GREV - The New Way to Think (Lesson)
The New Way to Think
Before we can start even thinking about the thinking that occurred during the Enlightenment, we need to discuss the earlier Scientific Revolution. Prior to the Scientific Revolution, most Europeans understood that the Earth was not flat—otherwise, all of those great explorers would never have returned—but most Europeans still held some rather medieval notions about nature and the universe. The "Scientific Revolution" is the term used to describe a period of time ranging from 1500 to 1700 CE marked by changes in thoughts and beliefs and how people studied nature and the universe in Europe. It is important to note that the beginning of this period coincided separately with the Catholic Church's Counter Reformation to the Protestant Reformation. However, that separation was a little blurry at first.
In previous ages—the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance—great thinkers relied on the Aristotelian method of reasoning. This meant that they used logic; therefore, if a conclusion seemed logical and difficult to argue against, then it was probably true. And while logic was a great place to start (ask any Vulcan from the Star Trek series,) a number of up-and-coming scientists believed it was illogical to end there.
Instead, scientists began testing their logic. Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543 CE) was one of these early scientists. Just before his death, he published his groundbreaking theory regarding the center of the universe in On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. In it, he argued that the Ancient Greek scientist Ptolemy was wrong about the Earth being the center of the universe. Alternatively, Copernicus presented a mathematical formula based on observations and tests that proved the Earth revolved around the sun and that the Earth rotated on an axis every twenty-four hours. Copernicus knew his Heliocentric Theory was a jaw-dropper for the day as it directly refuted claims made by the Church. Therefore, prior to publication, Copernicus only shared this information with other scientists as he worried it would cause an uproar. He only allowed its publication after many other scientists encouraged it. In the end, though, Copernicus's book did not lead to the furor he dreaded. As Copernicus died (legend claims on the very day it was released to the public) and it was too technical for most people to understand, his theory remained relatively unknown. But among those who did know about it, his work served as inspiration for a new way to understand the universe and its laws.
One such supporter was astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564-1642 CE.) Galileo (who, like many rock stars—get it? —is most well-known by his first name) used the recently invented telescope to improve upon Copernicus's theory. In 1632 CE, almost a century after Copernicus, Galileo published his work on the Heliocentric Theory in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World—and this time, Copernicus's fear of an uproar came true. Why did it bother the Church this time and not last time? Well.....its a bit of a story....Galileo originally published a book - The Starry Messenger - in which he declared his support for Copernicus. The Church didn't like the book, but Galileo's best friend was the Pope so he was given a warning and was let off the hook. The warning stated he was never again to publicly choose sides...and he abided by it until he wrote A Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems...which was a book written as a conversation between a follower of Aristotle's theory (Geocentric) and a follower of Copernicus' theory (Heliocentric). In the book he made the follower of Aristotle out to be a fool thereby publicly choosing a side and THIS time even his best friend couldn't save him. The Catholic Church called Galileo to an Inquisition in Rome, convicted him of heresy and placed his book on a list of banned publications known as The Index (where it remained for almost two centuries.) Despite the Church's best efforts, Copernicus's and Galileo's use of the scientific method to prove universal laws caught on and became widespread in the scientific community.
Hopefully, you noticed the dates for all of these scientists. If so, you might consider that the Scientific Revolution wasn't so much of a revolution as it was an evolution based on how long it took for the scientific method to catch on. Even so, it only caught on in certain circles as literacy was not yet universal, schools were usually run by the Church and both the Church and governments tended to censor radical ideas and punish the radical thinkers. Still, the Scientific Revolution was "revolutionary" in a few ways...
| Ways in which the Scientific Revolution Revolutionized the World | ||
| Religion | Government | Thinking |
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Not all scientists were able to maintain their religious beliefs, Some did. But some became Atheists - who claimed that no god existed. And others became Deists- who reasoned that a passive God existed but did not interfere with the natural laws He created.
The Scientific Revolution was as great a challenge to the Pope's authority as the Protestant Reformation had been. |
Some governments recognized the benefit of supporting the scientists that challenged the Pope's authority and served as patrons of the Scientific Revolution. Examples included the 1662 formation of the British Royal Society backed by King Charles II, and King Louis XIV's formation of the French Royal Academy of Sciences. |
Non-government societies met in personal homes discuss scientific breakthroughs - especially among women or wealthy landowners looking to increase farm production.
