Historical Background: 17th
– 18th Centuries: Science, Enlightenment, Revolution:
The Discovery of New Knowledge and the Questioning of Tradition
© Susan Fleck
1)
Science before 17th
Century: not a major focus in the past
a)
Aristotle:
Natural world is important; Da Vinci – the scientist; Science & The Arts
b)
Science needed
tools (to extend power of senses) and Freedom
2)
Science during 17th
century
a)
Geocentric theory
of Universe; Ptolemy – 140bc
i)
Dominated
Church’s view about 1,500 years; Aquinas: shows heavens “God-ordained and man-centered”
b)
Nicholas
Copernicus (16th c.): Heliocentric (sun-centered) theory: his book
placed on Index (banned books)
c)
Galileo Galilei
(1564-1642): improved telescope; discovers evidence to support Copernican
theory
i)
One of 1st
thinker to clearly state that laws of nature are mathematical
ii)
Catholic
Inquisition: forced to recant, placed under house arrest. (Church repeals
ruling in 1992)
d)
Johannes Kepler
(1571-1630): Three Laws regarding planetary orbits
e)
Isaac Newton
(1642-1727): Mathematic Principles of Natural Philosophy; Laws of Gravitation
and Motion
i)
Proves
heliocentric theory; invents reflecting telescope; develops Calculus; etc. etc.
f)
Anton van
Leeuwenbock (1632-1723): magnifying lens (precursor to microscope); Micro
organisms discovered
g)
Many other
important inventions: 1608 – 1770
h)
World Exploration
during 17th century
3)
Empiricism:
Inductive reasoning; Scientific method: begins with direct observation, moves
toward general conclusions
a)
Francis Bacon
(1561-1626, English): established Baconian (scientific) method
b)
Bacon’s demand
for a planned procedure to investigate all of natural world: new theoretical
framework for science
4)
Empiricism
(epistemology): knowledge comes only (or primarily) from sensory experience
a)
Emphasizes role
of experience and evidence (especially sensory perception) in formation of
ideas (concepts)
b)
Opposite of
notion of innate ideas or traditions (faith) as basis of knowledge
c)
Thomas Hobbes
(1588-1679, English philosopher): studied “science” of human behavior
i)
Man is born
selfish & depraved; Man desires power
ii)
Man is also
rational: wants the State to maintain peace
iii)
Leviathan:
Man will give up freedom in return for protection and peace
iv)
There are no objective meanings: justice, morality,
property – subjective & changes with different cultures
d)
John Locke
(1632-1704, English philosopher): Man is born with Tabula Rasa – no innate ideas
i)
The mind is
Active, it “reflects” upon sensory perceptions (to create/abstract concepts)
e)
David Hume
(1711-1776, Scottish philosopher): empiricist and skeptic
i)
Treatise of Human Nature: intended to be naturalistic “science of man” (with
psychological basis)
ii)
“Reason is, and ought only be the slave of the
passions.”
iii)
Against existence
of innate ideas: we have knowledge only of things directly experienced
f)
The Problem of
Induction: claims based on series of observations (experiments): but can
inductive reasoning lead to knowledge:
it is not valid to presuppose events of future will always occur as in the past
(e.g. natural laws)
i)
David Hume: it is
“consistent and conceivable” that nature might stop being regular (circular
reasoning)
5)
Idealism: Reality
is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial
a)
All entities are
composed of mind or spirit
b)
Priority of
consciousness (or mind): skepticism about possibility of knowing any
mind-independent thing
c)
Religious thought
has (virtually) always privileged the supernatural over the material &
natural
6)
George Berkeley
(1685-1753, Irish Anglican Bishop & philosopher): Father of Idealism
(Subjective Idealism, or Immaterialism)
a)
Concerned:
Locke’s view opens door leading to atheism;
b)
Denies existence
of material substances: tables,
trees, etc., are only ideas in minds of perceivers
i)
Nature or matter
does not exist as a reality independent of consciousness
c)
A person is a
spirit plus ideas (a spirit perceives ideas)
d)
We believe
orderliness of nature is caused by powerful, intelligent spirit (God)
e)
A “thing” (apple)
is collection of ideas (shape, color, etc.), which are caused in our spirits by
spirit of God
i)
God gave us this
diversity of sensations: God is not a distant engineer – He produces ideas in
our minds that are first in his own mind
7)
Rationalism:
Knowledge may be derived from reason independently of the senses. A priority of
reason and intuition (innate ideas) over sensation and experience.
