Monday through Friday, November 16-20, 2015.
*Leading questions: How did the science of the 17th century constitute a break from the past? What challenges did 17th-century scientists face, and how did they handle these problems? How does one explain the rise of the Scientific Revolution in the 17th rather than the 16th or 18th century? What are the core values and attitudes of the European Enlightenment? How do these ideas relate to 18th-century societies and institutions? How did the policies of 18th-century rulers reflect the Enlightenment? What hindrances did monarchs face who desired more enlightened rule? What are the legacies of the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution in the modern world? What ideas and attitudes no longer seem valid?
Day 1, Monday: The Scientific Revolution.
- In-class: Review Absolutism, the English Civil War and Constitutionalism.
- In-class: Begin to read and discuss primary source handouts on the Scientific Revolution, including excerpts from Renee Descartes, "The Discourse on Method," and Galileo Galilei.
- In-class: Report on and chronicle current events; pay particulat attention to ISIS/Syria and the terrorist attack on Paris on Friday, 11/13/2015.
- Homework for Day 2/3: Read, "A New World of Reason and Reform," from The West in the World, Vol II., eds. Sherman and Salisbury, pp. 425-436 (up to the section, "Laying the Foundations for the Enlightenment"), and prepare notes on the following question, key terms and persons for a graded discussion in class.
- Key terms: The Ptolemaic (or geocentric) model of the universe, the Copernican Revolution (and heliocentric model of the universe), the Roman inquisition, Neoplatonism, Hermetic doctrine, alchemy, experimental method (methodology of science/empirical method), inductive reasoning (and empirical investigation), deductive reasoning (and mathematical reasoning), Cartesian dualism.
- Key persons: Blaise Pascal, Galileo Galilei, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Plato, Copernicus, Giordano Bruno, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, Paracelsus, Andreas Vesalius, William Harvey, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Robert Boyle, Francis Bacon, and Rene Descartes.
- Key questions:
#1: What explains why some people in the "West" began to challenge the standard assumptions of their civilization, like how things worked in nature, and what were the consequences of the scientific and rational challenges to accepted authorities on truth?
#2: Why did the scientific revolution emerge in Europe when it did, at a time when Europe was caught up in almost a century of religious wars and other conflicts? Use three examples to illustrate and support your answer.
#1: What explains why some people in the "West" began to challenge the standard assumptions of their civilization, like how things worked in nature, and what were the consequences of the scientific and rational challenges to accepted authorities on truth?
#2: Why did the scientific revolution emerge in Europe when it did, at a time when Europe was caught up in almost a century of religious wars and other conflicts? Use three examples to illustrate and support your answer.
Day 2/3: Independent research
- In-library: Work on historiography research; conference time with instructor, librarians, and tutors.
Day 2/3: The Scientific Revolution, Part 2.
- In-class: Discuss the homework reading and questions about the reasons behind the scientific revolution (from Day2/3).
- Homework for Day 4: Read about the Enlightenment in The West in the World, Vol II., eds. Sherman and Salisbury, pp. 436-446, and prepare notes on the following question, key terms and persons for a graded discussion in class.
- Key question: How did the scientific revolution lay the foundation for the Enlightenment?
- Key terms: Enlightenment, salon, orrery, skepticism, the philosophes, the Encyclopedia, Deism, separation of powers, checks and balances, enlightened absolutism (enlightened monarchs), physiocrats, laissez-faire, criminology/penology, and the "woman question".
- Key persons: Pierre Bayle, David Hume, Voltaire, Emilie du Chatelet, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Adam Smith, Cesare Beccaria, Mary Wollstonecraft, Madame Geoffrin, and Condorcet.
Day 4: The Enlightenment.
- In-class: Read the primary source handout by Immanuel Kant, "What is the Enlightenment?" and discuss the influence of the scientific revolution on the Enlightenment.
- Homework: Work on independent research paper drafts.
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