The Enlightenment Study Guide Flashcards
Enlghtenment
an eighteenth-century intellectual movement, led by the philosophies, that stressed the application of reason and the scientific method to all aspects of life
Skepticism
a doubtful or questioning attitude, especially about religion
Cultural Relativism
the belief that no culture is superior to another because culture is a matter of custom, not reason, and derives its meaning form the group holding it
Philosophes
Intellectuals of the eighteenth-century Enlivenment who believed in applying a spirit of rational criticism to all things, including religion and politics, and who focused on improving and enjoying this world, rather than on the afterlife
Cosmopolitan
The quality of being sophisticated and having wide international experience
Separation of Powers
A doctrine enunciated by Montesquieu in the eighteenth century that separated executive, legislative, and judicial powers served to limit and control each other
Deism
Belief in God as the creator of the universe who, after setting it in motion, ceased to have any direct involvement in it and allowed it to run according to its own natural laws
Laussez-Faire
“let (them) do (as they please)” An economic doctrine that holds that an economy is best served when the government does not interfere but allows the economy to self-regulate according to the forces of supply and demand
Economic Liberalism
The idea that government should not interfere in the workings of the economy
Romantisism
A nineteenth-century intellectual and artistic movement that rejected the emphasis on reason of the Enlightenment. Instead, Romantics stressed the importance of intuition, feeling, emotion, and imagination as sources of knowing. When passion and love is valued
Feminism
The belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes; also, organized activity to advance women’s rights
Salons
Gatherings of philosophies and other notables to discuss the ideas of the Enlightenment; so called from the elegant drawing rooms (salons) where they met
Rococo
an eighteenth century artistic movement that emphasized grace, gentility, lightness, and charm
Neoclassicism
a late-eighteenth-century artistic movement that emerged in France. It sought to recapture the dignity and simplicity of the Classical style of ancient Greece and Rome
High Culture
the literacy and artistic culture of the education and wealthy ruling class
Popular Culture
as opposed to high culture, the unofficial written and unwritten culture of the masses, much of which was traditionally passed down orally and centered on public and group activities such as festivals. In the modern age, the term refers to the entertainment, recreation, and pleasures that people purchase as part of the mass consumer society
Pogroms
organized massacres of Jews
Pietism
a movement that arose in Germany in the seventeenth century whose goal was to foster a personal experience of God as the focus of true religious experience
Who provided a link between the Scientific Revolution of the 1500 and 1600’s and the French philosophies of the next?
Bernard de Fontenelle
Why were enlightenment thinkers secular in though?
They used the scientific method to analyze all aspects of human life
How proclaimed the motto “Dare to Know”
The thinker Immanuel Kant
What influenced intellectual thinking in the eighteenth century?
The emergence of secularization and the meaning of natural influence
Who sparked a growing skepticism towards the claims of religion?
Bernard de Fontenelle
What sparked numerous development during the Enlightenment era including the idea of natural man, the noble savage, cultural importance, and religious skepticism
Travel accounts of different cultures
What refers to a blank mind?
Tabula Rasa
What wanted to change the world through reason and rationality?
The philosophes