a)
Goal of inquiry: certainty rather than merely probable
knowledge
b)
Some empiricists
claimed that some knowledge could be derived through intuition & reasoning
alone (e.g. God’s existence)
c)
Continental
Rationalists (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz):
i)
Doctrine of
innate ideas: Mind has built into it, not just the structure of knowledge, but
also its content
ii)
Metaphysical
issues: main concern for Rationalists
iii)
Leibniz’ grand
question: Why is there something rather than nothing at all?
(1)
Reality has
necessary existence: that necessity is something like logical necessity
iv)
A priori ( from what is before) knowledge that is independent
of all particular experiences (necessary propositions)
v)
A
posteriori (from what is after) knowledge which derives from
experience
d)
René Descartes
(1596-1650): Father of Modern Philosophy; mathematician, scientist
i)
world of matter
possessing a few fundamental properties & interacting according to a few
universal laws
(1)
Empirical grounds
for his principles of physics and conception of matter
(2)
Goal: battle
skepticism (Reformation, philosophical disagreements, Copernican debates,
cultural differences)
(3)
World is capable
of being understood by means of reason: don’t believe anything that is
unreasonable
(4)
Goal: a metaphysics to justify the first principles of his physics: Meditations and Principles
ii)
Method: “withdraw
the mind from the senses”; turn toward innate ideas of essence of things (mind,
matter, God)
(1)
Deductive
reasoning – begins with general ideas
and moves toward particular truths
(2)
Skeptical
arguments: “Universal Doubt Argument”: Something
must be doing the doubting
iii)
The Argument for
Existence: Cogito, ergo sum: “I think, therefore I am”
(1)
thinking: only
thing he cannot doubt
iv)
Mind/Body
Dichotomy (dualism): World also included an immaterial mind ‘somehow’ directly
related to the brain: modern version of the mind-body problem
v)
Argument for God:
We are not perfect, but we have an idea of perfection; Therefore perfection
must originate from something more perfect than, and separate from, us; This
entity of more perfection must be God
(1)
The existence of
God is concluded NOT by faith or tradition, but by reason
e)
Baruch Spinoza
(1632-1677, Dutch): Monism: God is the only
substance- everything else is in God
i)
God has infinite
attributes; Thought and Extension are the only attributes known by human mind
ii)
Things “in” God
(in His attributes) are modes
iii)
Determinism:
nothing contingent in nature: all things determined by necessity of the divine
nature to exist and produce an effect in a certain way
iv)
Pantheism:
rejects the transcendence of God
(God is not separate from all else; God is everywhere and everything:
omnipresence)
(1)
Spinoza rejected classical
theism (Creator who remains ontologically distinct from the “natural” world)
v)
Method/Style: geometrical
treatise; definitions, axioms, propositions
vi)
Ethics: ultimate
aim is to aid us in the attainment of happiness, which is to be found in the
intellectual love of God
vii)
Epistemology: Sense
perception, resulting in ideas of the imagination, is inadequate: it is
grounded in the mind’s representation of the state of one’s own body rather
than in the direct representation of external bodies
(1)
Adequate Ideas: intellectual ideas of common things (such as
infinite & eternal mode of motion and rest)
(a)
(adequate) common
notions become axioms in a deductive system (and a movement away from deductive
inference) to rational system
(b)
Mind engages in a
different kind of cognition: reasoning (e.g. geometry)
(2)
Intuitive
Knowledge (superior): proceeds from adequate idea of God and of the
essence of things
f)
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716, German): Philosopher,
mathematician, scientist, inventor, logician
i)
Applied reason to
first principles or prior definitions (rather than using empirical evidence)
ii)
Seven fundamental
philosophical Principles (taken for granted)
iii)
Most famous:
Optimism: “God assuredly always chooses the best.”
iv)
Plenitude: the
best of all possible worlds would actualize every genuine possibility.
