Analysis Of Isser Woloch's Eighteenth Century Europe

The opinions surrounding the history of eighteenth century Europe are vast and controversial, particularly where it concerns the causes that spurred the beginning of the modern era. In the introduction of his book, Eighteenth-century Europe, Isser Woloch states that understanding how Europe ascended to domination is the central theme. He also wrote that the events that occurred in the eighteenth century, the rise in population, the changes in economics, “social relations, governance, and cultural expectations” was “a singular conjuncture of events” that made the eighteenth century a pivotal time in history (Woloch, page 2) . Mr. Woloch believes that changes in demographics can, under the right circumstances, cause an increase in a given economy (Woloch, page 118). Despite a lack of census data, there are numerous recordings by the churches of births, baptisms, marriages and other religious

Frances Bacon wrote Novum Organon (1620) in which he proposed the idea to test theories using experimentation and sense experience (Woloch, 188). Woloch doesn’t mince words, he wrote that Bacon fathered the empiricist philosophy and it “produced the most influential writers of the age, John Locke and Isaac Newton” (Woloch, 188). Also inspired by Frances Bacon’s philosophy of emiricism, David Hume contributed not only to the age of Enlightenment, he also greatly influenced the (as of yet) unborn field of psychology. He was born and attended university in Scotland, but left without earning a degree, though he was determined to educate himself (Goodwin, 2014). At one point, as a writer, he was better known as a history writer than he was for his Treatise on Human Nature (Goodwin, 44). Hume developed the experimental method, what Woloch refers to as the “empirical method of observation,” coming to know the truth of a thing through careful observation of sensory