The Enlightenment Flashcards
What was the Enlightenment?
The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was a theoretical and cultural movement in the 18th century that emphasised reason over superstition and science over blind faith.
What longer-term events influenced the thinkers of the Enlightenment?
The American and French revolutions
How were science and reason important at this time?
Enlightenment writers and thinkers had backgrounds in the sciences and associated scientific advancement with the overthrow of religion and traditional authority in favour of the development of free speech and thought.
Why were the thinkers influenced by the Enlightenment?
Enlightenment thinkers in Britain, France and throughout Europe questioned traditional authority and embraced the notion that humanity could be improved through rational change.
What did the Enlightenment produce?
The Enlightenment produced numerous books, essays, inventions, scientific discoveries, laws, wars and revolutions.
Who was Galileo and what was his significance to this period?
Galileo was a natural philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician. He also made fundamental contributions to the sciences of motion, and astronomy. He developed the scientific method and also made revolutionary telescopic discoveries, including the four largest moons of Jupiter.
What is Heliocentrism?
Heliocentrism is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the centre of the universe.
