World History 173: The Age of Revolution
Artifacts
"The Triumph of Truth" by Joshua Reynolds (1773)
"The Triumph of Truth is a portrait of James Beattie (1735–1803), a Scottish poet, philosopher, and Professor of Moral Philosophy. The book under his left arm, entitled ‘Truth’, and the title of the painting both refer to the Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth, which Beattie published in 1770."
A painting of Immanuel Kant and his contemporaries.
For more on Kant's thoughts about dinner parties (and he has many), click Here
Link to the image here
The Merman, "Caught" in Japan (c 1700-1799)
"Mermaids (and, less usually, mermen) were presented as three-dimensional curiosities in European drawing-rooms and popular sideshows from at least the seventeenth century. A significant number of these seem to have originated in East Asia, especially in Japan. Such 'mermen' consist of the dried parts of monkeys, with fish tails, probably on wood cores."
For more on this piece, click here
Denis Diderot (1713–1784) by Jean Antoine Houdon, 1773
Denis Diderot was the father of the encyclopedia.
Click Here for more information on Diderot and the piece
Deeper Dives
Deeper Dives
Steven Pinker vs John Mearsheimer debate the enlightenment (28:00)
The Enlightenment
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Background/Overviews
- Enlightenment Europe
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- Enlightenment
Does a good job of describing how the Scientific Revolution helped to spark the Enlightenment
Setting the Stage
- The Cultural Context of Newtonianism
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This is not a great article for this project. I probably shouldn't have included it. - How the Renaissance Challenged the Church and Influenced the ReformationAs interest in cultural, intellectual and scientific exploration flourished, support for an all-powerful church diminished.
A Few Key Figures & Key Ideas
- John Locke The Second Treatise on Government [Excerpts](1690)
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"Being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions." - Thomas Hobbes: Excerpts from "Leviathan" (1651)
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The source of the phrase "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." - Rene Descartes "Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One’s Reason and Searching for the Truth in the Sciences" (1637) [Excerpt]
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"I think, therefore I am." - Mary Wollstonecraft. "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects." (1792) [Excerpt]
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"Contending for the rights of woman, my main argument is built on this simple principle,
that if she be not prepared by education to become the companion of man, she will stop the
progress of knowledge, for truth must be common to all.."
Legacy & Influence
- Enlightenment rationality is not enough: we need a new Romanticism
This is really heady. It probably should have been in the deep dives section. - The Enlightenment’s Dark Side
How the Enlightenment created modern race thinking, and why we should confront it.
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