Transcript Restoration and Enlightenment

Restoration and Enlightenment
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(1660-1798)
What does “restoration” mean?
The act of reintroducing, reviving, or
bringing back something.
Restoration here refers to the return of the
monarchy (sole & absolute ruler, usually for
life and by hereditary right), which in turn
signaled a return to social and political
stability.
History
• Oliver Cromwell
* Roundhead
* 1599-1658
* Puritan
[note: Puritans were a group of English
Protestants, felt Church of England too
closely associated with Catholic Church in
many ways]
• Under Cromwell, the Royalists were defeated
and Charles I was executed (1649).
History
• The son of Charles I, Charles II, is exiled
to France.
• The monarchy is abolished and a republic
established.
What is a monarchy?
• form of government in which supreme
authority is vested in a single and usually
hereditary figure, such as a king, and
whose powers can vary from those of an
absolute despot to those of a figurehead
History
What is a republic?
form of government in which the people or
their elected representatives possess the
supreme power
History
What is a democracy?
political or social unit governed ultimately by
all its members
History
What form of government does the United
States have?
It is a true republic that practices a form of
democracy.
In the United Kingdom, people vote for
representatives in Parliament, the
country’s lawmaking body), but they also
have a monarch as a figurehead.
History … back to Cromwell
• Cromwell, and after his death, his son,
leads the Commonwealth of England
(1649-1660).
• Oliver Cromwell invades Ireland (16491650) and Scotland (1650-1651)
Restoration
• In 1660, a new Parliament invited Charles II
to return from exile in France and assume the
throne
• Milton arrested for his propaganda writings,
Andrew Marvell used his political status to
free Milton and quite possible saved his life
• On January 30, 1661, after the Royalists had
returned to power, Cromwell’s corpse (he
died in 1658) was …
[what strange thing supposedly happened to his
body?]
• Anglicanism returns as state religion
(previously under Cromwell, it was
Protestant)
• Charles II dies (1668) - has no legitimate
heirs
Who takes the throne?
• His Catholic brother, James II (1685-1688)
• 1688 - Glorious Revolution
Also known as?
Bloodless Revolution
• This campaign began because the Whigs
in Parliament wanted to replace James II
• James II has a Catholic son, James Francis
Edward “The Pretender” … but the Whigs
are not supportive of the Catholics
So, who takes the throne?
• James II’s Protestant daughter, Mary, and
her husband, William, take the throne
• 1707 – Scotland unites with England and
Wales as Great Britain
Enlightenment
• What does “enlightenment” mean?
• The act of educating, informing, or
bringing knowledge.
• Enlightenment here refers to the
philosophical movement that emphasized
the use of reason in ethics, government,
and logic, to obtain objective truth about
the universe.
Philosophy
The 17th century - a time when scientific
advances explain things previously
attributed to God
Philosophy during this time
concentrated on epistemological
questions
Epistemology = study of the origin,
nature, methods, and limits of human
knowledge (asks “what can truly be
known about reality”)
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
English political philosopher who
replaced the idea of divine justification
of political authority with absolute
sovereignty (domination)
 For Hobbes, this was the only kind of
government that could resolve
problems caused by the selfishness of
human beings
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Thomas Hobbes
Human nature basically selfish
*people act on evil impulses
*people should not be trusted to make
decisions on their own
*even with abuses of power, life under
the absolute ruler preferable to living
in chaos
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Thomas Hobbes
“state of nature” – condition of humanity
before the STATE’s foundation … before
the laws
 “state of nature” began to be used as a
term in social contract theories. In this
“state,” people have the natural right to
do anything to preserve safety or liberty.
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Thomas Hobbes
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“State of nature” is the state of human
beings without civil society – war of every
person against every person
Thomas Hobbes
Hobbes believed people would
behave immorally towards one
another
 His “state of nature” is solitary,
poor, brutish, and short.
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Thomas Hobbes
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He says you need to abandon your
efforts to satisfy your egoistic impulse
and join society in order to achieve
peace and survive
Thomas Hobbes
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The compromise or “covenant,” as
Hobbes calls it, is the agreement
among people to abide by a certain
set of rules (the laws of society) and
submit to a sovereign
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
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French philosopher
and mathematician
Portrait of René Descartes
Frans Hals, 1649
oil on panel
19 × 14 cm
National Gallery of Denmark
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
Note: Renaissance (1485-1660)
Restoration/Enlightenment (1660-1798)
* Questions whether the whole of our
experience may be part of a
dream/imagination; we are willing to
take for granted a great deal that might
be false or uncertain (The Matrix; Men in
Black (the locker?)
