This chapter starts with the Scientific Revolution and ends with the “Enlightenment” and the revolutions that it inspired (French Revolution, etc).Define with clarity (in your own words, drawn from the readings) the most important differences between the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. How are they connected by chronology and what are their major differences and similarities? Why did the Scientific Revolution start in Europe? Where did it once seem mostly likely to start? After the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, more and more Europeans saw themselves, the world, and the cosmos in fundamentally different ways (it was an intellectual “point of no return”). Explain this great change in vision. Why is Isaac Newton so important in this revolution of ideas? Primary source at end of reading: Voltaire and many of the Enlightenment thinkers ridiculed religious claims of exclusive truth. They had little patience for people who tried to impose their religion (based on supernatural claims, emotion, and faith) on others. But the Enlightenment, in its own way, was its own kind of faith. In the source by Condorcet (1st reading, pp. 11-13), pay attention to how he hints that Enlightenment thinking should be accepted by everyone. When Condorcet wrote this he was in a prison cell during a radical and bloody revolution in France where many men and women -- inspired by Enlightenment ideas -- believed they were making a better world by destroying the traditions of traditional France. Examine Condorcet's argument closely and tell me: A. What is his central argument? B. What does he say are the limits of human progress? C. In which parts does he even seem to show impatience or hatred for people or ways that do not fit with his new faith in reason and progress? Be specific. Don't make vague claims. Demonstrate your argument with details and examples! Second Reading--Primary Source QuestionsPrimary Sources from 2nd reading: In Galileo's piece, study his language. He is clearly upset with a fellow scientist (natural philosopher). What is he so upset about? What is it that makes Sarsi such a lame scientist? Francis Bacon, the father of modern science, writes in a similar tone as Galileo and has a similar complaint about bad scientists. But I am most interested in his "prayer" that he ends with. In your own words, tell me what he is saying in this prayer. It is poetic and deserves a close read. Own it by reading it closely and putting it into your own words. Blaise Pascal gives a kind of warning to scientists. He is a scientist, so clearly he is not an enemy of science. What is his argument and what are its main points? According to Descartes, how should man approach truth? What does Descartes believe man must do to know the truth? Is this realistic? What is Descartes suggesting about how humans usually learn from one another, or about "truths" handed down by tradition and custom? This little quote by Newton is HUGE! If the Enlightenment is about "universal law," how is Newton establishing universal law right here? If the Scientific Revolution promised that we can know truth through observation, Newton just took things to a radical new place. Explain, as much as you can what he is saying, and what that means for the limits of what humans can know. BONUS (optional): The Scientific Revolution in some ways demoted mankind. After all, “man” was no longer the center of the cosmos but instead a creature living on a speck in a massive universe. Man went from the lead role in a divine theatrical play, to a infinitesimally small part on an insignificant stage. God was no longer focused on His children, giving them personal attention. Instead, God was like a distant architect who built the universe and then moved on. Yet, one could argue that the Enlightenment (which grew out of the Scientific Revolution) actually elevated the importance of mankind in ways that were more presumptuous (or inflated) than former ideas. Explain, if you can, how it could be that the Scientific Revolution demoted mankind, even as the Enlightenment, then seemed to place mankind higher than he ever had been before.  [Show Less]