Society During the Scientific Revolution

The New Epistemologies• The SR allowed many new epistemologies

(theories of knowledge to develop)• Mechanism= states scientist should question

HOW (NOT WHY) things worked– Became widespread especially through Newton

and Galileo

• Teleology= opposite of mechanism, states that everything is made for a purpose – Used by Aristotle

Scientific Method• A new theory on how to obtain and verify

knowledge, stressed experience, reason and doubt and rejected all unsubstantiated authority

• Revolutionized science, and made measurement of data, and mathematics, essential parts of science

• From the SR onwards, science was based on pure fact– the acquisition of data and the testing of theories

S.M two theories of knowledge?Theories Empiricism Rationalism

Also Known As

Aka: induction Aka: deduction

Theorist Francis Bacon Rene Descartes

Works New Atlantis a description of an ideal society based on science

Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason and Seeking Truth in the Sciences

Theory Supported the idea of going from particular knowledge (observation) to general knowledge

Stated that senses can lie and that the only way to find truth was to start from one fact, which was “I am doubting” and proceed to deduce all other statements– “I think therefore I am”. Stated there is an essential divide between the world of thought and reality (tangible objects)

Beliefs Religion (faith) and science (fact) should be separate

There is a division between the reality of the world and our perception of it

What is reality and what is perception?

Art during the SR

Mannerism

• Mannerism= a reaction to the glorification of humans seen in the Renaissance

• Features distorted human figures, strange perspectives and unnatural colors and lighting

• Mannerism reached its peak during the Reformation because it reflected the concerns of the time

• Major Mannerist painter was El Greco

Thinkers of the EnlightenmentDates Works Beliefs about

govt.Beliefs about society

Beliefs about human nature

Voltaire

Mendelssohn

Spinoza

Montesquieu

Diderot

Bacaria

Smith

Rousseau

Wollstonecraft

Hobbes

Locke

El Greco (1541- 1614)

Baroque

• Baroque= a reaction to Mannerism• Occurred during the Counter Reformation and

reflected the desire for grandeur and the wish to inspire and awe people with God’s greatness

• Famous Baroque painters– Caravaggio (1577- 1610)– Rubens (1577- 1640)– Velasquez (1599- 1640)

Caravaggio

Classicism

• Like Baroque, Classicism attempted to awe the viewer with a return to ancient values

• Classic painters – Poussin

Poussin

The Dutch

• Because of Protestantism, Dutch art was less religious and because most of the buyers were merchants

• Dutch Artists– Rembrandt (painted many pictures of himself,

conceited!!!)

Rembrandt

Literature During the SR

• Michael de Montaigne= invented the essay, influenced by skepticism (“What do I know”) which eventually led to search for self- knowledge (“Know thyself”) and his belief that acting righteously is more important than following doctrine

• Cervantes= wrote Don Quixote, which illustrated the wide gaps between rich and poor and the difference between reality and fantasy of his time by poking fun at society and politics (he thought that politics disregarded human values)

Literature during the SR cont…

• Shakespeare= wrote plays that made timeless statements about human behavior and covered a very wide range of topics and emotions. His plays also reflected time, death, turmoil and change.

• Corneille= was the dominant French playwright of the 1600s whose work reflects the rise of classicism. At first, he refused to follow the three new set rules fro drama (unity of time, location and plot). His masterpiece was Le Cid (1636) which was condemned by Richelieu because it did not follow the three rules

Social Patterns and Pop Culture during the SR

• Pop decreased after the 16th century• In the 17th century pop increase again leading

to:– overcrowded cities– bigger armies– increased crime– more taxes– increase in beggars

Social Patterns and Pop Culture during the SR

• Social status became mobile because it became based on wealth and education as opposed to family heritage

• Emphasis on education led to increase literacy rates– that led to an increase in newspapers and book publications

• Women also gained opportunities in business• In the East, peasants were reduced to serfdom and

in the West many were forced into the cities in search of work

Social Patterns and Pop Culture during the SR

• In the village, ancient traditions held fast, ex: the belief in magic and the yearly festivals

• Like in Calvinism, most non Calvinist villagers felt they couldn’t control their own destiny—SR teaches the opposite but those beliefs had not yet reached the villages

• Initially there was an increase in witch hunts that eventually subsided when the SR and Counter Reformation spread to the village