Scientific Thought Through the History Essay

Scientific Revolution

The scientific revolution was a period of integration of new ideas into the reason of nature. The period saw significant scientific changes in astronomy, human anatomy, physics, and chemistry. Questions of reason on matters of nature by the brilliant minds characterized this period.

Ideas by Rene Descartes, Francis Bacon, and Galileo contributed significantly to the scientific revolution (Boyer 45). Descartes contribution to philosophy and mathematics is evident in the scientific field. He developed the Cartesian system of coordinates and analytical geometry.

He is famous for several French philosophical theses. Francis Bacon developed procedural science. His Baconian method is widely used in scientific investigation in modern society. Galileo contributed to a variety of fields notably, physics, astronomy, and mathematics.

He improved the telescope, discovered the Jupiter’s satellites, and developed the basis for kinematics and the mathematical application in experimental physics (David 32).

Enlightenment

Before the revolution, the world believed that God metaphysically controlled the universe. To change this perception, great thinkers formed a movement known as ‘Enlightenment.’ Its goal was to encourage people to use science to understand nature.

It boosted people’s reconsideration into the old forms of governance such as primogeniture and feudalism. These great thinkers believed that ‘reason’ in the human capability could combat tyranny, ignorance, and superstition and consequently create a better world.

In America, the enlightenment of the leaders led to revolution. The democratic constitution in America was a result of enlightenment among leaders. Jefferson, Franklin, Paine, and Washington are some of the distinguished American revolutionists whom enlightenment inspired.

In France, Voltaire and colleagues struggled to enlighten the society that strongly held the culture of church and monarchy. d’Alembert, Montesquieu, and Pierre were some of the ‘rebellious’ who supported Voltaire in the campaign for freedom of the human mind.

Enlightenment in France led to a philosophical revolution and reign of terror (John 98).

Voltaire and Enlightenment

Voltaire was a French thinker who spread the teaching of enlightenment across Europe. Since people believed in Christianity and monarchy, they explicitly had no right to question nature or their governments. It was fatal to oppose the church and monarchy.

To free the people from this culture, Voltaire skillfully used the controversies by the Protestantism in Christianity. Historians argue that Voltaire contradicted the teachings of Protestants and Catholics to support his assertions.

Voltaire devoted considerable time in attacking the fundamentals of Christianity to undermine the credibility of the church.

This influenced other thinkers in France such as Pierre Bayle and Jean d’ Alembert who joined Voltaire in his bid to topple the power of the church for the freedom of the people (Biagioli 65).

Rousseau and his ideas

Geneva-born citizen, Rousseau was a Romanticism composer of the 18th century, great philosopher, and candid writer whose works influenced the American and the French revolutions.

To a larger extent, Rousseau contributed to the growth of sociological, educational and political thought in modern society. In the philosophical theory of nature of human, he wrote that morality was natural; not a societal construct.

He further noted that ferocity characterized human actions in their natural state. The human can only achieve self-restraint through civil education. In political theory, he argued that the adoption of law within the natural setting of the society degenerated the societal phase.

Although he posited that, the rule of law should be at the hands of the public, Rousseau was opposed to a representative of the people through the assembly. He proposed a republican government similar to Geneva. To him, education should train man how to reason (Cooper 108).

John Locke; How does his empiricism differ from rationalism?

John Locke was an English physician and philosopher whom scholars widely considered as the ‘Liberalism Father’ and an empiricist.

His works in philosophy significantly influenced the development of politics and epistemology, to greater extends he influenced Voltaire and Rousseau in their works of enlightenment.

Historians attribute American independence to his influence. Rationalism theory holds that human beings innately understand the logistics of life-right and wrong.

On the contrary, Locke’s theory of empiricism stated that experience shapes mind, tabula rasa, which according to Locke is an empty cabinet.

In the formulation of this theory, Locke asserted that human development from childhood to adulthood provided for more comprehension of the logic of nature. He further posited that education is very important for the development of the mind (Delanty 80).

Deism religious ideas

Deism was the position held by the great thinkers in the 17th century about God’s control over nature. Deism included un-Christians and anti-Christians. They had several ideas that contradicted the teachings about God and nature.

First, some deists believed in the existence of God, His creation and control over the universe. They believed that human could reason that God gave objectively. Humans were supposed to use this reasoning to explore nature and appreciate the beauty of God.

Secondly, others never believed in books such as the Bible and rejected the mysterious religion. According to these deists, religion confined the freedom of human thought.

