The Age of Enlightenment, Chapter 17 Flashcards
Two most important influences on Enlightenment
Issac Newton, John Locke
Uniqueness of Britain politically and socially leading up to Enlightenment
religious toleration, political sovereignty, effective courts, small army, less regulation
Britain’s influence on the Enlightenment
example of a society that benefited everyone with economic prosperity, political stability, loyal citizenry, more freedoms then other European countries,enlightenment writers contrasted Britain with other countries
Public Opinion
new social force, effect on political and social life of view that been circulated
Print Culture
Culture in which books, journals, newspapers and pamphlets achieve status of their own, increased sharply at this time, very valued, share ideas and information, more could read, moral + social instructions, being an author was an occupation, division in literary world
Voltaire’s views and literary works on Britain
religious toleration, against war, pessimistic about human condition, Letters on the English: religious liberty and criticized French Society
Voltaire’s literary works and their subject matters
Elements of the Philosophy of Newton: popularized the ideas of Issac Newton
Candide: satire attacking war, religious persecution and unwarranted optimism about the human condition
Philosphes criticism of Christian Church
they held people back from improvement and happiness, did not allow for science, only worthy through divine grace, higher concentration on afterlife, promoted intolerance bigotry torture and war
Major points of the Deists Creed
belief in god that was justified by nature, life after death determined by virtue in one’s life, rational toleration
Ethics
closely related god and nature, written by Boroch Spinoza (Jewish), secularized Judaism, criticized as being an atheist, excommunicated
Moses Mendelsohn
philosopher, advocated Jews enter mainstream life, Jew could be loyal and rational, believed in toleration, Jerusalem; or, On Ecclesiastical Power and Judaism, similar to Locke
Pascals’s view of Islam
false religion, Muhammad was an imposter, sexually promiscuous due to polygamy and Heaven had “sensuous delights”
Editors, contributors, topics/themes and effects of The Encyclopedia
Denis Diderot, Jean Le Rond di Alembert, religion, government and philosophy, manufacturing, canal building, ship construction, agriculture, spread the ideas of the Enlightenment throughout Europe
On Crimes and Punishments
1764, Marauis Cesare Beccaria (Italian Aristocrat), making punishments effective (Germany and Russia), attacked capital punishment and torture, speedy trial, to deter further crime, secure the greatest food for the greatest number of people (utilitarian)
Adam Smith and views on Mercantilism
he wanted to abolish it because it held countries back
The Wealth of Nations
resources were boundless, the best way to gain wealth was allowing individuals to pursue their greedy economic interests, laissez-faire economics
Role and purpose of government according to Adam Smith
should provide schools, armies, navies, roads, commercial ventures, support education
Adam Smith’s four-stage theory
Hunters+Gathers - Pastoral Societies- Agriculture+ Farming Societies- Commercialism
Barbarism to Civilization, led to Europeans justifying their economic and imperial domination of the world
Laissez-faire economics
Adam Smith, limited role for government in economic life
Beliefs of Physiocrats
mercantilist legislation and the regulation of labor by governments and guilds actually hampered the expansion of trade, manufacture and agriculture
Rousseau and human nature, evil in the world, views on women and individualism vs. community
believed it was impossible for human beings living according to commercial values to achieve moral, virtuous or sincere lives, uneven distribution of property was the source of evil in the world, humans were good but society mad them evil, community was more important (achieve more together), did not favor gender equality, keep women at home and receive orders from fathers and husbands (separate gender spheres)
Injustices as grounds for criticism of Imperialism from Enlightenment thinkers
mistreatment of Native Americans and Blacks, superiority over other cultures and the lack of the ability to respect and learn about their countries
Views of Herder
Cultural relativism, different cultures develop differently
Montesquieu’s literary works, views on Govt., England, preferred govt. for France, etc.
The Persian Letters, The Spirit of the Laws, deeply admired English government, concluded no government would fit everyone and every country, , one must asses circumstances and pick the best one, preferred government of France was monarchy with small institutions that limited it’s power liked division of power in government, believed inefficient absolutism= degrade of French Life
Philosphes views on women
wanted better education for women, traditional values, nothing radical, inferior to men, empathized with women, frivolous, repressed women , influenced FR
Characteristics, themes, examples and supporters of Rococo Art
Franco boucher, lavish, lighthearted, Pastel colors, playing with light, Louis XV, Imperial Hall, Gian Battista Tieplo, fetes galantes, leisure+romance+seduction, Jean-Antoine, Balthasar Neumann, Jean-Honore Gragonard, increased hostility towards elite
Characteristics, themes, examples and supporters of Neoclassical Art
serious, public life, public morals, heroism, self sacrifice, Jacques-Louis David, Jean- Andoine Houdon, Pantheon
Enlightenment absolutism under Catherine the Great
guaranteed nobles with many new rights, economic growth: encouraged trade, expanded middle class, territorial expansion with Crimea in Ottoman Empire
Enlightened Absolutism under Frederick the Great and self proclaimed title
Promotion through merit, supportive of universities and intellectual life, religious toleration, legal reform, economic growth, “first servant of the state”
Absolutist monarchs directly associated with the ideals of the Enlightenment
Frederick II, Catherine II, Joseph II
Joseph II of Austria and social reforms
religious toleration, separated priests from church and they become employees of the state, dissolved many monasteries, new training of priests, confiscated church lands, abolished serfdom, reduced traditional burdens, everyone is taxed
Catherine the Great of Russia and the nobility
gave them more rights because she knew if she wanted to maintain the throne they were her best ally, educated class was to small and she could not afford an army only loyal to her
Catherine the Greats territorial aspirations/conquests
Russian fleet sailed from Baltic sea to eastern Mediterranean, gained control of Danube river and Crimean coast, free navigation rights in the waters, annexed Crimea in 1783, protector of Orthodox Christians in Ottoman Empire
Results of the 1st partition of Poland
revival of national feeling, showed that any European nation with a strong monarchy, bureaucracy and army could take over weaker nations, Poland eased tensions between Russia, Austria and Prussia
Facts about Gotthold Lessing
German, playwright, first dramaturg, his works are considered the prototype for bourgeois German drama, believed in religious toleration, liberation from nobles, defended Christian’s freedom of thought
