Download The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment

-The Scientific Revolution and
Enlightenment-
-The Scientific RevolutionI. Challenging Old Ideas
A. The Scientific Revolution involved
challenges to the traditional way of
understanding the universe
B. These ideas were controversial
because they challenged accepted
truths, respected ancient scientists and
the Roman Catholic Church
II. Two Theories of the Universe
A. The Geocentric Theory
envisioned an earth-centered
universe
1. This idea was first
proposed by Aristotle
2. It was later supported by
Ptolemy
B. The Heliocentric Theory
envisioned a sun-centered
universe
1. This idea was
proposed by a Polish
astronomer, Nicoloaus
Copernicus, during the
Renaissance
2. It was supported by the
Italian astronomer,
Galileo
C. The Catholic Church supported the Geocentric Theory because it was
consistent with religious doctrine that god had made the earth a special place
in the universe
1. For 1,500 years, the Church supported almost all of Aristotle’s
scientific theories as fact
III. Conflict Over the Theories
A. Copernicus was so fearful of being considered a heretic that he
waited until the last year of his life to publish his theory
1. However, his ideas spread despite Church condemnation
and were eventually embraced by others
B. Galileo used the telescope (which he invented) to study the movement of
the planets and published works supporting Copernicus’ Heliocentric Theory
1. Catholic clergy members had Galileo brought before the Inquisition where he
was forced to recant his findings under threat of excommunication and torture
2. Despite his public recant of his theory, Church officials placed Galileo under
house arrest for the rest of his life in an attempt to silence him
IV. Scientific Discoveries Validate the
Heliocentric Theory
A. The later findings of Johannes
Kepler, a Danish mathematician, used
data to prove the Heliocentric Theory
1. He also discovered that
planets have elliptical (not
circular) orbits around the sun
B. Sir Isaac Newton was the pioneer of
modern physics
1. He was an English scientist who
developed the law of gravity to
explain the movement of the
planets
a. This further confirmed
the Heliocentric Theory
2. His theories asserted that all celestial
bodies are attracted to each other by an
invisible force directly related to the mass
of the object
3. Newton believed that god had designed
the universe like a giant clock, with
gravity dominating its motions
V. The Scientific Method
A. The scientific approach used by Copernicus
and Galileo eventually turned into a new
approach to science called the “Scientific
Method”
B. The Scientific Method involves the
following steps:
1. Developing a question
2. Forming a hypothesis
3. Testing the hypothesis through
experiments
4. Analysis of data
5. Forming a conclusion
C. This method was championed by Francis Bacon
1. He was an English writer who felt that scholars had assumed Aristotle’s
teachings to be truth without testing them
2. He emphasized the need for experimentation over simple observation in
arriving at conclusions
VI. What Does it all Mean?
A. Like the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation, the
Scientific Revolution saw the proposal of many new ideas and
techniques that challenged traditional thinking
B. This set the stage for the Enlightenment, a political movement of
the 1600s and 1700s which involved political theorists questioning
traditional beliefs about government
-The EnlightenmentI. Pre-Enlightenment English Philosophers
A. Even before the Enlightenment in France, two English
philosophers were already publishing political theories about
politics in the 1600s
B. Thomas Hobbes wrote “The Leviathan”
1. He argued that human beings are violent
by nature
a. Life in nature is “Nasty, brutish,
and short”
2. People must form a contract with a ruler
who will have total power and keep order
3. He believed that the best form of
government is an absolute monarchy,
because individual freedoms lead to chaos
C. John Locke wrote “Two Treatises on
Government”
1. He argued that human beings are
born basically neutral, like a
“blank slate” or a “Tabula Rasa”
2. People form a contract with a
ruler, but they have the “natural
rights” of life, liberty, and property
3. If the leader is a tyrant and breaks
the social contract, subjects have the
right to rebel
II. The Enlightenment in France
A. The Enlightenment was a political movement that originated in France
during the mid-1700s
1. It focused mainly on politics and society and involved the
writing of many French political writers and philosophers known
as the “Philosophes”
2. These ideas challenged the concept of
absolute monarchy
3. Many of the ideas would later be the
basis of rebellion in the French Revolution
III. Key Enlightenment Thinkers
A. Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote “The Social Contract”
1. He believed human beings are good and kind in nature
a. People are naturally “noble savages”
2. Society corrupts individuals
a. “Man is born free, but everywhere is in chains”
3. People form a social contract with each other, and must respect the “general
will”, or majority rule
a. Democracy is the best form of government
4. People have the right to rebel if their natural rights are taken away
B. Voltaire
1. People are endowed with the
natural right of freedom of speech
a. “I may not agree with a
word you say, but I will
defend to the death your
right to say it”
2. He favored an enlightened
monarch who respects the rights
of the people
C. Baron de Montesquieu wrote “On the Spirit of Laws”
1. The best model of government is one with multiple branches where power is
divided
2. These branches also should have checks and balances to limit one another
3. He admired the English system of government which already had this system in
place