10-The Scientific Revolution & Enlightenment Flashcards
Describe (what, when, where, who) the 17th century “scientific revolution”
a. What: Intellectual movement in which people began to question and seek to understand the meaning of life not based on superstition or tradition through scientific understanding
b. When: 1543-1687
c. Where: Europe
d. Who: Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei
Identify the main elements of the scientific revolution
Empirical observation and mathematics
State Isaac Newton’s crowning contribution to the scientific revolution in his great work, Principia
The key to understanding was empirical observation, and the language of the universe was the language of mathematics
State the overall significance of the “scientific revolution”
Scientific Revolution was that the best way to understand reality, the universe, was through the scientific method
Identify/describe empiricism; natural law; Nicolaus Copernicus; Johannes Kepler; Francis Bacon; Rene Descartes
a. Empiricism: we can truly be confident is knowledge gained through empirical observation that can be tested and verified by further empirical observation
b. Natural Law: efficacy of scientific method to help them discover the laws that governed the universe
c. Nicolaus Copernicus: On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, His heliocentric view challenged the geocentric universe described in the ancient, classical writings of Aristotle and Ptolemy. However, beyond the importance of the heliocentric view of the universe itself was the way that Copernicus reached his conclusions; they were based on his own careful observations and mathematical calculations.
d. Johannes Kepler: advanced the discussion and corrected some of the mistaken conclusions of their predecessors, Kepler later observed that the orbits were not circular but rather elliptical with the sun at one end of the ellipses rather than at the center.
e. Francis Bacon: championed experimental method and clearly articulated the value of inductive reasoning
f. Rene Descartes: deductive reasoning, beginning with basic self-evident principles and working logically from them. Thus, deductive reasoning meant reasoning from the general to the particular. We all, intuitively, whether we’re conscious of it or not, use both inductive and deductive reasoning in our own thinking
Differentiate inductive and deductive reasoning
Inductive reasoning moves from specific instances into a generalized conclusion, while deductive reasoning moves from generalized principles that are known to be true to a true and specific conclusion.
Explain the relationship between the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment
Bridged the gap to broaden perspectives and challenge the norms using mathematics, reasoning, and empiricism, this eventually led to opening the discussion to a wider audience (enlightenment)
Identify/state significance: Enlightenment; Bernard de Fontenelle; John Locke; philosophes; Denis Diderot and the Encyclopedia; deism
- Enlightenment: practiced and promoted a scientific worldview to which they referred, in short, as “Reason” to a much wider audience than the scientific revolution
- Bernard de Fontenelle: French mathematician who wrote on the history of mathematics and the philosophy of mathematics and science
- John Locke: Founder of empiricism
- Philosophes: public intellectuals who applied reason
- Denis Diderot & Encyclopedia: comprehensive treasury of human knowledge
- Deism: acknowledged a Creator, the grand designer of the machinery of the universe. But they maintained that the Creator, once the universe had been set in motion according to the natural laws that governed it, then ceased to interfere in nature
State the assumptions behind the idea of “Progress” that was so prominent in Enlightenment thought and the critique of “Progress” that eventually developed
a. Assumptions: thought to be both desirable and inevitable. Education, science and technology were the engines driving Progress forward,
b. Critique: Science, as it turns out, is just a tool – and a malleable one at that. Human beings can use that tool for good – or for evil.
Identify the main elements of what was presented in class as the Enlightenment “reform agenda”
Criminal justice reform, the disestablishment of religion, the promotion of education, and the administration of government by Reason.
Identify “Enlightened Despots,” specifically the three main monarchs most often thus identified
a. Enlightened Despots: Monarchs captured by the reform agenda thinking
b. 3 main monarchs: Frederick the Great of Prussia, Catherine the Great of Russia, and Joseph II of Austria
State the extent to which the “Enlightened Despots” pursued and implemented Enlightenment ideas
They reformed codes of law and criminal justice practices. Some efforts were made to further religious toleration if not to disestablish state churches. Schools were founded and funded. More efficient and effective administration was put in place
State the three perspectives presented in the essay on Christian views of science and the scientific world view
- Their mixing of Progress and faith can undermine Christian perception, mindlessly bless all change as good, and ignore the frequent injustices of Progress.
- On the other hand, Christians have felt threatened by science’s sometimes abrasive critique of religion and are uneasy with the tension’s science appears to create for persons of faith. This has even led some Christians to view science as the enemy of faith and to reject science wholesale.
- Acknowledges and appreciates science as a tool, a wonderful tool that can be used to understand “what is”. Also recognizes that science cannot answer questions like “What ought to be?” or “What is good?” or “What is evil?” or “What is ethical?”
