HIST 310 Notes
January 14, 2019- Ideas, Reforms, Crisis
Challenges to Absolutism
The Enlightenment
Public Opinion
The French Monarchy in
... [Show More] Crisis
(Mis)Conceptions about the Enlightenment
Age of enlightenment vs. enlightenment thought
o Not uniform thought
o Defuse movement
o Age is something we used to talk about
o Thought is more modern
Zero in certain kinds of thoughts we can relate to enlightenment
Siècle des limieres- a century of light?
Conspiracy theories (post-Revolution)
Not a uniform school
Limited reach
Where does the Enlightenment come from?
17th century scientific revolutions
Emphasis on reason
Search for universal laws
Critique
o Take things you took for granted and critique them
Philosophes
o People from all sorts of trade
o People who are interested in a variety of different disciplines
o Different means in getting at universal laws/truths
o Not only interested in philosophy
The Encyclopedia
General/complete education
Published between 1751-1772
Edited by Diderot and d’Alembert
More than 70,000 articles
28 volumes- 23,500 copies sold
At least 140 authors
First edition cost 980 Livres (a skilled worker made 2-5 livres/day)
3 categories
o Memory
o Reason
o Imagination
Focus on technical knowledge
Banned in 1759 for being irreligious
o ½ completed
o Take away permit
It became popular enough that the editors could go across the border to
the Netherlands and publish the rest which then circulated in France
Kant and Montesquieu
Who was Montesquieu?
o French philosopher
o Legal scholar
o Judge
o Member of parliament
o Spirit of the laws/Persian letters
What does Montesquieu’s vision of the world look like?
o People are naturally inclined to do good things
o Not savages
o Society develops in stages
o Very structured
o Hierarchy of reasons and logics
What does Montesquieu think of the different forms of government?
o 3 forms
Monarchy
Don’t need virtue, thus it is the finest of machines
Best political regime
Don’t have to worry about what people believe
Only 1 person they have to worry about
Therefore it is the best vs. trying to please everyone
Republic
Can only live on its virtue
Requires virtue
o Concern for the public good
Aristocracy
Fear or coercion
Virtue
o Have to be worried about the public good
In Montesquieu what's virtue? Honor?
o Cannot trust people to be good
o Coerces people using honor?
Aristocrats are motivated by notion of honor
Accumulating land/honor etc.
In monarchy you can use drive to honor in its favour
Tap into notion of honor
o Montesquieu doesn’t trust human nature that much
Not a revolutionary just trying to perfect their system
Why are they important in different forms of society [Show Less]