AP European History Chapter 18 Notes

Toward a New World-view

The Scientific Revolution, The Enlightenment, The Enlightenment and Absolutism

Yellow: vocabulary
Pink: Main Ideas
Blue: people or places

The scientific Revolution

Scientific Thought in 1500

 What were ideas about the universe based on in the early 1500s?
o The ideas of Aristotle – Greek philosopher of the 4th century B.C.
 Were recovered during the Middle Ages, and combined with Christian doctrines
 Said motionless earth was fixed in the center of the universe (geogentric)
 Around the earth moved 10 separate transparent crystal spheres
 In the 1st 8 spheres, were embedded the moon, sun, 5 planets, and fixed stars
 Then followed 2 spheres in the Middle Ages to account for slight changes in the
position of the stars over the centuries
 Beyond the 10th sphere, was heaven with God’s throne, and the saved ones
 Angels kept the spheres moving in perfect circles
o Aristotle distinguished between world of celestial spheres and the earth (sublunar
world)
 Spheres had perfect, incorruptible “quintessence” (5th essence)
 Sublunar world – 4 imperfect, changeable elements
 Air and fire (moved up) water and earth (moved down)
 Elements could mix and be affected by an outside force
o Believed uniform force moved an object at constant speed, and the object would stop
when the force was removed
 Why were Aristotle’s ideas accepted?
o 1. Offered explanation for what they eye actually saw
o 2. Fit with Christian doctrines
 Put humans at center and made them link from throne of God

The Copernicus Hypothesis

 Who was Copernicus?

o Polish clergyman and astronomer
o Preferred Greek idea established in Renaissance Italy – sun was center of universe
 Did not support Ptolemy – detracted from majesty of perfect creator
o Said that stars and planets (including earth) revolved around the sun
 Did not question Aristotelian belief in crystal or the idea that circular motion
was most perfect and divine
o Did not publish On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres until 1543 (died that year)
 Who was Ptolemy?
 o Last great astronomer – lived in Alexandria in 2nd century AD
o Worked out rules to explain irregularities in the movement of planets
o Enabled stargazers/astrologers to track planets with great precision
o Many believed that the changing relationships between plants and stars
influenced/determined the future
 What were the effects of Copernicus’s theory?
o 1. Put the stars at rest – nightly movement = result of earth’s rotation
 Dissipated crystal sphere theory (could move stars around the earth)
o 2. Suggested universe of staggering size (earth moves around the sun but the stars
stayed in place meaning the earth was large)
o 3. Characterized earth as planet, destroying Aristotelian idea that the earthly world was
different than the heavenly one
o He was attacked by religious leaders (specifically the Protestants)
o 1616 – declared the Copernican theory false
 What other events were influential in creating doubts about traditional astronomical ideas?
o 1572 – new star appeared and shone for 2 years (actually distant exploding star)
 Contradicted idea that heavenly spheres were unchanging/perfect
o 1577 – new comet moved through the sky
 Cut straight path across impenetrable crystal spheres

