European Middle Ages c. 500-1400 C.E.

European Renaissance c. 1400-1600

Niccolo Machiavelli Michelangelo’s David

The Scientific Revolution(c.1500s-1700s)

• Developed the modern scientific method• Universe ordered according to natural laws• Discovered that scientific laws can be

discovered by human reason• Took the role of a deity or god out of the study

of the universe• Mechanical views of the universe

What is the EnlightWhat is the Enlightenment attitudeenment attitude? What is the

Enlightenment attitude?

(1) A desire for rationality, logic, consistency.

(2) A preference for evidence, not faith (skepticism)

(3) Increased interest in science, mathematics, geometry

(4) An admiration for ancient Greece and Rome and an abhorrence for everything medieval.

(5) A preference for the artificial over the natural, technology over wilderness (seen as “progress”).

What was the Enlightenment attitude?

• They thought, discussed, wrote about everything:governmentreligionscienceeducationhistorysocial institutionsethics/justicepolitical thought

• They sought to apply rules of reason & common sense to society's institutions & customs.•Enlightenment thinkers (“philosophes”) had faith that man could improve himself w/o aid of God. Not all agreed on specific beliefs, but all agreed to discuss & question how society operated

GENERAL VIEWS & HUMAN RIGHTS HELD IN COMMON by Enlightenment Thinkers:

everyone's natural rights upheldborn w/certain rights never to be taken awayyours from birth because you were human

desire to reform for sake of freedomfreedom from arbitrary power of governmentfreedom of speechfreedom of tradefreedom of religion (“toleration”)freedom of press/no censorship of booksfreedom of privacyfreedom from unlawful arresttrial by juryequality of opportunity in societyequality before lawmore equal tax structure not based on class systemwritten constitutionright for males to votemust be public educationinternational exchange of ideas based on open

communication

• ENLIGHTENMENT IDEAS ON RELIGION• i) Enlightenment thinkers “philosophes” blamed the

church more than any other institution for obstructing reason & progress through its perpetuation of myth, ritual & tradition

• ii) Philosophes denounced fanaticism, intolerance & superstition condemning clergy as hypocrites who incited their followers to kill in name of holiness & love (i.e. religious wars, pogroms, etc.)

• iii) many philosophes adopted religious attitude called DEISM:

• (1) God as an impersonal clockmaker, or a great force which had set the machinery of the world in motion and then left it to run by itself

• iv) Yet most of the philosophes did not seek abolition of religion, but its transformation into a humane force that would encourage virtuous living & for toleration of people's beliefs

What was the Enlightenment aesthetically?

(1) A desire for geometric shapes, orderly

repetition in mathematical patterns.

(2) A disdain of “messiness” and “chaos” in art and clothing and hairstyles as being unharmonious.

(3) Greco-Roman architecture

(4) Satire as a means of social critique

Characteristics of Neoclassical art

Order and Harmony Simplicity of shape and exactness of proportion

Gardens Ordering creation

Intellectual rather than emotional or spiritual Classicism

Restraint, good sense, decorum, good taste, correctness