Jayrese Jones
Dr. Kargbo
World History II
September 16, 2012
Review Questions
1. How did the new scientific theory and discoveries alter the concept of God and religion? Did science in fact, come to dictate humanity’s concept of God?
The concept of science did cause many disagreements between philosophers and the church. More specifically Copernicus’s theory that the earth was not the center of the universe sparked major controversy. The Catholic Church’s reaction was mild compared to that of the Protestants. The reason that the theory was rejected was because it contradicted a bible verse. The accepted belief that the earth was the center of the universe helped to explain the bond between humanity and God. Although some theories were rejected by the church many people still became followers of certain philosophers. Times were changing and rather than accepting the beliefs of the church people were beginning to question why certain things in nature occurred.
2. What were the central concepts of the Enlightenment?
The central concepts of the Enlightenment were the use of reason, the scientific method, and progress. The initial idea of the Enlightenment was that the methods of natural science could be used to examine and understand all aspects of life. Another belief was that nothing was to be accepted simply based on faith; everything was to be submitted to rationalism, which was considered a secular way of thinking. Finding out how and why things happened in nature led to the birth of science, which consequentially led to the final idea of the Enlightenment, Progress. Progress was the idea that a better society could be created through discarding outdated traditions and embracing the idea of rationalism.
3. Who were the Philosophes and what did they believe?
The Philosophes were intellectuals in France who proclaimed that they were bringing the light of knowledge and reason to their fellow creatures in the Age of Enlightenment....