The eighteenth century was one of the epochs of human history that had the greatest revolutionary happenings that transformed the entire world and the way things are handled. It is the period of human existence that experienced the highest number of performers in all areas of academic study, literary art, economic empowerment and philosophical advancement emerge to prominence coming up with some of the greatest concepts and philosophies that have been invaluable to our general understanding of the metaphysical world that we live in now.
This paper is a study of different aspects of the eighteen century revolution and in doing so, it will respond to different questions about various issues that were pertinent during that epoch of human development.
How did the First Scientific Revolution Energize economics and society?
Scientific Revolution was a period in man’s revolutionary history when there was a profuse arising of new ideas and concepts in all the scientific fields such as astronomy, physics, human anatomy, biology, chemist among other sciences which abolished most of the unauthenticated concepts and doctrines that had been in operation from the times of the Ancient Greece to the Middle Ages.[1]
This revolution saw to fruition concepts that had been suppressed by religious groups which held promising results for the new Science Age that was now dawning in. It was the base of what is now called Modern Science where superstition and religious dogmas were replaced with scientific reason and knowledge that would explain every single happening on the basis of empirical evidence supporting such notions.
The accompanying new concepts in physics, biology, astronomy and metaphysical world soon became central in the understanding of universal social concerns and economic trends of the time. Studies were developed steered towards attempting to unite the world into a global market that would transact business with the main reason being to edify human life and alleviate poverty.
These concepts were adopted by scientists who were involved in social sciences and economics to transform the period’s economic trends in investment and way of conducting businesses thereby beginning the concept of universal congruence in economic undertakings. From this, business transactions were encouraged to be geared towards profiting the society in which they thrive and thus societal development was also a key area that was developed in this period.[2]
How did Absolutism assert itself in Europe?
Absolutism was a concept that was fronted by H. G. F. W. Hegel as a philosophical account of how understanding of the being can be attained as a whole. According to Hegel, for the subject that is thinking (that is the human) to be able to understand the object (that is the world in which he lives), the subject has to have some sort of identity of being and thought.[3] This was a fascinating philosophical idea that received a lot of attention in the time setting stage for the development of modern philosophy of absolutism in many other respects.
Absolutism within the first decade of its invention as a philosophical train of thought, it attracted a lot attention among the contemporaries and therefore was taken up by storm by many philosophers of the time. The concept entered Europe from Germany, US and Britain where it had first been accepted.
It was out of the influence of such philosophers like Meister Eckhart that the concept entered Europe. Within the first two decades of its inception in Europe, Absolutism greatly became the center-stage concept that was referred to in almost every philosophical argument. This made its assertion easy and appropriate since it would explain many humanistic concerns such as religion, government systems and human activism.[4]
How did Enlightenment Thinkers conceive of Improvements of Human society?
Enlightenment thinkers were a group of scientists and reformists who believed in science and acquisition of knowledge as the way to respond to all the challenges facing humanity.
They spent a lot of time devising philosophies and concepts that would explain all human experiences with empirical evidence to clearly outline the details of every explanation in accordance to scientific research methodology.[5] These thinkers therefore perceived the society as being capable of standing on itself and creating responses to solve any difficult it faced.
Improvements in the human society were thought to be driven by personal ambition and objective of equality among all people as well as creating avenues through which the society would be taught to attain education. In a snapshot, these improvements were thought to be realized through education and brotherhood which was a concept that favoured equity and equitable distribution of resources and opportunities to all people in the society.
How did Democratic forms of Government spread in the West?
The spread of democratic forms of government into the West was as a result of the oppression that had been seen during the world wars which had painted dictatorial leaderships as tyrannical and oppressive.
Human rights activism albeit in its infant stage, had began coming up with the creation of world organizations that fronted for equality and these compelled government leaders to be accountable to the citizenry to whom they (government officials) were responsible to.
Democratic form of government was a concept that proved very promising as it required that political leaders be led by ideologies which they would sell to the citizenry and competitively seek for votes by convincing the voters of what their parties would do to improve the living standards of the citizens.[6]
Democratic form of government also refuted harshly tyrannical leaderships and oppression as it gave the populace the express right to elect public servants into offices and remove them from these offices when voting time came again. This created responsibility for these leaders thereby making them more accountable to the citizenry.[7] This is how democratic form of government spread in the West.
Bibliography
Chambers, Mortimer, Barbara Hanawalt, Theodore Rabb, Isser Woloch, Raymond Grew and Lisa Tiersten. The Western Experience, Volume 1, with Primary Source Investigator and PowerWeb. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006.
Jürgen, Habermas. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
Toby, Huff. The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China and the West. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Footnotes
- Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Theodore Rabb, Isser Woloch, Raymond Grew and Lisa Tiersten, The Western Experience, Volume 1, with Primary Source Investigator and PowerWeb (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006), 124.
- Ibid,183.
- Ibid,192.
- Habermas Jürgen, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989).
- Ibid, 78.
- Huff Toby, The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China and the West (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 54.
- Ibid, 55.