(Satirized, Voltaire’s Candide)
v)
Monads: ultimate
elements of universe– eternal, indestructible, subject to their own laws,
un-interacting
(1)
No material or
spatial character: interactions are only apparent; cause-and-effect is a
“well-founded” illusion
(2)
Principle of
pre-established harmony, each follows a preprogrammed set of “instructions”
peculiar to itself (it knows what to do); analogous to scientific laws
governing subatomic particles
(3)
Monads need not
be small: Each human soul is a monad
(4)
God, too, is a
monad: God wills pre-established harmony (the Great Synchronizer)
8)
Enlightenment:
Continuation from 17th century: science and philosophy
a)
Emphasis on
mind’s power of observation, to reason based on logic, in contrast to beliefs
based on religious faith
b)
Humans can
make progress, can live better
c)
Emphasis on common
experience: ignoring differences in social, cultural, religious values
d)
Optimism: freedom from tyranny & superstition
e)
Attacks on
hypocrisy & human weaknesses
(literature)
f)
Motto might be: sapere
aude: “dare to know” “think for yourself”
9)
Enlightenment
Thinkers:
a)
Philosophes: 18th
c. Intellectuals: “Republic of letters” – a world wide exchange of books,
letters, ideas
i)
Central themes:
Intellectual freedom overall
(1)
Progress: history
of improvement of humanity; knowledge of natural world; development of
technology;
(a)
Overcome ignorance
bred of superstitions
(b)
Overcome human
cruelty via social improvements & government structures: through systematic
approach
(2)
Deism: not
opposed to organized religion; but Religion should be reasonable & command highest moral behavior
(3)
Tolerance: A fair,
just, and productive society absolutely depends on religious tolerance
(4)
Natural
Rights: Freedom of the press &
freedom of religion
b)
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679): Absolute (strong central) government is needed
to control evil behavior
c)
John Locke (1632-1704): Government was created for the people: Gov’t
exists to “preserve life, liberty, & property
i)
Social Contract: If rulers do not protect the rights, then people have
the right to get a new government
ii)
Rejected absolute monarchy
iii)
American Revolution resulted from these ideas: Declaration of
Independence follows closely Locke’s 2nd treatise
iv)
Separation of powers; Property as basis for prosperity;
Constitutionalism; Modern executive & legislative power
d)
Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet ;
1694-1778, French)
i)
Anti—monarchy,
nobility, Church, religious intolerance, injustice of old order
ii)
Pro – tolerance,
freedom of religion, free speech
iii)
Candide –
satire attacking Leibniz’ concept that God created ‘the best of all worlds’
iv)
Discussed Problem
of Evil: God cannot be both benevolent and omnipotent (else why
v)
Deist: God as the
clockmaker who set all of nature in motion (natural laws, cause and effect)
vi)
Religious
differences accounted for more than 150 years of bloody wars
vii)
His main idea:
Life is better with
viii) Influenced by
e)
Jean Jacques
Rousseau (1712-1778, French): early Communism : Man born free, and
everywhere in chains.
i)
Opposed radical
individualism and property rights; For – general good of the “people”
ii)
People have been
harmed by modern civilization: gov’ts become more powerful
(1)
People ruled by
envy & what others think of them
iii)
The Social Contract: regarding people joining with others.
f)
Denis Diderot
(1713-1784, French): French Encyclopedia
(1740s) – 100 French thinkers contributed
i)
Purpose:
secularize learning; everything can be catalogued, organized into categories of
knowledge
10)
Enlightenment
thinkers of American Revolution
a)
Thomas Paine:
1776 – Common Sense: Urged military
resistance; to declare independence.
“These are the times that try men’s souls . . .”
i)
The Rights of Man: Human rights originate in nature
ii)
The Age of Reason: examined the Bible objectively & critically (contradictions).
