17th C, a Century of Genius Consequences of the Scientific

Revolution -Changed the size of populations -Changed the use of raw materials -revolutionized production,

transportation,war

Science before the 17th

DaVinci – dissected human body Knowledge of anatomy Drew designs for submarines,

airplanes A lot of his work remained

unpublished – he was an artist

Europe beginning to be very thoughtful – on the other hand a great deal of skepiticism

Think back to Descartes and Bacon

Scientific Revolution

Conception of the Cosmos – Ptolemy Universe made up of spheres –

crystals All revolved around the earth Nearest the earth was the sphere of

the moon Beyond the sphere of fixed stars lay

Empryean Home of angels and immortal spirits

Nicolas Copernicus

1473-1543 “Revolution on the Heavenly Orbs” Argues that the sun is the center of

the Universe All could be solved through

mathematics

Johannes Kepler Carried the Copernican theory one

step farther He discovered the orbit of the

planets Elliptical

Galileo

1564-1642 1609 – he built a telescope Observed the moon and argued it

was not an orb Looked to have a mountainous

surface

He also argued that the moon reflected the sun, different phases of reflection

Not itself a luminous object Made up of earth like substance –

and maybe all of the planets Gravity test – 10 lbs ball and 1 lbs

ball from leaning tower of Pisa

Achievements of Newton

Universal Gravitation -tides could be understood and

predicted Naval and merchant ships could

operate with more assurance 1st time, accurate idea of shape and

size of all the continents

Developed ideas and calculus -curves and trajectories Lead to efficiency in artillery Consequence- made military budgets

increase Lead to increased taxes Increased firearms led to increased

efficiency in insurrections Led to increased strength of state

This gave Europe an advantage over other nations

Development of Steam Engines Led to increased industrial and

agricultural production

Another consequence – Everything seemed possible to humans

-they all continued to believe in the existence of God – but dependency on Divine Powers began to disappear

Greatly secularized European Society New School of Political Thought

develop – School of Natural thought and the Enlightenment

Political Theory

Cannot be treated as science Science deals with what does exist,

political theory deals with what OUGHT to exist

We always deal with what ought to happen

Machiavelli

Original thinker to propose what ought to exist

He separated himself from the moral and theological philosophy, and dealt with politics

He described how rulers and governments ought to actually behave

We saw this – wearing masks

He separated himself from moral philosophy, and took a scientific approach to politics

Natural Right and Natural Law Focused on the question of what is right? Natural law – in the structure of the

world, there is a law that distinguishes right from wrong.

Right is natural, not a human invention This right is not determined , for any

country, by its heritage, traditions, or customs

Not determined either by actual laws (positive laws)

Positive laws can potentially be unfair or unjust

We compare positive laws with what we know about natural laws

Ie, we know cannibalism is bad, and forcing orphaned children to work in mines is unjust

Natural law is not determined by one person, a king cannot determine what is right or wrong

They are universal, the same for all

How do we discover natural law? We discover it by reason People argue that all people are

rational Idea of natural law and faith in

human reason go hand in hand Good example of this is international

law, which argues that all countries should work together for a common good

Hobbes and Locke

Natural law has been used to justify both constitutionalism and absolutist governments

These forms of government were found to be a means to an end

How to best obtain natural laws Hobbes – absolute monarch Locke -Constitutionalism

Hobbes

Argued that human beings have no capacity for self government

View of human nature low State of nature – quarrelsome and

turbulent “life in the state of nature was solitary,

poor, nasty, brutish and short” From fear of each other, and to obtain

order, people came to form a contract

Individuals surrender their freedom of action into the hands of a ruler

This ruler must have unconditional and absolute power

This to maintain order

No one can question the government, this would open the door for chaos again

Leviathan Absolutism would produce civil

peace, individual security, and the rule of law

This was the only way to achieve natural law

John Locke

Government develops because humans are rational

Government also based on a contract

Better view of human nature In the state of nature, people were

reasonable and well behaved Willing to get along with eachother

They also had a general idea of certain rights, life, liberty and property

Problem in the state of nature is people cannot protect all of their natural rights, specifically property

Set up government to protect this

Contract not absolute – people must be reasonable, and the government cannot break the contract

You have the right to rebel against it

Influences

Hobbes – absolute monarchs in France

Locke – American and French Revolution

Slavery