They argued that the functions of nature occurred as per the ‘nature laws’ rather than God’s metaphysical control. Finally, deists believed in reason as the end for justification. They denounced the religious assertion that God is the ultimate judge of nature (Guy 123).

Causes of the French Revolution and the reign of terror

First, the Kingship lacked the knowledge of the commons. The people’s need for people-oriented leadership resulted in revolts. Secondly, King Louis XVI did not offer a participative form of leadership. He never consulted the states-general assembly.

Consequently, people revolted to create a participative decision-making system. Thirdly, the Kings were very powerful such that critics could not question their decisions. Other factors include enlightenment and human mistreatment.

Killings and torture marred the period of revolution in France, especially to those who were in power. For instance, they beheaded King Louis XVI in 1793 together with his family.

The influence of deism resulted in the persecution of Christians and the clergy with the closure of most churches in France. Historians have remarkably named this period as ‘reign of terror’ (Cooper 135).

Distinguishing the terms

Nationalism is a form of governance that strongly emphasizes collective involvement, loyalty, and obedience to one superior state. Historians claim that Gottfried coined the term with France and America the first states to use it after revolutions of the 1770s.

The Conservatism is a philosophy; sociological and political that promotes, supports, and maintains the customs of a society. Conservatism reluctantly supports minimum or no changes within society. This philosophy emerged in Europe in the 1660s that supported the monarchical divine right rule.

Socialism advocates for the equitable allocation of resources and power among all the members of the society.

The system aims in the reduction of bureaucracy and the promotion of adhocracy. Scholars used this term in the 18th century in their activism for rationalization of equality and opposition to capitalism.

Liberalism is a political and economic belief in freedom and equal rights within society. It advocates for democracy, free political competition, and a constitution. The Revolutionists in France and America used this philosophy to justify their armed overthrow of the autocratic rule in the 18th century (Guy 68).

How did Germany become a unified nation?

Until 1862, before Otto VonBismarck took the Prussian chancellor position, Germany states widespread as discrete units or traditionally controlled by Germany empires. When Bismarck took over, the majority of Germans held sentiments in favor of unification of these states.

Loyal he was, Bismarck initiated strategies to unify Germany. He invested in the army for preparation of conquest and reclamation of the Germany territories. In the German-Danish war of 1864, Bismarck emerged victoriously and acquired Lauenburg and Schleswig states.

In 1866, Bismarck defeated Austria, and Austria withdrew from the Confederation of Germany and ceded Holstein to Bismarck.

In 1867, Bismarck annexed Hannover, Hessen-Kassel, Frankfurt city and Nassau while the same year, north German established a confederation in which states from French Emperor joined in favor of Bismarck.

Since this angered the Napoleon III, Franco-German war broke from which Bismarck acquired Alsace-Lorraine in support of Southern states of German and Bavarian troops.

Having acquired several states, Germany’s princess formed the Empire of Germany in 1871, a federation of states (Whitfield 145).

Causes of European Imperialism

The 19th century saw the rapid expansion of most European countries in population growth. To explore new areas for the accommodation of their excess population, most of these countries opted to colonize other continents.

The economic constraint of the excess community motivated these nations to colonize other areas to control economic resources and feed their populations. Industrialization in Europe dictated for cheap labor, which was readily available in other countries.

To express their political supremacies, Europeans nations colonized other nations of the world. Historians argue that the more the colonies a government-owned, the powerful the nation.

The rivalries during WW II among countries such as France and Britain extended to the colonization of other nations. These nations struggled to possess the world and spread their political ideologies (Christian 24).

Works cited

Biagioli, Mario. Galileo, Courtier: The Practice of Science in the Culture of Absolutism, 1993. Web.

Boyer, Carl. A History of Mathematics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985. Print

Christian, Henriot. New Frontiers: Imperialism’s New Communities in East Asia, 1842- 1953, 2000. Web.

Cooper, Lane. Aristotle, Galileo, and the Tower of Pisa, 1935. Web.

David, Eugene. A Source Book in Mathematics, 1929. Web.

Delanty, Gerard. The Sage Handbook of Nations and Nationalism. London: Sage Publications, 2006. Print.

Guy, Ankerl. Beyond Monopoly Capitalism and Monopoly Socialism, Cambridge MA: Schenkman, 1978.

John Farrell. The Science of Suspicion-” Paranoia and Modernity: Cervantes to Rousseau”. Cornell UP, 2006. Print.

Whitfield, Bob. Germany, 1848-1914 Heinemann Advanced History Series, 2000. Web.