Ostracized for criticizing Christianity
b)
Thomas Jefferson,
Polymath (1743-1826): VA Governor, Minister to France, Sec’y State, V.P., 3rd
President
i)
President of
American Philosophical Society, architect, naturalist, linguist
ii)
Declaration of
iii)
Championed human
rights, religious freedom, states’ rights, strictly limited federal government
iv)
Man of
Enlightenment: knew many leaders in
c)
Benjamin
Franklin, Polymath (1706-1790): author, satirist, printer, political theorist,
politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, diplomat: Formed first lending
library in American
i)
“First American”:
campaigned for colonial unity; first American Ambassador to
ii)
American ethos: thrift,
hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, opposition
to authoritarianism-both political and religion
11)
Enlightenment
premises in
a)
“All men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”
(Natural Rights)
b)
Governments
derive their power and authority from
“the consent of the governed” (Social Contract)
c)
When any
government infringes upon individual’s rights, “it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to
institute new Government” (Social Contract)
d)
Declared the colonies
to be “Free and
12)
Enlightenment
shapes a new government: Revolutionary War (1775-1781); U.S. Constitutional
Convention (May-Sept, 1787)
a)
New form of
government – based on the people’s right to vote
b)
Constitution: The
balance of power between three branches of government
c)
Bill of Rights: 1st
ten amendments (submitted for states’ ratification – 1789)
d)
Freedom,
democracy, and consent of the people were the foundations of the new
government.
e)
“Full” democracy
balanced by a Republic.
13)
a)
19th
Century: Civil War; 15th Amendment; Voting Rights Act of 1965
b)
20th
Century: women’s suffrage; 19th Amendment
c)
We have addressed
these issues legally, but still struggling with ‘enlightenment’ (as a whole
nation)
14)
French Revolution
(1789-1799): French bourgeoisie watched American Revolution with much interest
a)
Wanted a
‘National Assembly” like Continental Congress; Wanted document like American
Declaration
b)
Wanted a
republican constitution that would give them ‘life, liberty, and the right to
own property
c)
American: Revolution
was two groups with similar cultural values, one seeking autonomy from the
other
d)
French:
Revolution was internal class struggle and therefore an extreme clash in values
e)
1795: new
Directory kept the peace, but
f)
1799: Napoleon staged
a coup d’état, abolished the Directory; installed himself as First Consul
i)
He wins 1802
election, 3.5 million votes to 8,000: Declares himself Consul for Life (Emperor
for life, in 1804)
ii)
Economy boomed –
he supported industrialism; created Bank of France; many improvements
iii)
Napoleonic Code:
uniform system of law: brief and clear: every citizen should understand it
iv)
Gov’t reform:
Religious toleration; abolition of feudalism; Code Civil – equality before the
law
(1)
Benign Leviathan?
Government “for” the people, but not “by” them: Controlled the press (NO
criticism allowed)
v)
Philosophes loved
him for the reforms (but not declaring himself emperor – another monarch!)
15)
Industrial
Revolution: 18th century: Changed how the world produced goods;
Changed societies from agricultural to industry
a)
This began in
i)
Powerful,
wealthy, natural resources, market
ii)
b)
Rapid growth of
textile industry: mechanical devices, then aid of water power via steam engine
c)
James Watt’s
patents for steam engine: new fuels incorporated: revolutionized manufacturing
d)
One consequence:
rapid growth in cities
e)
i)
Natural Laws
of Economics: Supply and demand:
Prices & profits would be regulated to the benefit of everyone
ii)
Laissez-Faire:
(to let alone): The economy would operate as if an “invisible hand” was guiding
it
iii)
Economic
individualism: Free Market: based
upon the principle of Private Property
iv)
Freedom of
contract; Competition – best product
at best price
v)
Benefited the
factory owners much more than workers—initially; Many (most?) factory owners
viewed as tyrants
16)
Scientific
Revolution – 18th century: continuation of 17th century
advances
a)
Philosophes
suggested that humans could have a system of mutual reliance and live in
harmony:
i)
Vision from
b)
New sciences
defined: geology (1795), mineralogy (1796), zoology (1818), biology (1819)
i)
Denis Diderot:
Encyclopédie (28 volumes): 1000s illustrations, including production &
commerce
ii)
Carolus Linnaeus
(1717-98): biology classification
c)
Humans could
eventually know everything—and catalog it!