The seventeenth century was a time of enlightenment. Numerous revolutions and revelations occurred from the year 1600 onto the end of the century. The Scientific Revolution was birthed and quickly progressed with new inventions and scientific philosophies rapidly emerging. Political and religious revolutions were very pertinent to the seventeenth century. The common people began thinking for themselves and fighting for a voice in society against the archaic customs of the religious and political figures. The world became an open book during the 1600s. Settling in the “new world” and trading across the world brought new cultures to the people of Britain and elsewhere. Within these new cultures, new religions such as Buddhism appeared …show more content…
Not only did their inventions help propel the mankind’s understanding of the universe and its laws, but their literary works brought the immense knowledge to the people so that science was more exposed and understood. The scientific literature of the seventeenth century is a time capsule of the great discoveries uncovered at the time by scientists such as Galileo and Leonardo Da Vinci. Correspondingly, the revolutionary wars of the 1600s were also of utmost significance to the literature present. The English Civil War and the Thirty Years’ War came as necessary turbulences for the people of the century. Lashing out at the corrupted government and religious enforced laws, people found themselves in war and sometimes against their own country. Writers, such as John Milton, captured the revolutionaries’ vitality and steadfast convictions in epic poems and other literary art forms. Aside from the wars, a large discovery of new lands and openings of new trades to other countries brought forth excitement to learn about new cultures. Trading to the East Indies and exploration of the “New World” permeated the literature of the seventeenth century in poems such as “The Passionate Shepherd To His Love” by Christopher Marlowe. The poem shows telltale signs of exploring nature and falling in love with the simplicity and beauty nature holds. This relates back to Buddhism and also the exploration of the “New World”. Along with the new cultures, a new philosophy or way of thinking came forth in the seventeenth century called metaphysics. This transcendental, higher thinking developed from a desire for the expansion of the mind due to a chaotic and corrupted world that seemed to be constantly evolving or even devolving. The idea of the soul and the purpose of mankind were all a part of the metaphysical beliefs. Metaphysical poetry is a keystone for the seventeenth century literature. Metaphysical poets, such as John Donne, wrote pure representations of
Unlike previous centuries, the eighteenth century was the dawn of a new age in Western Europe where intellectuals thrived, science was honored, and curiosity was encouraged; and the framework of how civil society was changed as a whole. From the dawn of the Enlightenment, Western European culture was changing due to the revolutionary new ideas that were changing. With the social change going on, political change was as evident as time went on. With these changes rooted in social change, the effects of the Enlightenment can be seen over 18th century Western Europe and beyond. Towards the late 1780s the late German Philosopher Immanuel Kant described the Enlightenment as, “Man leaving his self caused immaturity” ( Spiel Vogel 503).
The Enlightenment is the era were the intellectual, scientific and individual freedom, centered upon the 18th Century; there were many important people of this time that brought forth many new concepts. For example, Benjamin Franklin, he brought many new inventions to this era, such as the Poor Richards’ Almanac, lightening rod, harmonica, and his own thought on the Christian outlook. Secondly, Sir Isaac Newton discovered the laws of nature such as, gravitation. Third, the most well known religious revival was brought forth, The Great Awakening, which put a fire in many people during the 18th Century. During the 18th Century, Benjamin Franklin, Sir Isaac Newton, and The Great Awakening goes to show the intellectual, scientific and individual
The Enlightenment (also known as the Age of Reason) is described by scholars a method of thinking and knowing (“epistemology”) based off of the ideas that the natural world is in fact better understood through close observation, as well as dependence on reason. An important note to point out is that the Enlightenment added a more secular environment to colonial life, which had always been based on religion. The ideas of the Enlightenment actually originated in eighteenth century Europe, allowing for the birth of colonial “deists” who often looked for God’s plan in nature more than the Bible as they had in the past. Many of the deists began to look at science and reason to divulge God’s laws and purpose. This period of Enlightenment encouraged people to study the world around them, think for themselves instead of what others had to say, as well as ask whether the chaotic appearances of things were masking a sense of order. The...
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were also known as the enlightenment or the age of reason because of its new ideas and innovations. Europe experienced a series of the drastic changes and revolutions. This altered the way people lived and their standards of living. The people responsible for this were known as the philosophers. They questioned the world and suggested answers to many problems.
The time between 1485 and 1660 marked a period of new beginnings for the people living in England; this time is known as the Renaissance. In England, the people were challenging their past beliefs; where before the Renaissance, England thrived basing their lives, government, and music off of God and his principles alone. During these one-hundred and seventy-five years, the English people started questioning their original principles about religion and established a yearning for information and proof based off of science instead of God. This desire caused many changes to form in England. The Renaissance period quickly became known as the rebirth of knowledge named by the change from God’s knowledge to the knowledge of man. The Renaissance brought on many changes to English culture especially in their music. There was a rise in secular, or non-religious music, instrumental music, and dance music. Although the English Renaissance occurred many centuries ago, the major changes in musical styles are evident in both spiritual and secular music.
