Group1p5

 media type="file" key="podcast.mp3" THE ENLIGHTENMENT = 1650-1800 =  During the eighteenth century, the Enlightenment emerged as a social, philosophical, political, and literary movement that espoused rational thought and methodical observation of the world. The term “Enlightenment” refers to the belief by the movement’s contributors that they were leaving behind the dark ignorance and blind belief that characterized the past. The freethinking writers of the period sought to evaluate and understand life by way of scientific observation and critical reasoning rather than through uncritically accepted religion, tradition, and social conventions. At the center of the Enlightenment were the //philosophes//, a group of intellectual deists who were centered in Paris. Because this view of God was contradicted, the //philosophes// were considered very dangerous. The church wielded considerable power at the time, Still, the //philosophes// continued to spread their views, and as the church’s political power dwindled over the years, the Enlightenment gained momentum. In fact, by the 1770s, many //philosophes// collected government pensions and held important academic positions.

John Locke John Locke was a British philosopher, Oxford academic and medical researcher, and revolutionary. Contributed to the Revolution of 1688 His work was characterized by opposition to authoritarianism  Locke wants each of us to use reason to search after truth rather than simply accept the opinion of authorities or be subject to superstition. Thomas Hobbes He believed that the methods employed by mathematicians and scientists—geometry, in particular—hold the greatest promise for advances in human knowledge. He voluntarily exiled to Holland during the years of Parliamentary Rule. In 1640 Hobbes's first systematic statement of a political philosophy, called. He believed that the conception of natural law that had dominated the tradition. 

media type="googlemap" key="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=47.219568,5.493164&spn=43.447267,78.75&z=4&output=embed" width="425" height="350" The Age of Enlightenment in France existed in France from Louis XIV's death in 1715. The Age existed till the coup d'etat of the 18th Brumaire (9th November), 1799. It was the date when the Napoleon Bonaparte became the king. The period of the Age of Enlightenment in France can be divided into various stages such as the Regency, the reigns of Louis XV, Louis XVI and the French Revolution. France experienced eight years of domestic peace and economic prosperity. That period saw the emergence of the philosophical spirit in salons, cafes and clubs. There was a gradual erosion of monarchical authority. The trend of light-heartedness became pronounced during Regency. It flourished during the reign of Louis XV. Towards the second-half of the eighteenth century, the philosophers reacted against the society's libertine tendencies. They insisted on returning to the virtues of Ancient and Republican Rome.


 * 1651 ||  || Hobbes publishes //Leviathan.// ||


 * 1690 ||  || Locke publishes //Two Treatises on Government// ||


 * 1697 ||  || Mary Astell wrote //Serious Proposal to the Ladies.// This stated that women needed to become better educated. ||


 * 1721 ||  || Montesquieu published //Persian Letters.// Reason used to liberate the mind. ||


 * 1733 ||  || Voltaire published //Philosophic Letters to the English.// Criticized problems facing France at the time. ||


 * 1739 - 40 ||  || Hume published //Treaties on Human Nature.// ||


 * 1748 ||  || Montesquieu published //The Spirit of the Laws.// The condition of the country determined the political and social structure. ||


 * 1751 ||  || Voltaire published //The Age of Louis XIV.// ||


 * 1751 - 65 ||  || Diderot published //The Encyclopedia.// It was considered the most important work of his lifetime ||


 * 1758 ||  || Voltaire published //Candide.// ||


 * 1762 ||  || Rousseau published //The Social Contract, Emile//. Attempt to unite the liberty of the individual with the authority of the government. //Emile// was important for education ||


 * 1763 ||  || Voltaire published //Treaties on Toleration// ||


 * 1764 ||  || Beccaria published //On Crimes and Punishments// ||


 * 1770 ||  || Holbach published //Systems of Nature.// Stated that the universe is made up of matter and motion. ||


 * 1776 ||  || Smith published //The Wealth of Nations.// ||


 * 1784 ||  || Immanuel Kant publishes his //Critique of Pure Reason//, his analysis of the human mind and how it relates to nature. ||


 * 1787 ||  || Enlightenment Philosopher Condorcet published a treatise on the rights of women. He said that women have the same natural rights as men. ||


 * 1787 ||  || Enlightenment Philosopher Condorcet published a treatise on the rights of women. He said that women have the same natural rights as men. ||


 * 1791 ||  || Olympe de Gouges published a Declaration of the Rights of Woman. ||


 * March 13, 1791 ||  || Thomas Paine's //Rights of Man// was written. ||


 * 1794 ||  || Thomas Paine's //The Age of Reason// was written. Condorcet wrote //The Progress of the Human Mind.// ||

Other Important Philosiphers:



Links: [] [] [] []