The Enlightenment

HISTORY

The Enlightenment

PART I

I chose the 1st and 3rd short answer topics.

1) The Enlightenment occurred after the 100 years war, and was a period using the idea of progress. During the Enlightenment, society got better. As a consequence of the 100 years war, Prussia became the first country to use enlightened ideas to good effect. During this time, Fredrick the Great tried to make people loyal to the country, not just a section of the country. The reign of Joseph II brought about centralization and administrative reform. This reform was based on merits, and took away privileges. The power of the Catholic Church was thrown out, and Nobles were forced to pay taxes. The Enlightenment emerged ideas of inherited vs. natural law, a conflict between Locke and Hobbs.

2) Galileo Galilee was a natural philosopher who first used a perfected telescope to see the atmosphere. Galileo had problems with the Catholic Church because of his ideas. He confirmed that Copernicus was right, that the “heavenly bodies,” or planets, moved in an orderly fashion. Galileo also said the Bible was irrelevant (as far as science goes) and should be reinterpreted. The Catholic Church made him repent for these allegations. Galileo was a major influence on the ever-evolving Western Civilization during the 17th century.

PART II

From it’s origins in the Renaissance, Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, liberalism became the primary ideological challenge to the Great Chain of Being. The Great Chain of Being was a social hierarchy that placed people in one ring of society, where they would remain forever. There was no social mobility through the rings. The meaning of liberalism has changed over time, throughout Europe. In the 19th century, liberalism would be considered anyone or anything that challenged their own political, social, or religious values. In the 21st century, the meaning of liberalism has nothing to do with the 19th century version. Liberalism changed the political landscape in Europe in many ways. Liberals sought to establish a political framework of legal equality, religious toleration, and freedom of the press (Kagan p660-661). Liberalism changed the economic landscape of Europe because the liberal people were of the working class. They saw labor as a commodity, and set prices and wages for it. The economic structure was greatly broadened because of liberalism.

Liberalism had a major changing effect on the political landscape of Europe. The goal for their political structure was that no one person or family had complete power over the greater area. This would be maintained through a parliament body, assessing new laws and rules, and then agree to carry out the law, or not. This form of government did not exist anywhere in Europe. At this time, Liberals helped change this by challenging the government to expose more people to this decision making process. This would begin to include less educated and less wealthy citizens. Government powers were no longer going to be based on inheritance. Without the challenge from the liberals during this century, Europe’s political landscape might be quite different