 | Term | Definition |
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Events leading to the scientific revolution |
1. Discovery of the New World 2. Invention of the Printing Press 3. Rivalry among Nation-States 4. Reformation 5. Renaissance Humanism |
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scholasticism |
A philosophical and theological system, associated with Thomas Aquinas, devised to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy and Roman Catholic theology in the thirteenth century. |
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Copernicus |
Developed the first modern theory of a sun-centered universe |
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Brahe |
Amassed nearly 20 years worth of astrological data that eventually led to the disproval of the geocentric theory. |
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Kepler |
German astronomer and mathematician. Considered the founder of modern astronomy, he formulated three laws to describe how the planets revolve around the sun in elliptical orbits. |
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Principia |
Newton's book which established the law of universal gravitation and banished Ptolemy's laws and universe for good. |
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Issac Newton |
British scientist who defined the laws of motion, discovered gravity, experimented with optics, invented differential calculus and wrote "Principia" |
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Galileo |
Florentine scientist that designed telescope, placed under house arrest by pope for revolutionary astronomical theories |
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Bacon |
English statesman and philosopher precursor of British empiricism; advocated inductive reasoning (1561-1626) |
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Descartes |
Wrote Discourse on Method. Believed in Cartesian Dualism where the body can be doubted, but the mind can't so the two must be radically different. Used deductive reasoning (reasoning through previously know facts) to come to conclusions. |
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Pascal |
French mathematician and philosopher and Jansenist invented an adding machine; contributed (with Fermat) to the theory of probability (1623-1662) |
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Hobbes |
English materialist and political philosopher who advocated absolute sovereignty as the only kind of government that could resolve problems caused by the selfishness of human beings (1588-1679), wrote Leviathan |
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Leviathan |
written by English professor Thomas Hobbes, maintained that sovereignity is ultimately derived from the people, who transfer it to the monarchy by implicit contraction. |
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absolutism |
The theory that the monarch is supreme and can exercise full and complete power unilaterally. |
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Locke |
English empiricist philosopher who believed that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience (1632-1704) |
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social contract |
an implicit agreement among people that results in the organization of society, individual surrenders liberty in return for protection |
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Two Treatises on Government |
Said human nature lived free and had the natural rights of life, liberty, and property. Government was created in order to protect these rights and if the government failed to do so it was the duty of the people to rebel. |
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tabula rasa |
John Locke's concept of the mind as a blank sheet ultimately bombarded by sense impressions that, aided by human reasoning, formulate ideas. |
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Immanuel Kant |
influential German idealist philosopher (1724-1804) |
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philosophes |
Thinkers of the Enlightenment; Wanted to educate the socially elite, but not the masses; were not allowed to openly criticize church or state, so used satire and double-meaning in their writings to avoid being banned; Salons held by wealthy women also kept philosophes safe; They considered themselves part of an intellectual community, and wrote back and forth to each other to share ideas. |
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Voltaire |
Wrote Candide, Philosophic Letters on the English & Treatise on Toleration. He admired the English freedom of the press, and religous toleration. He criticized France because of its royal absolutism and lack of freedom of thought. |
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Montesquieu |
French political philosopher who advocated the separation of executive and legislative and judicial powers (1689-1755), wrote spirit of laws |
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checks and balances |
A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power |
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Diderot |
Published work of many philosphes in his Encyclopedia. He hoped it would help people think more rationally and critically. |
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Rousseau |
(1712-1778) process of civilization and enlightenment had corrupted human nature, evil of the world founded upon uneven distribution of property, real purpose of society was to nurture better people, wrote the Social Contract |
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general will |
According to Rousseau the general will is sacred and absolute, reacting the common interests of the people who have displaced the monarch as the holder of ultimate power. |
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Beccaria |
(1738-1794) wrote 'On Crimes and Punishments', wanted laws to conform to rational laws of nature |
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Hume |
Scottish philosopher whose sceptical philosophy restricted human knowledge to that which can be perceived by the senses (1711-1776) |
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Adam Smith |
Scottish economist who advocated private enterprise and free trade (1723-1790), wrote "wealth of Nations" |
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salons |
elegant private drawing rooms-in Paris used for regular social gatherings of great and near-great presided over by a number of talented and rich women-allowed philosophes to exchange witty, uncensored observations of literature, science, philosophy, with great aristocrats, wealthy middle-class financiers, high-ranking officials, and noteworthy foreigners |
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Wollstonecraft |
English writer and early feminist who denied male supremacy and advocated equal education for women, wrote "Vindication of the Rights of Women" |
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Enlightened Absolutist |
Absolutist monarchs who incorporated Enlightenment ideas without giving up their control |
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Junkers |
Prussian nobility |
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Frederick William |
the Elector of Brandenburg who rebuilt his domain after its destruction during the Thirty Years' War (1620-1688), placed very strong emphasis on the army |
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Frederick I |
son of Frederick William who in 1701 became the first king of Prussia (1657-1713) |
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Frederick the Great |
Was the ruler of Prussia (a German state) and centralized the government and put it under his control. He was also known for being the royla drill sergent and improving his army. |
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Maria Theresa |
(r. 1740-1780) maintained her throne by giving Hungary Magyars prominence, reorganized army, promoted commerce and agriculture |
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Joseph II |
(r. 1765 - 1790) son of Maria Theresa, granted religious freedom and abolished serfdom |
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War of the Austrian Succession |
Prussian and Austria fought over Silesia and most of the rest of Europe took sides |
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Pragmatic Sanction |
Issued by Charles VI of Austria in 1713 to assure his daughter Maria Theresa gained the throne. |
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Diplomatic Revolution |
the time of changing alliances between the war of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War, France allied with Austria and Russia, while Prussia is allied with Great Britain |
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Seven Years War |
Fought between France/Russia and Prussia- Frederick kept fighting against heavy odds and was saved when Peter III took Russian throne and called off the war. |
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Ivan the Terrible |
first czar of Russia, known for cruelty and being constantly at war |
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Romanov |
the Russian imperial line that ruled from 1613 to 1917 |
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Peter the Great |
ruled Russia from 1682 to 1725, wanted closer ties to western europe, modernize and strengthen Russia |
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Catherine the Great |
ruled Russia from 1762 to 1796, added new lands to Russia, encouraged science, art, lierature, Russia became one of Europe's most powerful nations |
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Walpole |
Englishman and Whig statesman who (under George I) was effectively the first British prime minister (1676-1745) |
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Tories |
supported strong monarchy, Anglican church, low taxes for landowners, succeeded by the conservative party |
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Whigs |
supported Geroge I, religious tolerance, commercial interests, but said that Parliament should have the final say |
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Edmund Burke |
A conservative leader who was deeply troubled by the aroused spirit of reform. In 1790, he published Reforms on The Revolution in France, one of the greatest intellectual defenses of European conservatism. He defended inherited priveledges in general and those of the English monarchy and aristocracy. Glorified unrepresentitive Parliament and predicted reform would lead to much chaos/tyranny. |
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Louis XV |
grandson of Louis XIV and king of France from 1715 to 1774 who led France into the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War (1710-1774) |
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parlements |
15 sovereign courts in the french judicial system that checked the king's ability to tax and legislate arbitrarily |
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