Age of Enlightenment and Course Materials

Step I: Basic, factual analysis of a reading 1. List three examples of events/methods from Voltaire’s Candide which you believe best illustrate the issues related to the Scientific Revolution and to the Enlightenment. . The reaction of the Portuguese Inquisitor about the earthquake. b. The lifestyle of people in El Dorado. c. The despair of Paquette and the monk Brother Giroflee 2. Now for each point above, explain why this example illustrates these issues. a. Tsunami and earthquake’s acknowledgement are proof of developing science. The reaction of the Inquisitor for trying to kill Candide and Pangloss because of the earthquake is a typical example of the abuse of the church on people. It’s used to prove that what the church said is wrongful and people foolishly believe in what they are told. b. El Dorado is essentially the utopia of nobles, people living during the Enlightenment era. Street are covered with precious stones No Priests All of the king’s jokes are funny. Nobody care about gold or fighting over gold in the kingdom. King is kind and helpful. c. It’s the freedom of expression about their philosophies in life. They are noticing the ugly truth of their life as a sexual object and obeying religion against the will of person. . Finally, place each point above into the historical context (this means to make direct connections of this point to other specific information you have learned about the era from the other course materials) a. The Lisbon earthquake in Nov 1, 1755. b. French revolution in 18th century. c. The Seven Years War. 4. Compare Candide to the Appendix from Theodicity by Wilhelm Gottfried Leibnitz (found in the course mate rials under Assignments and Quizzes / Candide Assignment). List one example where the two sources agree. God did not choose the best course. . List one example where the two sources differ from each other. Every event is predetermined. 6. What do you think it means if the materials agree? It’s consistent among authors about the philosophy of religion belief/ life. Therefore, it’s a creditable source of outcome for further studies. When a material is proven to be true in two or more sources, its defense is stronger to believe in. It’s easier for readers, scholars to utilize in debating an issue. It opens way for discussion of an idea from multi perspectives. 7. What should you do with information that differs? First, I don’t pick which side I’ll support and which I’ll not. Search for facts (if possible), logical reasoning. Evaluating idea from my own experiences. Asking other people about their thought on both sides, then I compare and contrast both idea against each other’s. The result could end up be one side over another or a combination of both. PART II: How to use a period piece of literature (here answer the questions using your common sense and critical thinking skills) 1. List two reasons why students should be cautious in using a piece of literature in historical analysis. a. Piece of literature consists of belief and opinions, which are strongly opposed to historical analysis requiring good use of data, event. b. Piece of literature is written in a mocking way of the real society. Students should pay attention to the reliability of author of such piece to avoid bias in historical analysis. 2. Give an example from Voltaire’s book for each of the reasons raised a bove. a. Candide and Pangloss’s optimism – which are reflecting the belief of Voltaire They are opinion not facts. There are uncertainties about the truth of the society behind this thought. b. Voltaire’s idea of El Dorado: Once again, this is the utopia of Voltaire, which may or may not be the haven of other people. Believing in such event is over generalizing the thought of people in the society. 3. List two reasons why students should use a period piece of literature. a. It gives the idea, thought of people who are living in the society at that time. It’s more relevant than assuming the life condition base on dry facts. b. It’s useful when students want to do a compare and contrast to the theory they are studying. It gives students various perspectives to view an issue. 4. Now give an example from Voltaire’s book for each of the reasons raised above. a. The tsunami, earthquake in Lisbon and the reaction of the Inquisitor. b. Life of labor in the society during the whole stories. PART III: Sketching out an Essay In this section of the worksheet, you will see how all the course materials start to come together. If you were writing an essay, you would want to draw your conclusions and make your inferences using a wide variety of examples to make your points and provide supporting evidence (which would likely lead to an â€Å"A† paper). Keep this in mind as you answer the rest of the questions here. Now, suppose I were to assign the following essay topic (DO NOT WRITE AN ESSAY): In the period between the middle of the seventeenth century and the French Revolution Europe underwent a period of transformation in terms of scientific and social thought with had far-reaching implications in legal issues as well. Examine the impact of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment on European politics, law, and society. What examples would you use from Candide book (taking into consideration the concepts we have just worked with in Parts I and II) to back up/illustrate your analysis of each of the following points (give one example per each). Once again, you need to consider ALL that you have learned from the course materials, not just from reading this book. 1. One key impact of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment on European society: 2. One key impact of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment on European politics: 3. One key impact of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment on European law: Now broaden out your analysis to use other documents/textbook/readings or other non-textbook materials/lectures. Give two examples for each of the three categories above: 1. Scientific Revolution like Copernicus’s theories about the earth and sun, which the earth is not the center of our solar system. This went against the way that churches were teaching (Before, Plato believed that Earth was the center of the universe). Also, Galileo Galilei with the discovery of telescope and the law of the pendulum, both prove that Aristole was wrong. Both of them prove that Church could be wrong in science by their scientific method and reason. In the end, people began to ask themselves that what if they can understand other things in life by using scientific method and reason. Started back in 1500s, people went on to use reason, experiment, and observations to develop and progress. . John Locke was a philosopher. He believed that people were able to govern themselves; therefore he did not like the absolute monarch. He wanted more power for ordinary people (because everybody is born free and were right to life, liberty, and property. Later, his book had a big effect on what we think about politics and government today. Voltaire was one of the most important philosophers of the Enlightenment. H e spent much of his life to criticize the church for freedom of religion and speech. In Voltaire’s idea, the best ruler would be an enlightened monarch, who studied the science of government and protected the basic rights of the people. The philosophes were concerned about social and religious issues. They encouraged education as the way to end ignorance, and superstition. 3. Deism was the idea that universe was created by a higher being (God). According to deist, there are no supernatural acts, such as miracles, manifestation, messages; they considered it as religious superstition. The Spirit of the Laws by Montesquieu, who argued that power of the king, came from people, not from God or Divine Right. In conclusion, the Enlightenment changed the way that people thought about science, religion, politics, and laws. We can still see those effects in our lives today. Now, if you were really writing an essay, you would have organized all of your strong examples to use in supporting your â€Å"big picture† analysis that comes from the text and lecture materials. You are ready to write a well-organized, critical thinking analytical essay on the above topic (DO NOT DO THIS).