gold and silver to Britain, France,

Netherlands in return for manufactured goods– British, French and Dutch bought spices, tea

and silk, cotton goods from China and Indian to sell in Europe

– Slave trade between Europe, Americas and Africa

Global Trade Patterns of the European States in the Eighteenth Century

18th C European Society • Traditional hierarchy and disparity of wealth based

on heredity• Nobles 2-3%

– exempt from all taxation,

– Administrative and military offices

• Patrician Oligarchies (in urban centers)– Dominated & controlled through city & town councils

• Middle class – Non noble office holders, financiers, bankers, merchants

– Rentiers-lived off investments

• Lower middle class – artisans, shopkeepers, small traders

• Working and unskilled class• Peasantry (85%) Free and serf

The Aristocratic Way of Life© Collection of the Earl of Pembroke/The Bridgeman Art Library

Toward a New Political Order and Global Conflict

What do historians mean by the term enlightened absolutism?

To what degree did 18th C Prussia, Austria and Russia exhibit characteristics

Prussia

• Fredrick II “The Great”– Maintained rigid social structure and Serfdom– Enlarged the military– High posts – hereditary elite

• Reforms: – Abolished torture with exception of treason

and murder cases– Limited freedom of speech and press– Religious toleration

Austria - Hapsburgs

• Empress Maria Theresa– Growth & modernization of military

• Joseph II reforms:– Abolished serfdom– Abrogated the death penalty– Established principle of equality of all before the

law– Religious reform & toleration– (alienated nobility & the church – many reversals)

Russia under Catherine the Great (1762-1796)

• No reforms

• 1785 charter exempted nobility from taxes

• Military expansion

• Declining conditions of peasants