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'''The "European Enlightenment" or the "Enlightenment"'''
'''Overview''':
* 1680-1790
* 1680-1790
* a product of the Protestant Reformation
* an intellectual "Age of Reason"
* intellectual "Age of Reason"
* world view change from religious to secular
* world view change from religious to secular
* skepticism & religious skepticism
* marked by skepticism and inquiry
* pursuit of happiness: focus on the human condition
* pursuit of happiness: focus on the human condition
* diffusion of knowledge: books, pamphlets, publications, libraries, universities
* diffusion of knowledge: books, pamphlets, publications, libraries, universities
<br>
== Background and historical context & causes ==
* the Enlightenment arose during a time of tremendous change and uncertainty
** religious wars
** expanding world connections
** economic growth and cycles
* it may be seen as a clash of the old and the new:
** new science, new technologies, new religions, new forms of government
* it would be wrong to say, however, that the Enlightenment created the modern world
** change is incremental
** ideas evolve over time
** people and institutions resist change
** events shape that change
=== Commercial revolutions ===
* key backdrop is the growth of the private economy
** Medieval Europe & manorial feudalism
*** church-owned or heritable, aristocratic landowners via royal grants or agreements
*** agricultural or extraction labor held by landowners & taxes based on land
*** small manufactures & skilled trade controlled by guilds
** late middle-Ages Europe
*** growth in trade and movement towards taxation on trade
*** growth of towns and cities leads to commercial-based economies
** private land or structure ownership increasingly from purchase or rent and not aristocratic prerogative
=== Protestant Reformation ===
* challenge to papal supremacy and a centralized Church
* religious wars lead to tremendous destruction and loss of life
* protestant nations (Netherlands, German states, England)
=== Age of Discovery ===
* European expeditions around Africa, across the Atlantic and ultimately across the Pacific
* = a challenge to Europe-centric view of the world, exposure to different geographies and peoples
=== Scientific Revolution ===
* = a challenge to traditional views and explanations for the world
* new views and comprehension of the physical world and its forces (physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, etc)
* scientific method as means of rational interpretation of the world
=== Technological advances ===
* transoceanic travel creates great diffusion of people, animals, plants, materials and ideas
* armament technologies increase lethality of war
* as it did with the protestant reformation, the printing press fueled the diffusion of ideas


== Key dates==
== Key dates of the Enlightenment==
* 1648: end of the 30 Years War (religious dispute was a core cause of the war)
* 1648: end of the 30 Years War (religious dispute was a core cause of the war)
* 1680: publication of Isaac Newton's ''Principio Mathematica''
* 1680: publication of Isaac Newton's ''Principio Mathematica''
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** penal & criminal law enforcement and reform
** penal & criminal law enforcement and reform
*** vagrants and beggars
*** vagrants and beggars
* social contract
** the obligation of the government to protect the people and their rights
** and the obligation of the people to obey and support that government
** see [[Social contract]]


== Enlightenment core ideas ==
== Enlightenment core ideas ==
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*** the work attacked mysticism and superstition
*** the work attacked mysticism and superstition


==== taxonomy of human knowledge ====
==== Taxonomy of human knowledge ====
[[File:ENC SYSTEME FIGURE.jpeg|thumb|Fig. 3: "Figurative system of human knowledge", the structure that the Encyclopédie organised knowledge into. It had three main branches: memory, reason, and imagination.]]
[[File:ENC SYSTEME FIGURE.jpeg|thumb|Fig. 3: "Figurative system of human knowledge", the structure that the Encyclopédie organised knowledge into. It had three main branches: memory, reason, and imagination.]]
* Enlightenment's outlook was that all human knowledge and the world and universe around it can be understood rationally
* Enlightenment's outlook was that all human knowledge and the world and universe around it can be understood rationally
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== Enlightenment thinkers ==
== Enlightenment thinkers ==


=== entry structure ===
<nowiki> === alphabetical by last name===</nowiki>
<nowiki> === </nowiki>section title: first, last, alphabetical by last name
<nowiki> === </nowiki>section title: first, last, alphabetical by last name
* dates
* dates
* core ideas
* famous for:
* works
* background:
* core ideas:
* works:
* legacy:


