Chapter 17 The Eighteenth Century: An Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment in Europe ©2003 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning ™ is a trademark used herein under license.

The Enlightenment Paths to Enlightenment “Dare to know” – Immanual Kant Scientific method to understand life Popularization of Science Bernard de Fontenelle ( ), Plurality of Worlds A New Skepticism Attacked superstition, religious intolerance, and dogmatism Skepticism about religion and growing secularization The Impact of Travel Literature Travel books became very popular Captain James Cook Literature on China

The Legacy of Locke & Newton Newton reasoning could discover natural laws that govern politics, economics justice, religion, and the arts Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding knowledge derived from the environment denied Descartes’ belief in innate ideas

The Philosophes and their Ideas Came from all walks of life Paris was the “capital” Desire to change the world Call for a spirit of rational criticism 3 French Giants: Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Diderot

Montesquieu and Political Thought Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu ( ) Persian Letters, 1721 Attacks traditional religion, advocacy of religious toleration, denunciation of slavery, use of reason The Spirit of the Laws, 1748; comparative study of government

Voltaire and the Enlightenment Francois-Marie Arouet, Voltaire ( ) Criticism of traditional religion Treatise on Toleration, 1763 Deism

Diderot and the Encyclopedia Denis Diderot ( ) Encyclopedia, 28 volumes Attacked religious superstition and advocated toleration Lowered price helped to spread the ideas of the Enlightenment

Toward a New “Science of Man” David Hume Physiocrats and Adam Smith founders of modern economics François Quesnay ( ) Leader of the Physiocrat – natural economic laws Rejection of mercantilism Supply and demand

Adam Smith & Laissez-Faire Economics Adam Smith ( ) The Wealth of Nations, 1776 Attack on mercantilism Advocate of free trade Government has only three basic functions Protect society from invasion Defend individuals from injustice and oppression Keep up public works

The Later Enlightenment Jean-Jacques Rousseau ( ) Discourse on the Origins of the Inequality of Mankind; Preservation of private property had enslaved Social Contract, 1762; Tried to harmonize individual liberty with governmental authority Concept of General Will Emile, 1762; important work on education

The “Woman’s Question” in the Enlightenment Agree that the nature of women make them inferior There were some exceptions, for example Diderot Mary Astell ( ) A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, 1697 Better education and equality in marriage Mary Wollstonecraft Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 1792 Subjection of women by men wrong

Social Environment of the Philosophes Salons The influence of women Marie-Thérèse de Geoffrin ( ) Marquise du Deffand ( ) Other gathering places

Innovations in Art, Music, and Literature Rococo Art Characteristics Antoine Watteau ( ) Fragility and transitory nature of pleasure, love, and life Baroque-Rococo architectural style Balthasar Neumann ( ) Secular and spiritual interchangeable Baroque Music Johann Sebastian Bach ( ) George Frederick Handel ( ) Franz Joseph Haydn ( ) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ( )

Development of the Novel Novel is a distinct literary style Developed from Medieval literature No rules governing its design Used primarily for fictional stories Samuel Richardson ( ) Famous English writer; one of the first novelists Pamela:, or Virtue Rewarded Story about virtue and being sensible, reasoned “It were to read it for the story, you would hang yourself; you must read him for sentiment”

Novel (cont.) Writing History Henry Fielding ( ) Wrote novels that were funny and satirical Wrote about people who lived w/o reason (wits alone) Literary style included many aspects of English society at the time Historical Writing God and religion removed from primary history Focus was on events and people in them Move from just politics to culture, intellect, social, and economic history

Historical Writing Voltaire The Age of Louis XIV “It is not merely the life of Louis XIV that propose to write: we have a wider aim in view. We shall endeavor to depict for posterity, not the actions of a single man, but the spirit of men in the most enlightened age the world has ever seen.” (pg. 526) Seeks to understand ALL of humanities past and reasons, not just important people

The High Culture of the Eighteenth Century Literary and artistic world Rich and educated persons ‘world’ of exposure Theologians, scientists, poets, writers, Latin is still primary language of group Characteristics 400% increase in a few decades from 300 to 1600 Increased readership and publishing

The High Culture of the Eighteenth Century Development of magazines and newspapers for the general public Joseph Addison and Richard Steele’s Spectator Meant to be funny and witty as well as instructional Praised family, marriage, courtesy Female Spectator Aimed at women specifically Newspapers were cheap, provided news, and were free at Coffee houses and Tea houses

The High Culture of the Eighteenth Century Education & Universities Secondary education perpetuates the class divide among rich and poor Grammar School, Gymnasiums, Colleges  All examples of schools Dominant view of education is to “keep people within their social class” Holbach: “Education should teach princes to reign, ruling classes to distinguish by merit and virtue, rich to live well, and poor to live by honest industry.”

Education Universities: Were almost totally medieval in instruction Did not offer any science curriculums Were reformed to offer a more ‘enlightened’ curriculum by the 1800’s Secondary Schools Primarily Humanist curriculum still Some schools open up to train specialized jobs like bookkeeping and languages

Crime and Punishment Punishment in the eighteenth century Cesare Beccaria ( ), On Crimes and Punishments Punishment should serve only as deterrent Punishment moved away from spectacle towards rehabilitation

World of Medicine Licenses were required to practice medicine Clinical experience becomes important to be a doctor/surgeon University of Leiden Licensed very few Physicians Royal College of Physicians The ‘cutters’ of both your hair and you Started to gain prestige; formed guilds Gained equality in late 1700’s with Physicians Barber-surgeons

World of Medicine Primarily serve the common people Apothecaries = Pharmacists Midwives = OBGYN Faith Healers = whackjobs Apothecaries, midwives, and faith healers Not clean Not sanitary ‘Oft cause more harm than good Reforms are ineffectual Hospital conditions

Popular Culture (Poor folk) Distinguishing Feature: Collective and public nature of it Group activities; whole-village/town Festivals, fairs Festivals were feats, religious holidays, etc. Eating, drinking, and libations frequent Used as R&R from never-ending work of low classes Carnival Served as a period of total debauchery Expensive food, women, drink taken part of (cheaper)

Popular Culture (Poor folk) The Gathering Places Taverns Favorites in England, Ireland Male dominate to do business, drink, play Alcohol Poor drink Gin (England) and Vodka (Russia) Devastating effects on population  “Drunk for a penny, dead drunk for two” was not a saying Laws restricting sales and use reduced it but did not change the culture

Popular Culture (Poor folk) The gap between high culture and popular culture Popular Culture was “for everyone” in 1500’s Elite viewed it as ‘2 nd culture’ From , Nobility and elite give up popular culture for more ‘refined’ tastes Let the masses have their “bread and circuses”

Religion and the Churches The Catholic and Protestant Churches were conservative Church-State relations Community activities of the churches Toleration and Religious Minorities Toleration and the Jews Experiences of Ashkenazic Jews Experiences of Sephardic Jews Some Enlightenment thinkers favored acceptance of the Jews Joseph II Limited reforms toward the Jews

Religious Population in Eighteenth- Century Europe ©2003 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning ™ is a trademark used herein under license.

Popular Religion in the Eighteenth Century Catholic Piety Protestant Revivalism John Wesley ( ) Methodist societies Brought the Gospel to the people

Discussion Questions What do you see as a possible reason the Enlightenment was centered in France? Why and when did it emerge? Do you see any connection between Enlightenment and changes in religion in Europe? How did the Enlightenment affect the idea of Crime and Punishment?

Web Links Immanual Kant Isaac Newton John Locke Adam Smith Jean-Jacques Rousseau John Wesley