Rene Descartes
* What Descartes determines to be true is
- I exist (“I think, therefore I am”);
- God exists; and
- God is not deceiving us.
Rene Descartes
• Virtuous behavior depends on free
will rather than on grace (the free and
unmerited favor or beneficence of God)
• Free will is the sign of God in human
nature. It concentrates on the internal
authority of reason, not the external
authority of religion
* Argues that we are born with
“innate” ideas (born within us) (God)
Cartesian Circle
• The Cartesian Circle is circular
reasoning used by Descartes
to show that whatever he
perceives “clearly and
distinctly” is true.
• Descartes argued that his own
clear and distinct perception
was a guarantor of truth. This
would be so because God,
who cannot be a deceiver,
would not allow Descartes to
be mistaken about that which
he clearly and distinctly
perceived. The existence of
God, however was predicated
solely on Descartes having a
clear and distinct perception of
the thought of God, which
necessarily required the
existence of God.
Copy this
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• This approach is
saying “A is true
because B is true,
and B is true because
A is true.” Each
affirms the other, but
there is no outside
affirmation (outside
of the circle) of the
truth of either A or B.
John Locke (1632-1704)
* English philosopher, emphasizes individualism and
religious tolerance, laying the groundwork for modern
democracy
* human nature characterized by reason and tolerance
(e.g. peace) (opposite of Hobbes’ self-interested
cooperation)
* every branch of human knowledge--including religion-is based on experience and reflection
* Known as empiricism (all knowledge comes from
sense experience)
John Locke
• his theology is aligned with
Deism
a. belief based on reason, and
rationality, and observation of the
natural world
b. no reliance on religious
authority for confirmation of God
c. God created the world and
then abandoned it
• bases his politics on religious grounds
John Locke
• the law of nature is a God given set
of rules and principles of right and
justice
• as opposed to Hobbes, Locke sees
the normal state of nature as one in
which people live together in peace
and according to reason
John Locke
“State of nature” is one of peace,
goodwill, mutual assistance, and
preservation whereas Hobbes’ state of
nature is one of malice, violence, and
mutual destruction
John Locke
Whereas Descartes argues the idea of
innateness …
Locke asks “how do you know they are innate?”
What experience, what sensory observations
offers support? Locke argues that the mind
is a blank slate
(Frankenstein’s creation)
Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
Genevan philosopher (Republic of Geneva)
 His childhood consisted of solely reading
Plutarch’s Lives and Calvinist sermons
(Frankenstein’s creation)
 Human society based on a contract between the
government and the governed
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Human Nature
Defined as a set of characteristics, including
ways of thinking, feeling, and acting, that
human beings have in common
Jacques Rousseau
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His theory of the social contract is based on
the assumption that humans live in a “state of
nature” which is not ideal – they need to
enter into a contract with each other,
allowing them to live in peace and harmony
Jacques Rousseau
Human nature is not static but evolves
according to the sorts of civilizations that
form it
*Attributed evil not to human nature but to
society, insisting that in the natural state a
human being was essentially good and happy
– a “noble savage”
(Frankenstein’s creation ??)
Jacques Rousseau
“Noble savage” represents goodness and
simplicity when not encumbered by civilzation
(e.g. Enkidu in Epic of Gilgamesh)
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This idea of the “noble savage” led to the
sentimentalized perception of Native
Americans and Africans by British writers
(Brave New World)
• The state of nature eventually degenerates
into a brutish condition without law or
morality, at which point the human race must
adopt institutions of law or perish
Laws must be made by legislative assembly composed
of all citizens who are then obliged to obey their “own”
laws as “subjects”
Need to obey that which is for
the greater good of the state,
thus eroding individual rights
(e.g. airport security, USA Patriot Act)
Directions: Create this chart and fill it in to help when
studying for the Final Exam.
Hobbes
Locke
Rousseau Descartes
State of
nature
society
Reality
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