From Brahe to Galileo

 Who was Tycho Brahe

o Born into Danish family – was impressed when partial eclipse of the sun occurred
exactly as expected
 Was impressed about being able to know the motion of stars
o Became Denmark’s leading astronomer with observations of the new star in 1572
o Aided by grants from the king of Denmark, he built complicated observatory
 Greatest contribution was his mass of data
 Limited understanding of math limited him
o Believed all planets revolved around the sun – entire group of planets/sun revolved
around the earth moon system
 Who was Johannes Kepler?
o Brahe’s assistant
o Originally believed in medieval thought, but went beyond this
o Formed 3 laws of planetary motion
 Said orbits of planets around the sun are elliptical, not circular
 Said planets do not move at a uniform speed in their orbits
 Showed that time a planet takes to make its complete orbit is related to its
distance from the sun
o Proved mathematically the relations of a sun-centered solar system
o In his third law, he was close to formulating the law of universal gravitation
o His work demolished the system of Aristotle and Ptolemy
 Who was Galileo Galilei?
o Examined motion and mechanics (astronomy and physics)
o Elaborated/consolidated the modern experimental method
 Rather than speculate, he conducted experience to see what would happen
 Showed that uniform force produced uniform acceleration (gravity)
 o Wrote Two New Sciences (described famous acceleration experiment)
o Formulated law of inertia – said an object continues in motion forever unless stopped
by an external force (rest = not natural state of objects)
o Made himself a telescope (heard about it in Holland) – trained it on the heavens
 Discovered the 1st four moons of Jupiter which dissolved the crystal sphere idea
 Supported Copernican theory
o Then, he looked at the moon and wrote Siderus Nuncius – turning point in the west –
going towards the scientific method – change from old to new world view
o Was employed in Florence by the Medici grand dukes of Tuscany
 Work aroused ire of some theologians
 Issue was presented in 1624 to Pope Urban VIII – permitted Galileo to write
about different possible systems of the world as long as he didn’t presume to
judge which one actually existed Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World
in 1632
 Lampooned views of Aristotle and Ptolemy and defended Copernicus
o Was eventually tried for heresy by papal inquisition
o Trial became symbol of inherent conflict between religious belief and scientific
knowledge
 What was the greatest accomplishment of the entire scientific revolution?
o New method of learning and investigating – proved capable of extension
 Who was Isaac Newton?
o United the experimental and theoretical-mathematical sides of modern science
o Interested in alchemy (changing metals into gold/silver)
o Was very religious
o Studied optics and physics
o Wrote the 3rd book of Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy called the Principia
o Wanted to integrate astronomy of Copernicus, corrected by Kepler and physics of
Galileo
 Did this by a set of mathematical laws that explain motion and mechanics – laws
of dynamics
 Law of universal gravitation – people attract each other in a precise
mathematical relationship –force of attraction is proportional to the quantity of
matter of the objects and inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between them
o The whole universe from Kepler’s elliptical orbits to Galileo’s rolling balls was unified in
one majestic system
 Francis Bacon
o Propagandist for the new experimental method (like Galileo)
o Brought about empiricism – inductive reason – don’t speculate, experiment – said
would bring more useful knowledge - inductive
 Rene Descartes
o French philosopher
o Said there was a correspondence between geometry and algebra, and that geometrical
special figures could be expressed as algebraic equations and vise versa – analytical
geometry
o Also studied optics
o Had faith in powers of human mind and scorned traditional science
o Cartesian dualism
 o Doubted everything until proven right – deductive reasoning

Causing of the Scientific Revolution (pg 601)

 What were the major causes of the scientific revolution?

o Long term contribution of medieval intellectual life and medieval universities
 Trained lawyers, doctors, and church leaders
 Taught a large amount of students – felt free
 Pursued body of knowledge and tried to arrange it meaningfully by means of
abstract theories
 Science emerged as minor but distinct branch of philosophy
 News universities with professors in math/science emerged in Italy, and then all
over Europe
 Rational/critical thinking was applied to scientific problems
 Great pathfinders either studied/taught at a university
o Renaissance stimulated scientific process
o Renaissance power of patronage
o Navigational problems of long sea voyages
 Needed to trace where people landed (longitude) – Portugal
 Royal Society of London
o Better instruments
o Role of religion
 Protestantism led to rise in modern science (Calvinists)
 Catholic church suppressed scientific theory that went against Catholicism
Some Consequences of the Scientific Revolution

 What were some of the consequences of the scientific revolution

o Began expanding new social group – international scientific community
 Shared knowledge by journals
 Goals: expansion of knowledge
 Science became competitive because scientist’s materials and psychological
rewards depended on their successes
o Introduced new knowledge about nature, and a new way of obtaining that knowledge –
modern scientific method
 Did not ever base conclusions on tradition and established sources
o Did not have a big impact on economy until 18th century
o Had impact on how people thought and believed
o They did not have the link between theoretical or pure and applied technology which
we take for granted today

The Enlightenment
The Emergence of the Enlightenment

 What were the central concepts of the enlightenment?

