Enlightenment Mini Q Questions

1. What two centuries were the centureis of the philosophes?

The late 17th and 18th centuries were the two centuries of the philosophes.

2. What did the philosophes hope to accomplish?

The philosophes hoped that they might be able to discover new ways to understand and improve their society.

3. What two tools or skills did the philosophes believe are necessary to find out the truth of things?

Philosophes believed that nature is an excellent teacher and they believed in their confidence in people's ability to use reason and discover truths.

4. What is another name for the Enlightenment period?

Another name for the Enlightenment period was the Age of Reason.

5. How did Isaac Newton inspire the philosophes?

Isaac Newton inspired the philosophes with his discoveries of the planets and his laws of the sky. They believed if he could discover that, they could discover universal laws.

6. Define these terms:

philosophe: Thinkers.

Natural law: Truths that people do not always recongnize.

Universal: Natural rules or laws that explain how people behave.

Social sciences: Acidemic disiplines concerned with the study of the social life of human groups and indivduals.

Timeline

1633- Galileo condemned by the Cathlioc Church for arguing that the sun is the center of the universe.

1687- Isaac Newton's Mathimatical Principles of Natural Philosophy becomes one of his several pioneering works of scientific inquiry.

1690- John Locke's influential Two Treaties on Civil Government is published.

1693- Salem witch trials take place in Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1733- Voltaire writes Letters Concering the English Nation.

1776- American colonies declare independence from the British monarchy. Adam Smith's important economics book The Wealth of Nations is published.

1789- The French Revolution occurs; the chaos and violence that followed within a few years is widely considered to be the end of the Enlightenment.

1792- Mary Wollstonescraft publishes A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.