1. The Enlightenment and Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz: “Reply to Sor Filotea de la Cruz” Dr. Theresa Thompson English 2130 Fall 2008

2. Daily Quiz 1.What is Sor Filotea’s real identity? A.Bishop of Puebla B.Sor Filotea C.Albert Schweitzer D.None of the above. 2.Why does Sor Juana cut her hair? A.To help her learn Latin. B.She wanted to pretend to be a man. C.She wanted to avoid marriage. D.All of the above. 3.Who, according to Sor Juana, “led her to letters”? A.Father Saint Jerome B.St. Augustine C.God D.All of the above. 4.Sor Juana’s main argument is that A.If you are to listen and learn you should be silent while you do that. B.That there is value in educating women. C.That many women in the bible have not been silent. D.All of the above.

3. Cosmic Dualism: eternally opposed and coexisting principles, conceived as good and evil. 1486: publication of Malleus Maleficarum (The Witches’ Hammer)Malleus Maleficarum For New World natives, –evil was a shadowy, ill-defined force present in everyone, an immutable fact of life to be endured or resisted. For the French & the Spanish,French –natives were perceived as in the possession of Satan, in need of rescue by missionaries. 16th-C. Jesuits & the Counter-ReformationReformation –Women continued to be a prime source of danger to well-ordered societies. Sor Juana must “naturalize” her behavior and connect it to God (418, 419) Sor Juana asks “what then is the evil in my being a woman”? (427)

4. The Rise of Western Science Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) –Asked over and over: "What do I know?" –Asserted we have no right to impose on others dogmas which rest on cultural habit rather than absolute truth. FRANCIS BACON (1561-1626): Scientific Method.Scientific Method Increased focus on this world and what we know about it forces (some) rethinking of the human condition.

5. René Descartes (1596-1650) Rationalism Rationalism Four rules for knowledge: –Never accept anything except clear & distinct ideas. –Divide each problem into as many parts as are needed to solve it. –Order your thoughts from the simple to the complex. –Always check thoroughly for oversights. Descartes’ argument for God –A being that doubts is an imperfect being. I doubt; therefore I am an imperfect being. –I can only know I am imperfect by having the concept of perfection; therefore I do have the concept of perfection. –I could not have received the concept of perfection from something imperfect; therefore my concept was not derived from myself. –Therefore my concept of perfection was derived from something that is in fact perfect. –Only God is in fact perfect, so I derived my concept of perfection from him, & therefore he exists.

6. Scientific Revolution forces (some) rethinking of the human condition –Political structures, personal freedoms, idea of the individual in a political framework Montesquieu (1689-1755)Montesquieu –Laissez faire economics and global capitalism, colonization, economic exchange Adam Smith (1723-1790)Adam Smith –Social sciences Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

7. Essential Ideas of the European Enlightenment Man is not innately depraved. The aim of life is life itself, not the after-life. The essential condition for the good life on earth is freeing men’s minds from ignorance & superstition. Man, free of ignorance & of the arbitrary powers of the state, is capable of progress & perfection. Everything is interconnected & forms part of the grand scheme of a benevolent Providence. –Sor Juana extends this idea to include women.