Philosophes
French thinkers
Population increases in the 1700s
Rising birth rates, improving medical technology, vaccines, and bubonic plague went away
Enlightenment views of religion
Overall, religion was increasingly viewed as a matter of private, rather than public concern. Structures of society grew increasingly secular.
Saw that the population was rising faster than the food supply, thought Europe was heading towards starvation
Tenaments
John Locke
Argued that natural rights were given by god, not a government, so a government couldn’t take them away. Therefore power originates with the people
Thomas Hobbes
There is no morality in the state of nature. You need government to order the chaos of nature
Scientific method
During the scientific Revolution, the scientific method was invented, which emphasizes observations and experimentation
Every body in the galaxy circled around the earth, including the sun. This was the Catholic Churches view and presumed model of the universe in midevil europe
A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792)
Urbanization
Thanks to new technologies, fewer people were required for farming, leading many to move to the cities.
Francis Bacon
The idea that human beings, just by virtue of being human, possess rights like life liberty and property
Enlightened absolutists monarchs
Salon
private drawing rooms where wealthy Parisian women would have intellectual discussions with aristocrats
Copernicus and keplers books ended up on the index of prohibited books
These new ideas from Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo are challenging established beliefs of the Catholic Church during the catholic counter reformation. The geocentric model fit nicely with scripture so the church stuck with it.
Atheism
Diderot defined it as someone who knows about god, but actively rejects his existence
Galileo Galilei
Built a telescope and observed that other planets and moons, existed, and weren’t just balls of light
Paracelsus
Rejected the humoral theory and claimed that chemical imbalances caused disease, meaning chemical remedies could be used to cure people.
Galen
Ancient Greek doctor who advanced the humoral theory of the body
Middle and upper classes had more income, rise in demand for goods increased. People began wanting larger homes and more privacy and new venues for leisure
Neoclassicism
The enlightenment
Using general principles to determine specific consitions
Despite him being a devote catholic, the pope ruled him a heretic and placed him under house arrest. But his books were published after his death
Johannes Kepler
Contagious Diseases Act
This allowed police officers to arrest any woman they suspected to be a prostitute. They were then permitted to give that woman an examination to prevent the spread of STDs. This is state-sponsered sexual assault.
Most famous French philosopher. Produced many works that criticized social and religious institutions of France. Supported religious tolerance, natural rights, but didn’t believe in democracy, only enlightened absolutism
Voltaire argued that there was a god, but god didn’t intervene in human affairs.
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
Attacked mercantilist economics. Promoted laissez-faire, free-market economy, and supply-and-demand economics.
