LOS AMIGOS HIGH SCHOOL
AP EUROPEAN HISTORY
Unit
XV: THE ENLIGHTENMENT
The Age of Enlightenment:
An Age of Reason
(552-558
& 564-571)
WH9H Unit II PowerPoint
Slides, part 2
LITERATURE
(* Not in Flash-Cards)
*Letters on the English by Voltaire
*Elements of the Philosophy of Newton by
Voltaire
Candide by Voltaire
Encyclopedia by Denis Diderot & Jean le Rond d'Alembert
*On Crimes and Punishments by Cesare Beccaria
Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
*The Persian Letters by Baron de Montesquieu
Spirit of the Laws by Baron de Montesquieu
The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
GUIDED READING QUESTIONS:
- What
influence would the Newtonian worldview have on the ideas of the Enlightenment
and the call
for reform throughout Europe?
- What
influence would the example of British stability and prosperity have on the
ideas of
the
Enlightenment and the call for reform throughout Europe?
- In what ways
did France, after the wars of Louis XIV, illustrate the need for reform and
inspire the
ideas of the Enlightenment?
- What
influence would the emergence of a print culture have on the ideas of the Enlightenment
and the call
for reform throughout Europe? How
did the print culture create "public opinion,"
and what
impact would it have on European governments?
- List the various
causes championed by Francois-Marie Arouet, aka
"Voltaire."
----------
- What did the philosophes hope to achieve in the application of human
reason to society?
Who did the philosophes
intend would benefit from their reformism?
- What
conclusions were reached by Beccaria
when he applied the rational laws of nature to
criminal law?
- Why did many philosophes oppose mercantilism? How did the physiocrats
hope to reform the
role of
government in the economy of France?
- What
complaints did Adam Smith have against the mercantilist system? What did Smith
propose would
encourage economic growth?
- What is laissez-faire economic
policy? What forms of government
involvement in the
economy were
supported by Adam Smith?
- Why did the most important political thought of the
Enlightenment occur in France?
- What were Montesquieu's hopes
for reform in France? In what ways
did his opinions toward
reform in France identify him as a political conservative?
- In what ways was Rousseau's vision of reform much more
radical than that of other
contemporary writers?
- What did Rousseau hope to imply when he began The
Social Contract with the line, "All men
are born free, but everywhere they are in chains"?
- Describe Rousseau's concept of the "general
will." How does he
characterize the relationship
between the
"general will" and "freedom"?
PEOPLE:
Francois Marie Arouet Denis Diderot Jean le Rond d'Alembert
"Voltaire"
Cesare Beccaria Adam Smith Baron
de Montesquieu
(Charles
Louis de Secondat)
Scientific and Enlightenment Influences on Women and Religion (466-473,
558-563, & 571-575)
LITERATURE
(* Not in Flash-Cards)
*Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems
by Galileo Galilei
*Christianity Not Mysterious by John Toland
*Philosophical Dictionary by Voltaire
*Inquiry into Human Nature by David Hume
*The Decline and Fall
of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
ƒmile by
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary
Wollstonecraft
GUIDED READING QUESTIONS:
1. What was
meant by the expression "new natural knowledge," and how did it
differ from
knowledge of previous historical eras?
2. Why were
many of the advocates of "new natural knowledge" critical of
universities?
3. Why were
noblewomen, such as Margaret Cavendish, and women associated with artisan
crafts, sometimes able to engage in the activites of the new science? Why were most women
excluded?
4. Identify the
three major challenges posed to religion by the new science? What did the
natural philosophers themselves think about the relationship
between their work and religion?
5. On what
grounds did the Catholic Church censure Copernicus' work? In what ways did the
"historical moment" contribute to the
Church's decision to condemn Galileo and his works in
1633?
6. Why did
Pascal reject the skeptics of his age?
What opinions did he share with Jansenism?
7. Explain
Pascal's argument that it is a better bet to believe that God exists than not
to do so.
Why did he actively work to strengthen traditional religious belief in
God?
