4.1 The Enlightenment

• History
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

T2 Today

New subject

The time of of wigs and revolutions

main topics:

• the enlightenment
• American Revolution
• French Revolution

What is the white thing in the symbol for this age

1. An axe
2. The gallows
3. The guillotine
4. don't know

What dates belong to this Age?

1. the 18th century
2. the 1800s
3. 1800 - 1900 AD
4. the 17th century

Why is this important?

the Time of Wigs and Revolutions

1700 - 1800

Typical Aspects:

-the Enlightenment

-the American Revolution

-slavery and abolitionism

-the French Revolution

the 18th century

In general te time between 1700 and 1800 can be seen as the time in which citizens take power from kings

Lots of our modern ideas about rights/education/freedom are formed here

From Syria to the USA to Iran, you can still see hte influence of the revolutions everywhere 

So why does all this happen in this age

several reasons, main ones:

absolutism --> kings got more powerful, this pissed people off

Absolutism 2 --> kings had made normal citizens more powerful instead of nobles, new group in society, rich educated citizens

Enlightenment --> new ideas about how the world should work.

Lesson 4.1: The Enlightenment

• The Enlightenment = De Verlichting
  
• It was a new way of thinking that spread across Europe in the 18th century
  
• It is also called "The Age of Reason"
  
• It evolved from the Scientific Revolution
  
• Bright thinkers believed that with the use of reason, they could solve all problems and rid the world of "dark ideas".
  
• if they were succesful the world would be "enlightened".
  

Enlightened thinkers (philosophers) used reason to hopefully improve:

• politics ( the divine right of kings? Does that make any sense?)
• religion ( does God exist? Can this be proven by science?)
• economy (what economic system can make everybody wealthy, not just a small group?)
• social issues ( poverty, inequality, criminality. Can we solve these problems by using reason and science?)

Lots of different thinkers, lots of different ideas

Do you get what Kant says here?

Would Kant agree with how i teach this lesson?

1. yes
2. no

How do you think he would prefer a lesson to be taught?

reason

• In general the enlightenment stresses the imprtance of reasons
• Everyone has a brain, everyone can think logically
• The problem is that some people don't train and use it
• The church and absolute rulers also make people lazy thinkers: "we will tell you what to think"
• Most enligtened thinkers say that this has to stop.

Take the quiz:

https://www.playbuzz.com/morganas12/what-enlightenment-thinker-are-you

Now write down an
example of something Enlightened
thinkers would not approve of
in their time?

John Locke:

All people have natural rights that nobody can take away, not even a king.

What would you consider to be a
BASIC RIGHT for all humans?

Voltaire

• wrote more than two thousand books and pamphlets on all sorts of topics
• was very critical towards the catholic church and the French king.
• because of this he was put in prison and later exiled from France
• his ideas were important in the French Revolution

website

Montesquieu

• He is famous for his theory of the Separation of Powers (Trias Politica):
• The power of the state should never be in the hands of one person.
• therefore power should be split up into three seperate parts, being:
• the legislative (making laws), executive (carrying out the laws) and judicial (providing independent judgement) branch.
• his ideas are still used in most constitutions all over the world.

website

Adam Smith

• Scottish economist. Wrote the book "Wealth of Nations"
• Believed that the economy works best if there is Free Trade.
• A government should not interfere in the economy.
• He was against mercantilism.

website

Word Duty

WORD DUTY

Enlightenment: movement of thinkers striving to nd the world of dark ideas such as ignorance, 

irrationality, intolerance and inequality.

Rational optimism: the belief that a rational way of thinking and ideas could bring about 

progress, making life better for mankind 

Basic human rights: a right that every person has and which has to be respected, even by kings. 

Atheist: someone who does not believe in the existence of any God.

Deist: Someone who believes in a God that created the universe according to natural laws, but does not interfere with humans.

Trias Politica: the idea that the power of the state should be divided into three different parts 

Free market economy: economic system with little or no government interference allowing competition between sellers, while the amount of buyers dictates the size of the market.

Salon: meetings where members of the upper class would meet and have scientists and philosophers speak about their work and ideas 

Encyclopedie (encyclopedia): a collection of knowledge on as many subjects as possible

Overview development worldview

You will receive a paper handout of this schedule. Then you can fill in the gaps using these options: 

- natural laws - work of God - Greeks and Romans - scientists - reason - sciences - economy - social issues - reading the Bible - empirical thinking - philosophers - natural phenomena - the Church - social issues - rational thinking - politics - humanists - religion - Scientific Method

You will get a handout that you can fill in. So you do’nt need to copy the whole schedule

Summary 4.1: The Enlightenment

Summary 4.1: The Enlightenment

Copy and fill in: social contract - free trade - Trias Politica - critical towards clergy, nobility and absolutism - natural rights

Write down a question about something from this lesson that you don't understand.

0

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