Enlightenment Essay, Research Paper

During the eighteenth century, Europeans experienced the dawning of an age of

knowledge, reasoning, and of great scientific achievements. Their views toward

new discoveries and advancements were optimistic. People began to turn to

science for a better understanding of their world and their society. Literature

and essays were commonly used to express their hopes for further developments in

society, politics, economy, and education. I. Individuals A. John Locke 1) Essay

Concerning Human Understanding (1690) a) Regarded the human mind of a person as

a blank slate. b) Did not believe in intuition or theories of innate conceptions

2) Two Treatise of Government. a) Attacked the theory of divine right of Kings.

b) Argued that sovereignty did not reside in the state but with the people. 3)

Some thoughts concerning education. a) Recommended practical learning to prepare

people b) Locke?s curriculum included conversational learning of foreign

languages, especially French, mathematics, history, physical education, and

games. B. Rene Descartes 1) Descartes’s philosophy, sometimes called

Cartesianism. a) Elaborate explanations of a number of physical phenomena. 2)

Physiology a) Part of human blood was a subtle fluid, that he called animal

spirits. 3) Study of Optics a) Fundamental law of reflection: that the angle of

incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. b) Paved the way for the

udulatory theory of light. 4) Mathematics a) Systematization of analytic

geometry. b) First mathematician to attempt to classify curves according to the

types of equations that produce them. c) Made contributions to the theory of

equations. d) First to use the last letters of the alphabet to designate unknown

quantities and the first letters to designate known ones. e) Invented the method

of indices (as in x2) to express the powers of numbers. f) Formulated the rule

for finding the number of positive and negative roots for any algebraic

equation. C. Sir Isaac Newton 5) Mathematics a) Calculus: Generalized methods

being used to draw tangents to curves and to calculate the area swept by curves

6) Optics a) Opticks: Sunlight is a heterogeneous blend of different rays?each

of which represents a different color -and that reflections and refractions

cause colors to appear by separating the blend into its components. b)

Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica 7) Also showed interest in alchemy,

mysticism, and theology D. Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet) 1) La Henriade (The

Henriad) 2) Two essays, one on epic poetry and the other on the history of civil

wars in France. 3) Lettres Philosophiques (The Philosophical Letters, 1734) 1. A

covert attack upon the political and ecclesiastical institutions of France. 4)

?lements de la philosophie de Newton (Elements of the Philosophy of Newton) 5)

Po?me de Fontenoy (1745), describing a battle won by the French over the

English during the War of the Austrian Succession. 6) Si?cle de Louis XIV, a

historical study of the period of Louis XIV. 7) Essai sur l’histoire g?n?rale

et sur les moeurs et l’esprit des nations (Essay on General History and on the

Customs and the Character of Nations, 1756) a. Decries supernaturalism and

denounces religion and the power of the clergy, although he makes evident his

own belief in the existence of God. 8) Le d?sastre de Lisbonne (The Lisbon

Disaster, 1756); a number of satirical and philosophical novels 9) He rejected

everything irrational and incomprehensible and called upon his contemporaries to

act against intolerance, tyranny, and superstition. E. Denis Diderot 1) Pens?es

philosophiques (1746), which stated his deist philosophy. 2) Encyclop?die ou

dictionnaire raisonn? des sciences, des arts et des metiers, which is usually

known as the Encyclop?die a) French translation of the English Cyclopaedia by

Ephraim Chambers b) Used the Encyclop?die as a powerful propaganda weapon

against Ecclesiastical authority and the superstition, conservatism, and

semifeudal social forms of the time. 3) La religieuse (The Nun, 1796), an attack

on convent life. 4) Le neveu de Rameau (1805; translated as Rameau’s Nephew) F.

Jean Jacques Rousseau 1) French philosopher, social and political theorist,

musician, botanist, and one of the most eloquent writers of the Age of

Enlightenment.) 2) Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Among Mankind 3)

Expounded the view that science, art, and social institutions have corrupted

humankind and that the natural, or primitive, state is morally superior to the

civilized state 4) The Social Contract 5) Developed a case for civil liberty and

helped prepare the ideological background of the French Revolution by defending

the popular will against divine right. 6) ?mile a) expounded a new theory of

education emphasizing the importance of expression rather than repression to

produce a well-balanced, freethinking child. 7) The New Heloise and Confessions

introduced a new style of extreme emotional expression, concern with intense

personal experience, and exploration of the conflicts between moral and sensual

values. The Age of Enlightenment proposed ideas of reformation, and greater

human advancement. Europeans? ideas of education, society, and politics were

optimistic. Their works of art, literature, and science, helped pave the way for

future advancements.

4d5

?Age of Enlightenment,? Microsoft? Encarta? Encyclopedia 99 ?Rene

Descartes? Microsoft? Encarta? Encyclopedia 99 ?John Locke? Microsoft?

Encarta? Encyclopedia 99 ?Sir Isaac Newton Microsoft? Encarta? Encyclopedia

99 Buckler, John, Bennett D. Hill and John P. McKay. A History of Western

Society, A. 6th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999. ?Age of

Enlightenment? http://www.EuroHist.org