o 3 central concepts
  1. Methods of natural science could/should be used to examine/understand all
aspects of life – reason
 Nothing was accepted on faith
 Brought enlightened thinkers into a head-on conflict with the church –
believed in authority of Christian bible and theology
 2. Scientific method was capable of discovering the laws of human society as
well as those of nature (social science was born)
 3. Progress – believed it was possible to create better societies/people
 Belief strengthened by economic/social improvements during the 18 th
century
o Enlightenment = secular – expanded the Renaissance concentration on worldly
explanations
o Had an impact on urban class and aristocracy – not urban poor and peasants who were
struggling, and didn’t like the attacks on traditional popular beliefs
 What was the European Enlightenment?
o Broad intellectual and cultural movement
o Gained strength until 1750
o Generation that came of age between the publication of Newton’s Principia in 1687 and
the death of Louis XIV in 1715 that tied knot between scientific revolution and new
outlook on life
o Writers popularized science for the educated elite
 Who was Bernard de Fontanelle?
o French man who wrote letters
 Wanted to make science easily understandable to large audience
 Most famous work: Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds (1686)
o Fontanelle wanted to go beyond these thinker’s knowledge
o Brought science in conflict with religion – Newton (tried to explain God’s message)
o Fontanelle was cynical about claims of religion and skeptical about absolute truth –
wrote Eulogies of Scientists
 Could not voice opinion in absolute monarchy of Louis XIV
 Wrote Eulogies of Scientists
 Describe the progress that occurred prior to the Enlightenment
o Idea of progress = later 17th century
o Medieval and reformation thinkers – concerned with sin and salvation
o Humanists and renaissance – emphasized worldly matters and looked backwards
(believed they could equal knowledge of ancient thinkers but not more)
o Even Newton was an orthodox Christian who saw studies directed towards explaining
God’s message
 What were some uncertainties during this time?
o Demolition of Aristotelian medieval science – there were progressive/antireligious
implications
o Religious truth
 Protestants and Catholics both believed they know absolute truth
 Some questioned if religious unity was best (Louis XIV expelled Huguenots)
o Rapidly growing travel literature on non-European lands and cultures
 Different cultures changed the perspectives of different Europeans
 Began to look at truth ad morality in relative, not absolute terms
 If anything was possible, who could say what was right or wrong
 o John Locke’s epoch-making Essay Concerning Human Understanding
 Rejected Descartes’s idea that humans are born with ideas, and said that at
birth, a brain is a blank slate on which experience writes
 Along with Newton’s Principia, was very influential during the Enlightenment
 Also wrote Second Treatise of Civil Government
 Who was Pierre Bayle?
o French Huguenot (skeptic) who despised Louis XIV and found refuge in Netherlands
o Wrote Historical and Critical Dictionary – examined religious beliefs/persecutions of the
past
o Said nothing could ever be known beyond all doubt
o Said humanities best hope = toleration

The Philosophes and the Publc

 What was going on when Louis XIV died in 1715?