Enlightenment had an enormous impact on educated, well to do people in Europe and America. It supplied them with a common vocabulary and a unified view of the world, one that insisted that the enlightened 18th century was better, and wiser, than all previous ages. It joined them in a common endeavor, the effort to make sense of God's orderly creation. Thus
During the seventeenth and eighteenth century many ideas were placed forth that ended up changing peopleís faith and reason. These new ideas challenged humanís conception of the universe and of oneís place in it. They challenged the view of a person, and they also challenged the belief of the economy. There were many scientists and philosophers during this time period, Francis Bacon, René Descartes, John Locke, Nicolaus Copernicus, Isaac Newton, and Adam Smith to name a few. All of these people contributed to the change in peopleís faith and in their reason. They were given new ideas and a new way to look at life.
Roper, H. R.. The crisis of the seventeenth century; religion, the Reformation, and social change. [1st U.S. ed. New York: Harper & Row, 19681967. Print.
...but it also significantly altered the scientific community. People such as Francis Bacon, John Locke, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, and many more, helped to spread ideals that would become a crucial turning point in the thought process of people during the seventeenth century. Without the important scientific and intellectual advances that occurred during the Enlightenment period, countless other important events and inventions that were sparked by them would also be nonexistent. There is no way of telling how history’s course would be different had the Great Awakening and the Enlightenment not occurred, but the fact is that they did. And what is known is that religion, science, government and politics, beliefs, relations between humans, society, and human perspective were all significantly altered by the wide-ranging metamorphoses inspired by these movements.
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century is one of the most complex movements in European history since the fall of the Roman Empire. The Reformation truly ends the Middle Ages and begins a new era in the history of Western Civilization. The Reformation ended the religious unity of Europe and ushered in 150 years of religious warfare. By the time the conflicts had ended, the political and social geography in the west had fundamentally changed. The Reformation would have been revolutionary enough of itself, but it coincided in time with the opening of the Western Hemisphere to the Europeans and the development of firearms as effective field weapons. It coincided, too, with the spread of Renaissance ideals from Italy and the first stirrings of the Scientific Revolution. Taken together, these developments transformed Europe.
Enlightenment The enlightenment was the growth of European thought in the 1600’s. The spread of enlightenment was a result of the Scientific Revolution during the 1500’s and 1600’s. It resulted in a need to use reason to enforce human laws. It also came about from a need to solve social, political and economic problems.
The Enlightenment period, also known as The Age of Reason, was a period of social, religious, and political revolution throughout the 18th century which changed the thoughts of man during this “awakening” time. It was a liberation of ignorant thoughts, ideas, and actions that had broken away from the ignorant perception of how society was to be kept and obeyed thus giving little room for new ideas about the world. Puritan society found these new ideas of thought to be extremely radical in comparison to what they believed which was a belief of strong rational religion and morality. Enlightened society believed that the use of reason would be a catalyst of social change and had a demand of political representation thus resulting in a time in history where individualism was widely accepted amongst the new world. Puritan society believed strongly in myth, magic, and religious superstitions that was immensely used by the Puritans before democracy, capitalism, and the scientific revolution gave rise from the Enlightenment period.
Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, radical and controversial ideas were created in what would become a time period of great advances. The Scientific Revolution began with a spark of inspiration that spread a wild fire of ideas through Europe and America. The new radical ideas affected everything that had been established and proven through religious views. "The scientific revolution was more radical and innovative than any of the political revolutions of the seventeenth century."1 All of the advances that were made during this revolutionary time can be attributed to the founders of the Scientific Revolution.
Galileo Galilei was born on February 15, 1564, in Pisa, Italy. He was a mathematics professor who made pioneering observations of nature with long-lasting implications for the study of physics. Galileo constructed a machine that changed everything in astronomy, the telescope, and this supported the Copernican theory. In 1600, Galileo met Marina Gamba, a Venetian woman, who gave him three children. The daughters were Virginia and Livia, and son Vincenzo. But He never married Marina because he feared his illegitimate children would threaten his social standing. He died in Arcetri, Italy, on January 8, 1642.
The age of Enlightenment was a progression of the cultural and intellectual changes in Europe that had resulted from the scientific revolution during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. The scientific revolution and the discoveries made about the natural world would ultimately challenge the way people perceived the world around them. Scientist found real answers, by questioning flawed ancient beliefs that were widely held and maintained by the church. Ultimately, these discoveries and scientific advancements would evolve and effect social, cultural, and political developments in Europe over the course of time. The scientific revolution had provided certainty about the natural world that had long been questioned. With these new developments came the progression and influence of thought, rationality, and individualism. These new ideas would be the hallmark for the Enlightenment movement that would shape most of Europe in the eighteenth century.