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CHAPTER 14 POWER POINT
The Scientific Revolution and The
Enlightenment (1600-1800)
KEY TERMS
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Neoplatonism – philosophy based on Plato’s ideas; one should search beyond appearances for true
knowledge and the truth about nature and God could be found in abstract reasoning and be best
expressed by mathematics
Hermetic Doctrine – all matter contained the divine spirit which humans should seek to understand;
sciences such as botany, chemistry, and metallurgy could unlock the secrets of nature
Copernican Revolution – the change in belief from an earth-centered (geocentric) to a sun-centered
(heliocentric) universe
Heliocentric Model – theory that the sun is the center of the universe (and subsequently our solar
system)
Empirical Method – the use of observation and experiments based on sensory evidence to come to
ideas or conclusions about nature
Deductive Reasoning – deriving conclusions that logically flow from a premise (Rene Descartes’
theory)
Cartesian Dualism – Descartes argued that there were two kinds of reality: mind (subjective thinking
or experiencing) and body (objective physical matter)
Scientific Revolution – 16th and 17th century methods of investigation and discoveries about nature
based on observation and reason rather than tradition and authority
Enlightenment – 18th century movement that stated human reason should determine understanding of
the world and the rules of social life
Philosophes – Enlightenment thinkers; French term for philosophers
ANALYZING QUESTION 1
List and analyze the differences between the new scientific views of the world and traditional
medieval views. How did standards for ascertaining the “truth” differ between these two
perspectives?
Scientific Views
Traditional Views
• Heliocentric theory
• Truth about reason expressed through
mathematics
• Different scientific disciplines could unlock
the secrets to the universe
• Exploration and new navigational
instruments further proved Ptolemy’s
geographic map
• Scientific Method
• Earth and other heavenly bodies moved in
circular orbits
• Telescope revealed that heavenly bodies
were imperfect structures
• Planets move in ellipses
• Physical relationship could be expressed
mathematically
• Law of gravity
• Earth rested at the center of universe
• Above the Earth were perfect spheres
of air, fire, the sun, the planets, and the
stars
• God is the “prime mover” and he lies
in the beyond
• Angels are composed of pure matter
• Earth was made of changeable,
corrupt matter
• Earth was the center of God’s
concern
• People lived by the wisdom of the
ancient Greeks and Romans (Aristotle,
Plato, Ptolemy) and authoritative
interpretations of the Bible for centuries
ANALYZING QUESTION 2
Analyze the beliefs and motives of three central figures in the Scientific
Revolution. What barriers did they have to overcome to present their views?
Galileo Galilei
Isaac Newton
Francis Bacon
• He built and used his own
telescope in 1609 to study
the heavens
• Formulated the principle of
inertia (once bodies are set
into motion will tend to stay in
motion)
• Discovered 4 moons
orbiting Jupiter, the sun’s
dark spots, and the moon’s
surface was rough and
uneven
• In 1633, he was forced to
confess to the Catholic
Church that the ideas of
Copernicus were false,
otherwise he would have
faced torture
•Law of Gravitation = all
physical objects are affected
equally by the same force;
this force ruled the motion of
the planets and all matter on
Earth and in space
• Mathematically described
three laws of motion: inertia,
acceleration, and
action/reaction
• Developed calculus
• Every object in the
universe attracts every other
object
• He believed that God
created the universe to
function perfectly according
to mathematics
• Scientific conclusions could
be reached through inductive
reasoning – drawing general
conclusions from particular
concrete observations
• Believed science would
benefit commerce and
industry and improve the
human condition by giving
people power over the
environment
• His development of the
scientific method disregarded
old scientists’ belief in longtrusted authorities
• He believed
experimentation and
reasoning should based
observed facts and math
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
ANALYZING QUESTION 4
In what ways did the Enlightenment threaten traditional views and
authorities?
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*NOTE: All of the following views challenged the Catholic Church and the Divine Right of
Kings (Absolute Monarchy)
Voltaire - Fought for tolerance, reason, freedom of religious belief, and freedom of
speech; denounced the religious doctrine of the Jesuits; was imprisoned twice for his
views
John Locke - Believed the purpose of government was to protect the natural rights of
people (life, liberty, property)
Montesquieu - He believed in separating the government into three branches: legislative,
executive, and judicial; three branches of government would prevent tyrants from rising to
power
Rousseau – If a government violated people’s natural rights, it was the citizens’
responsibility to overthrow it; he believed that the only good government was one that
was freely formed by the people and guided by the “general will” of society (direct
democracy); his beliefs were expressed in The Social Contract (1762)
Adam Smith – Wrote the Wealth of Nations (1776); he was a proponent of laissez-faire
economics which argued that individuals who were allowed to rationally pursue their own
economic self-interest would benefit society as well as themselves