o European still had its strong Christian beliefs
 Witnessed by revival of religious orthodoxy in the beginning of the 18 th century
 What happened by the outbreak of Revolution in 1775?
o Much of Europe’s elite had embraced these ideas
 What were the philosophes?
o French word for philosopher
 Why did the enlightenment reach its highest development in France?
o 1. French = international language of educated elite in 18th century
 France = wealthiest/most populous country in Europe
o 2. French absolutism/religious orthodoxy was strong, but not too strong
o 3. French philosophes asked questions about the meaning of life, God, human nature,
good and evil, and cause and effect
 In tradition with Bayle/Fontanelle, they wanted to reach all French
o Public = different than majority of people (common people)
 Who was Jean le Rond d’Alembert?
o Frech philosophe
o Made distinction between truly enlightened and other people
 What did philosophes believe and how did they play the system?
o Believed common people were doomed to superstition and confusion because they
lacked the money and leisure to look beyond their struggle with grinding poverty
o It was illegal in France to criticize openly the church or state – radical reforms had to
circulate in manuscript form
 Who was Baron de Montesquieu?
o Wrote The Persian Letters
o Social satire published in 1721 – Persian travelers criticizing European customs
 Sneaky way to play the system
 Used wit as weapon against cruelty and suspicion
o Studied history, politics, and physical sciences
 Applied critical method to the problem of government in The Spirit of Laws
 Comparative study of republics, monarchies and despotisms
o Wanted to promote liberty and prevent tyranny
 Said despotism could be avoided if political power was divided/shared
  Said strong independent upper class was important for SEPARATION OF
POWERS
o Admired English balance of power (Parliament, king, and independent courts)
o Believed that in France, the 13 high courts (parlements) were front-line defenders of
liberty against royal despotism
 However, he was apprehensive about the poor
o Constitution of US and France was based on this theory
 Who was Francois Marie Arouet
o Most famous and representative philosophe
o Known as Voltaire
o Died millionaire because of shrewd business speculations and wrote novels
o Was imprisoned in the Bastille in Paris for insulting regent of France
 Struggled against legal injustice
 Went to England for 3 years and shared Montesquieu’s enthusiasm for English
institutions
o Wrote various works praising England and popularizing English scientific progress
o Voltaire said Newton was the greatest man because he used his genius to benefit
mankind
o Was a reformer, not a revolutionary
o Was appointed royal historian in 1743
o Began correspondence with Frederick as free thinker and enlightened monarch
o Believed humans couldn’t govern themselves (unlike Montesquieu)
 Best that one could hope for was a good monarch
o Writings challenged Catholic church and Christian philosophy at every point (like Bayle)
o Believed God was a clockmaker who made the universe and then let the population
watch it
 Who was Marquise du Chatelet
o Voltaire met her when he returned to Paris France
o Was from a high aristocracy with a passion for science
o Studied physics, math, and published scientific articles and translations
o Became Voltaire’s companion
o Was excluded from the royal academy of sciences
o Depended on private tutors (became uncertain she could make scientific discoveries)
o Discriminated because of her gender
o Spread ideas of others and her translation with an accompanying commentary of
Newton’s Principia into French
 What were the main ideas of the philosophes?
o Believed there should be no religious intolerance
o Greatest intellectual achievement = 17 volume Encyclopedia: The Rational Dictionary of
the Sciences, the Arts, and the Crafts
 Who were Diderot and Alembert?
o Edited the Encyclopedia: The Rational Dictionary of the Sciences, the Arts, and the Crafts
o Wanted to teach people to think critically and objectively about all matters
o 1st volume – dealt with atheism, the soul, and blind people – after the government
banned publication
 Pope placed it on the Catholic church’s index of forbidden books and
excommunicated those who read/bought it
  Showed human beings could use the process of reasoning to expand human
knowledge
 Believed that ignorance was not bliss
 Encyclopedia was widely read in France and Western Europe

The Later Enlightenment

 What happened after 1770?

o Unity of philosophes began to break down
o New world view = accepted by educated public
o People tried to exaggerate some enlightenment ideas excluding others to bring about
originality
 What was the System of Nature (1770)
o Written by the German born but French educated Baron Paul d’Holbach
o Said human beings were machines determined by outside forces
o Said: free will, God, and immortality of the soul were foolish
o Deists (like Voltaire) believed in God, but not established churches, were repelled by
Atheism
o Published work in Netherlands as to not be exiled from France
o Was known as generous patron and witty host of writers
 Who was David Hume?
o Scottish philosopher – argued skepticism had a powerful long term influence
o Said the human mind was nothing but a bundle of impressions
o Reason can’t tell us anything that can’t be determined by sense experience
o Undermined Enlightenment’s faith in the power of reason
 Who was Marie Jean-Caritat
o Marquis de Condorcet
o Transformed enlightenment into utopianism
o Wrote Progress of the Human Mind during the French Revolution
o Predicted that the 10th stage would be perfect
o Had to run for his life – was caught by revolutionary extremists
 Who was Rosseau
o Influenced by Diderot and Voltaire
o Believed that everyone was plotting against him
 Lived alone with his uneducated wife
o Was committed to individual freedom
o Attacked rationalism and civilization as destroying, not liberating the individual
o Said civilization was cruel
o Influenced modern child psychology and the romantic movement against the
enlightenment
o Wrote The Social Contract – general will and popular sovereignty
 General will = sacred, absolute, reflects democrats and nationalists mostly