=== Cesare Beccaria ===
=== Cesare Beccaria ===
* 1738-1794
* 1738-1794
* Italian thinker, concerned with prison reform
* considered the "father of criminal justice" or law
* core ideas:
** Italian thinker, concerned with prison reform
* works:
** wrote ''On Crimes and Punishments''
** wrote ''On Crimes and Punishments''
** condemned torture and the death penalty
** condemned torture and the death penalty
* considered the "father of criminal justice" or law


=== Pierre Bayle ===
=== Pierre Bayle ===
* core ideas
* 1647-1706
* famous for:
** important fore-runner (came before) to the ''Encyclopedists'' (see Diderot)
** promoted religious toleration
* background:
** born in France, his father was a Calvinist
** he converted to Catholicism, then returned to Calvinism and fled to Geneva
*** in Geneva he met Renee Descartes
** he then went to Netherlands and taught at university in
* core ideas:
** a French protestant ("Huguenot"), Bayle fled persecution in France for the Netherlands
** religious skepticism and toleration
** religious skepticism and toleration
* 1682 ''Reflections on Comets''
* works:
** Hailey's comet as natural phenomenon and not a mysterious event
** ''Historical and Critical Dictionary'', starting 1697
** challenged superstition
** 1682 ''Reflections on Comets''
* religious toleration
*** Hailey's comet as natural phenomenon and not a mysterious event
*** challenged superstition
* legacy
** he argued that the Bible promoted religious toleration
*** and that it did not justify use of force to coerce religious beliefs
** also argued for tolerance of different views at the university
Click EXPAND for quotations from Bayle:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
<pre>"One must transcribe almost the whole New Testament to collect all the Proofs it affords us of that Gentleness and Long-suffering, which constitute the distinguishing and essential Character of the Gospel."</pre>
<pre>
"If the Multiplicity of Religions prejudices the State, it proceeds from their not bearing with one another but on the contrary endeavouring each to crush and destroy the other by methods of Persecution. In a word, all the Mischief arises not from Toleration, but from the want of it."</pre>
<pre>"It will be an everlasting subject of wonder to persons who know what philosophy is, to find that Aristotle's authority had been so much respected in the schools for several ages, that when a disputant quoted a passage from that philosopher, he who maintained the thesis, durst not say 'Transeat' [Latin for "pass" or "allow to pass"] but must either deny the passage, or explain it in his own way—just as we treat the Holy Scriptures in the divinity schools. The parliaments, which have proscribed [prohibited] all other philosophy but that of Aristotle, are more excusable than the doctors; for whether the members of the parliament were really persuaded that that philosophy was the best of any, or whether they were not, the public good might have induced them to prohibit the new opinions, for fear the academical divisions should spread their malignant influences on the tranquility of the state.</pre>
</div>


