Chapter 17 Flashcards
developed a vaccine against smallpox (a disease whose path of death
spanned for centuries)
Edward Jenner
had transformed the way people in Europe looked at the world
The Scientific Revolution of the 1500s and the 1600s
or rules discoverable by reason governed scientific forces such as gravity and magnetism using the new science reformers thus set out to study human behavior and solve the problems of society
Natural Law
Scientific Revolution led to another revolution in thinking known as the
Enlightenment
A German philosopher best known for his work The Critique of Pure Reason was one of the first to describe this era with the word “Enlightenment”
Immanuel Kant
were two 17th century English thinkers set forth ideas that were to become key to the Enlightenment they both lived through the upheavals of the English Civil War, but they both came to different conclusions
Thomas Hobbes and John Locke
outlined his ideas in his work titled Leviathan he argued that people were naturally cruel, greedy and selfish and if not strictly controlled they would fight, rob, and oppress another “life of nature”without laws or other control would be “solitary , poor, nasty, brutish, and short”
Hobbes
an agreement by which they gave up their freedom for an organized society. Hobbes believed that a powerful government could ensure an orderly society
Social Contract
had more of an optimistic view of human nature. he thought people were basically reasonable and moral. He stated further that they had certain natural right
Locke
or rights that belong to all humans from birth
Natural Rights
which means philosophers their ideas soon spread beyond France and even beyond Europe
Philosophes
was an early influential thinker he studied the governments of Europe from Italy to England he read about ancient and medieval Europe, learned about Chinese and Native American cultures his sharp criticism of absolute monarch would open doors for later debate. His great work was The Spirit of the Laws, in which he discussed governments throughout history he believed that the best way to protect liberty was to divide the various functions and powers of government among three branches (legislative, executive, and judicial)
Montesquieu
One of the Most famous philosophes was FrancoisMarie Arouet who took the name
Voltaire
he used his wit as a weapon to expose abuses of his day he targeted corrupt officials and idle aristocrats with his pen he battled inequality, injustice, and superstition he detested the slave trade and deplored religious prejudice
Voltaire
worked for years to produce a 28volume set of books called the: Encyclopedia his work was to do more than just compile articles he wanted to “change the general way of thinking” by explaining ideas on topics such as government,philosophy ,a religion his work include articles by leading thinkers of the day including Montesquieu and Voltaire
Denis Diderot
believed that people in their natural state were basically good that natural innocence he felt was corrupted by evils of society, especially the unequal distribution of property. Many reformers and revolutionaries later adopted this view
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
leading figures of the American and French Revolutions
Thomas Paine and Marquis de Lafayette
greatly admired the physiocrats in his influential work The Wealth of Nations he argued that the free market should be allowed to regulate business activity
Adam Smith