Enlightenment Benchmark A: Explain connections between the ideas of the Enlightenment and changes in the relationships between their governments

Enlightenment: Background The Enlightenment was a philosophical movement which took place in the eighteenth century, representing a culmination:  humanistic spirit of the Renaissance (ca )  and the results of the scientific revolution which had begun with the work of Copernicus, Galileo, Bacon, and Newton. Essentially, for many thinkers, the Enlightenment represented a radical break from the medieval period (i.e. the Dark Ages) and ushered in a new age of reason.

Enlightenment: Importance From the perspective of religion (especially Christianity), the Enlightenment accelerated the secularization of Western culture, liberating society from the firm authority of the Church and biblical concepts. Thus, reason became ascendant over the authority of revelation, and mankind was now moving away from Christian theism toward a new era of humanism.

Renaissance Preceded the Reformation, spanning roughly the 14th through the 16th century. The Italian Renaissance of the 15th century represented:  a re-connection of the west with classical antiquity, the absorption of knowledge (particularly mathematics)  an explosion of the dissemination of knowledge brought on by the invention of printing  the creation of new techniques in art, poetry, and architecture

Scientific Revolution Began in 1543 with Nicolaus Copernicus the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres  This was a rejection of Aristotle and Ptolemy's theories of Earth-centered universe  Instead proposed the idea of a sun-centered universe, known as the heliocentric model.  Done in opposition to the Catholic Church (which also believed earth was the center)

Geocentric vs. Heliocentric

Implications Scientific Revolution brought in important changes in which scientific investigation was conducted, as well as the philosophy of underlying scientific developments. Empiricism—It is a fundamental requirement of scientific method that all hypotheses and theories must be tested against observations of the natural world, rather than resting solely on a priori reasoning, intuition, or revelation

Famous Scientists Sir Francis Bacon ( ), inductive reasoning, proceeding from observation and experimentation. He lead the scientific revolution and changed the way science has been conducted ever since. Galileo Galilei ( ) improved the telescope and made several astonishing (for the time) astronomical observations on Venus and the moons of Jupiter. Isaac Newton ( ) developed the Theory of Universal Gravitation and calculus. Newton believed that scientific theory should be coupled with rigid experimentation.

Enlightenment Takes Shape The Enlightenment, advocated Reason as a means to establishing an authoritative system of aesthetics (art), ethics, government, and logic, which would allow human beings to obtain objective truth about the universe. Emboldened by the revolution in physics commenced by Newtonian method, Enlightenment thinkers argued that same kind of systematic thinking could apply to all forms of human activity.

Enlightenment: Major Thinkers Thomas Hobbes— “social contract” John Locke— “people have natural rights” Voltaire— “freedom of thought” Baron de Montesquieu— “separation of powers” Jean Jacques Rousseau— “good of the community”

Enlightened Ideas Within the Enlightenment, two main theories contended to be the basis of that ordering: divine right and natural law The Enlightenment did not reject the existence of God, however, believed that he ruled through cosmic order and the gave authority to kings.

Enlightened Ideas The universe was ordered by a reasonable God, and therefore his representative (King or Monarchy) on earth had the powers of that God. The orderliness of the cosmos was seen as proof of God; therefore it was a proof of the power of monarchy. Natural law, began, not as a reaction against divinity, but instead, as an abstraction: God did not rule arbitrarily, but through natural laws that he enacted on earth

Social Contract Idea expressed by Thomas Hobbes in his book, The Leviathan in The theory of the social contract is based on the assumption that all men live in a state of nature which is harsh and uncivilized. In order to move away from these conditions men enter into a contract with each other, allowing them to live in peace and unity. The theory of the social contract can be seen as a justification for the formation of the state.