=== Denis Diderot ===
=== Denis Diderot ===
* 1713-1784
* core ideas
* author, editor of ''l'Encyclopedie''
* author, editor of ''l'Encyclopedie''
* self-exiled to Switzerland to carry on the project in secret
* self-exiled to Switzerland to carry on the project in secret
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* Diderot quotation:
* Diderot quotation:
**''"posterity is for the philosopher what the 'other world' is for the man of religion."''
**''"posterity is for the philosopher what the 'other world' is for the man of religion."''
=== Thomas Hobbes ===
* 1588-1679
* famous for:
** "Leviathan," his treatise outlining the "social contract"
** considered a founder of modern political philosophy
* background:
** Hobbes was a supporter of the English King during the English Civil War (monarchy v. parliament)
*** Hobbes was exiled to Paris after the Parliamentarian's victory
*** he was disturbed by the violence and disorder of the English Civil War
*** in Paris he taught mathematics and interacted with French thinkers
** Hobbes published ''Leviathan'' in 1651 at age 63
* core ideas:
** the original state of man is no rules, one person against all others
** therefore, government is needed to bring order, safety and happiness to the people
*** humans have rights & liberties, but they are meaningless in a state of disorder
*** therefore, those rights & liberties can only exist under the protection of a powerful central government
*** and many of those rights & liberties must be given up in exchange for security/ protection/ safety
** that central government, however, must have the consent of the governed
*** thus Hobbes denied "divine rule"
*** = rule by decree from God (birth) v. rule by consent (agreement) of the governed
** additionally, under a strong central government, the people will be able to exercise more rights than in the state of nature, when their rights existed but were denied by a constant state of war
* the logic of Hobbes
* humans can interpret the world
* all humans have passions but the objects of their passions depend on the person
** therefore some people's passions will infringe those of others
* therefore, people fear that their passions will be denied or unfulfilled
** Hobbes identifies uncertainty as a dominant state of human life
*** people can't be sure (are uncertain) of their goals or aspirations
*** other people can deny the goals and aspirations of others
* Hobbes therefore reasons that people need certainty
** and that certainty can only be provided by a strong, central ruler
** and that "absolute" must therefore deny people of their passions
*** as those passions will contradict one another, people must give up their liberties, which lead to those passions in exchange for security
*** if given security, people can then find happiness even if denied liberty
* works:
** Hobbes taught mathematics
** ''Leviathan'' is his singular work 
* legacy:
** Hobbes questioned religious explanations, instead sought reason and logic to understand the world
** Hobbes's "social contract" established a "reason" and not just an assumed reason for a particular form of government
** while Hobbes argued for a strong central power, he did not argue for an absolute central power free of accountability
* quotations
** "Hell is truth recognized too late"  << source to do


=== Robert Hooke ===  
=== Robert Hooke ===  
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** separation of church and state
** separation of church and state
** property  
** property  
*** Locke argued that property is a natural right and is necesssary for happiness
*** Locke argued that property is a natural right and is necessary for happiness
** supply and demand or "price threory"
*** land ownership was traditionally seen as the property of the aristocracy
**** so Locke's views on property rights challenged centralized or aristocratic authority
** supply and demand or "price theory"
*** Locke developed the economic / monetary theory of the relationship between supply and demand
*** Locke developed the economic / monetary theory of the relationship between supply and demand
* works:
* works:
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=== Montesquieu ===
=== Montesquieu ===
* 1689-1755
* 1689-1755
* full name Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu
* full name Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu
* French philosopher and political thinker
* French philosopher and political thinker
* most clearly articulated the idea of "separation of powers"  
* known by Americans as the "champion of liberty"
** the American Founders quoted Montesquieu in their writings more than any other source than the Bible
** the American "Father of the Constitution, James Madison, developed his ideas of separation and balance of powers based on Montesquieu
* promoted the "separation of powers" in government
** John Locke previously discussed this notion, but it was Montesquieu who most clearly articulated them
* promoted representation of the people in the French parliament (known as the "Third Estate")
* studied the past to determine the best forms of government
* studied the past to determine the best forms of government
** developed a theory of history as driven by conditions and not specific events (see quotation below)
** developed a theory of history as driven by conditions and not specific events (see quotation below)
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</pre>
</pre>
</div>
</div>
* quotations:
** "To be truly great one has to stand with the people, not above them"


=== Isaac Newton ===
=== Isaac Newton ===
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* launched idea of a divinely-ordered universe understandable by mathematics
* launched idea of a divinely-ordered universe understandable by mathematics


=== Jonathan Swift ===
* 1667-1745


* Irish satirist and social and religious critic
* most famous for "Gulliver Travels" and "A Modest Proposal"
** both works "satirized" (made fun of) English society
* "A Modest Proposal" criticized British treatment of the Irish people
** most famously proposed the solution to Irish poverty
*** for the Irish to sell their babies to rich Englishmen to eat as food'
* his first satire, "A Tale of a Tub" criticized different Christian churches and orthodoxies
** the story tells of a father who gave a tunic each of his sons, under the condition that they could not change or alter it in any way
** as the tunics go out of style, the sons attempt to interpret the father's instructions in such a way as to allow them to alter it<br />
=== Voltaire ===
=== Voltaire ===
* 1694-1778
* 1694-1778
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* quotations:
* quotations:
** "Common sense is not so common."
** "Common sense is not so common."
== Legacy ==
* American Constitution
[[Category:World History]]
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