Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment

Question 1

What qualities of ‘Modern’ societies are emerging during the Sci Rev & Enlight?

Answer 1

• rate of tech/ideological change increasing, sense of change = progress
• emphasis on evidence/reason, challenging norms or systems based on ‘revealed truth’
• increasing sense of human rights (at least to some degree)

Question 2

What was Divine Right monarchy?

Answer 2

political/religious principle that monarchs receive their right to rule directly from god and must answer only to god

Question 3

What was absolutism?

Answer 3

Form of monarchy (usually backed by Divine Right) that became increasingly common during the Enlightenment age in which monarchs exercised complete and direct control over their monarchy

Question 4

Absolute monarchies arose in response to __

Answer 4

the chaotic religious wars of the 16th and 17th centuries

Question 5

Some common characteristics of absolute monarchies included ___

Answer 5

-large bureaucracies
- large professional armies
- heavy taxation
- growing emphasis on colonial empires
- governed strictly hierarchical societies w/ rights and privileges determined by rank

Question 6

Which group of people were most likely to take advantage of the new capitalist business modes in colonial empires and why them?

Answer 6

The non-noble merchants, because they did not benefit from the feudal political/economic structures and were therefore incentivized to seek out new ways of creating wealth

Question 7

What are the two basic ideas that connected the Sci Rev to later political revolutions?

Answer 7

1. The universe works according to natural laws or ‘laws of nature’
2. Those laws of nature are discoverable through reason - anyone can do this

Question 8

What group of people were most associated with the Enlightenment?

Answer 8

The bourgeoisie - a growing urban, literate, non-noble class in Europe that was often interested in new ideas to challenge old systems

Question 9

What contributed to the growth of the public sphere in Europe during the Enlightenment?

Answer 9

• growth of colonial empires/trade -> greater mobility, money, and education for some
• cheaper published materials
• growth of spaces for discussion/debate such as coffee houses, salons

Question 10

What were the main political/social outlooks of the Enlightenment?

Answer 10

Criticizing injustices or superstitions of the gov’t/Church to improve them and make them more rational [see reading on Classroom for more on influential Enlight ideas]

Question 11

What positions were associated only with the Radical/underground/fringe Enlight?

Answer 11

Democracy, racial equality, equality of the sexes, atheism

Question 12

What is a social contract?

Answer 12

Enlightenment idea that all societies were based on at least an implicit agreement to give up certain freedoms in return for the security/protection of living in a society and under a government

Question 13

According to Locke and Rousseau, what is the basic duty of a gov’t under the social contract?

Answer 13

protect the life, liberty, and property of its members

Question 14

Locke argued that a legitimate government must:

Answer 14

• be based on established and published laws
• function on majority rule
• not take any man’s property without the consent of the majority of the people

Question 15

Locke argued that if a gov’t falls out of compliance with its duties ___

Answer 15

The people have a right to decide for themselves if/when to establish a new gov’t

Question 16

What is Rousseau’s conception of the ‘general will’?

Answer 16

The general will is what is best for the society as a whole, even if individuals within the society disagree

Question 17

How does Rousseau argue the general will solves the problem of all men protecting their own freedoms/interests?

Answer 17

In a social contract, each person becomes an indivisible part of a united body - the general will of that body is a far greater/more important thing than the individual will of any single person in it.

Question 18

What does Rousseau believe should be done about individuals resisting the general will?

Answer 18

They should be forced to follow it for their own good

Question 19

What was the most common position of the Enlight towards women (expressed in the Encyclopedia)

Answer 19

The portrayal of women was generally limited and often reinforced traditional gender roles and stereotypes. Women were primarily discussed in the context of their roles as wives, mothers, and homemakers. Often women were portrayed as passive or dependent on men.

Question 20

How did women like Madame de Beaumer and Mary Wollstonecraft challenge Enlight assumptions about women?

Answer 20

They used their (often limited) platforms to critique the common assumptions about women’s weaknesses; to highlight how patriarchal sexism was the main cause of many of those supposed weaknesses; to fight for women’s education and contributions to society.