----------
8. What did Voltaire hope to imply when he uttered,
"Crush the infamous thing!"
9. What were the primary complaints of the philosophes against established religion? What
political, economic, and social practices of established
religion did the philosophes hope to
reform?
10. How did Deism
differ from traditional Christianity?
How was Deism influenced by the
Newtonian worldview? How
did Deism differ from Newton's reconciliation with God?
11. What were the two major points of the Deists'
creed? What impact did the Deists
hope their
faith would have on established religion?
12. Which of
the philosophes became the champion of religious
toleration? How much religious
toleration
did the philosophes hope to achieve? What was the basic premise behind their
calls
for toleration?
13. Describe
the most radical criticisms of Christianity made by Voltaire, David Hume, and
14. Describe the relationship between God and nature as
defined by Spinoza.
15. In what
ways did the philosophy of Moses Mendelsohn differ
from that of Spinoza?
16. How did
European writers of the 18th century portray Islam, and in what ways
did they
attack it?
17. In what
ways did the views of Voltaire and John Toland toward
Islam differ?
18. What did
the Ulama, the Islamic religious establishment, teach
Muslims about the
Christianity?
----------
19. How did the salons of Paris allow women to participate
in the Enlightenment? What
benefits
did the salons provide to the philosophes?
20. What was the general attitude of the philosophes
toward women and their social condition?
Describe the specific opinions of women presented by Montesquieu and
Rousseau, as well as
that presented in the Encyclopedia.
21. Despite his
view that men and women occupy separate spheres, in what ways did Rousseau
achieve
a vast following among women in the eighteenth century?
22. What
inspired Mary Wollstonecraft to write A Vindication of the Rights of Woman? Describe
her
basic argument in opposition to the views of Rousseau, and in favor of
providing women
with
good education.
PEOPLE:
Margaret Cavendish David Hume Blaise
Pascal
Baruch Spinoza Moses Mendelsohn John Toland
Enlightened Absolutism (580-589)
Patent
of Tolerance (1781), Josephinism, Charter of the Nobility, Pugachev's
Rebellion
GUIDED READING QUESTIONS:
- What role did the philosophes
expect existing monarchies to play in carrying out the reforms
they had proposed to the political problems of their day?
- What was enlightened
absolutism?
- How did the Seven Years' War provide
incentive for the enlightened absolutists to adopt
Enlightenment
policies?
- List
the enlightened reforms carried out by King Frederick the Great of
Prussia. Then
identify the
benefit(s) each of these reforms provided to the Prussian state.
- How did Frederick the Great's
description of himself as "the first servant of the State" reflect
an important change in the European view of the ruler?
- What did Maria Theresa hope to achieve by
expanding the availability of primary education
and bringing all educational institutions in Austria into
the service of the crown?
- As
Queen of Austria, Maria Theresa carried out reforms dealing with both primary education
and the
welfare of Austria's peasants and serfs.
In what ways were her reforms in both of
these areas
intended to benefit the Austrian state?
- Of
the many enlightened ecclesiastical reforms of Emperor Joseph II of Austria, it
can be said
that all were
carried out in the pursuit of two basic goals. What were these two goals?
- How
did Catherine the Great's familiarity with the
writings of the Enlightened philosophes
influence her
opinion toward Russia?
- What
did Catherine the Great hope to gain by issuing the Charter of the Nobility - a
guarantee of
many rights and privileges of the Russian nobility?
- What three
European nation-states participated in the three partitions of Poland between
1772 and 1795? What fact of political life in Poland
proved most detrimental to the ultimate
fate of
Poland? What outside influence
might have prompted the rapid succession of the
second and
third partitions in 1793 and 1795 respectively?
- By the end of
the 18th century, what factors prompted all three of Europe's enlightened
absolutist
regimes to become more conservative and politically repressive? Which single
event
ultimately brought a final end to the experiment of enlightened absolutism?
PEOPLE:
Frederick the Great of
Prussia Joseph II
of Austira Catherine the Great of
Russia
IMAGES:
Frederick the
Great dines with Voltaire