Schools stressed engineering and technical skills Set a new standard for how to think based on observation and experimentation. |
But perhaps its most important historical effects were seen later during the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. Let's look at the Enlightenment now.
The Enlightenment
In comparison to the "Dark Ages" of Medieval times and the Renaissance's rebirth of ancient scholarship, the Enlightenment was a period when "light" was shed on new ideas and concepts. Just as the Scientific Revolution led to the creation of universal laws on matter and motion, the Enlightenment looked to establish universal rights and laws for humanity. The Enlightenment followed the period of the Church's omnipotence and the Age of Religious Wars; therefore, Enlightenment thinkers were hesitant to look towards institutions or traditions for guidance and, instead, focused on their faith in the human ability to reason and thereby improve humanity. It was the most important intellectual and social movement in Europe and North America during the 18th Century CE and is sometimes known as the "Age of Reason."
Once again, the Printing Press of Europe served as the great disseminator of knowledge— (remember how it helped spread the ideas of the Protestant Reformation and Scientific Revolution?) During the Enlightenment, books and pamphlets poured out of European printing presses at ever-increasing rates. In France of 1720 CE, only one thousand different titles of books or pamphlets were published per year. Fifty years later, French markets sold 3,500 different titles per year. The same explosion in published works occurred in the English language during the Age of Enlightenment as highlighted in the below graph.
Notice the sharp uptick in numbers of works published in the English language during the 1700s? Much of that is due to the increase in publications from Enlightenment writers. (Although to be completely truthful, not all of the uptick stems from deep thoughts. It would be only natural for the number of books to increase with the rise in literacy rates. Also, not all of the works covered philosophical matters. People back then enjoyed reading pamphlets on economic and social scandals just as much as we do—but they were not yet referred to as "tabloids." They also had a taste for sexy romance novels. So, some of the numbers in the graph above came from titles like Nun in a Nightgown—honestly.)
The Enlightenment publications came from philosophers and social critics. Often their topics focused on humanity's role in relation to government (a relatively new concept for many Europeans.) One particular theme that often crept up in Enlightenment salons was the concept of the "Social Contract." This particular concept tackled the traditional European perspective of the "Divine Right of Kings" so popular amongst the many absolute monarchs of Europe. The " Social Contract " originated in England with Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679 CE) and John Locke (1632-1704 CE.) (And as you can see from the dates of their lives, their work technically preceded the dates of the Enlightenment.) But both were influential in converting England from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy with an influential legislative body (the Parliament.) Therefore, they were also influential on later "Social Contract" theorists like Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778 CE), who actually wrote a book entitled The Social Contract and who, in turn, influenced American and French reformers.
But not all of the topics kept to the government question; and even those that did were not always in agreement. Much of what a person wrote or theorized on was based on their personal interest; but, also, on their personal experience. And that varied by location—not everyone in Europe lived under the same exact form of government, remember?
These Enlightenment philosophers' influence also varied based on location. In some areas, Enlightenment discussions were widespread early on—as in France, Great Britain, European commercial centers (Amsterdam and Edinburgh,) and colonial port cities (Boston and Philadelphia.) Enlightenment thinkers met in homes, salons and coffee houses (just like book clubs do today;) and included people from various backgrounds and both genders. Most of them eschewed linkage to a particular religion, political view or socioeconomic class as they encouraged literacy, critical thinking and religious tolerance. And while each of these people—the famous and the unnamed—played their individual role within their individual area of expertise, they all participated in the spread of the belief in reason and the concept that universal rights and laws existed.
This belief—the Enlightenment—was guided by certain basic principles:
And it impacted every facet of life:
Of course, the above list makes the effects of the Enlightenment sound peaceful—which, having celebrated the 4th of July for most of your life, you know was not always the case. We have, yet, to discuss the greatest effect of the Enlightenment, so leave a blank space for that in your notes and we will discuss them in the next lesson.
Recap Section
Watch the video below to review what you have learned.
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