How Did We Get Sooo Modern Placing the

How Did We Get Sooo Modern? Placing the 20 th C. in Context

The 18 th C. & the AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT • Industrial revolution supplies the pot in which the Enlightenment can stew • Thinkers from Paris and London: Descartes, Pascal, Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, etc. • Human reason can combat ignorance, superstition & tyranny • Provided basis for – French & American revolutions – Rise of capitalism & socialism • Targets – organized religion – Hereditary aristocracy

Basic Tenets of the Enlightenment • Autonomy of reason • The world can progress and approach perfection • We can discover causality • Principles govern – nature – man – society

Rene Descartes: 1596 -1650 • "father" of modern philosophy • integrate philosophy with the "new" sciences • he may doubt, he cannot doubt that he exists • “I think, therefore I am. • Focus: “reason, ” abstraction, & definition

Sir Isaac Newton(1642 -1727): Mathematician and physicist • Focus: – OBSERVATION – EXPERIENCE • Fundamental Cosmic laws applicable from the tinniest object to the entire universe • During Enlightenment, Newton’s analytical methods are applied to every arena of thought and knowledge • Order arises from the analysis of observed facts

Have you had your apple today? • Discovers gravity • Asserts the force governing the motion of the apple also determines the motion of the moon • Orbits travel in an ellipse

Newton’s Mechanical Universe • Mathematical models can explain the behavior of the universe • Universe functions rationally & predictably • Gravity explains the consistent & mechanical movement of universe • Theology & religion are no longer necessary to explain physical phenomena of universe

Well then, what about God? • Universe resembles a clock built by God • God sets the universe in motion • Follows concept of INERTIA: every object rests until moved by another object; every object in motion stays in motion until redirected or stopped by another object • God “starts” the world and steps back

AND IF…The universe is a machine we can understand through observation • THEN … – SO CAN HISTORY, ECONOMICS, POLITICS, HUMAN CHARACTER – AND THEY CAN BE ENGINEERED OR IMPROVED LIKE MACHINES

The Rise of Deism • Newton separates the mechanical universe from religious explantion • If the universe was created by God and is also rational God is rational • To understand the workings of the universe is to understand the mind of God • Therefore, religion itself is rational

The Prevalence of English Deism • Impersonal deity • Common morality of all humans • Faith in humanity • Assumed that man is guided by reason • Rejection of original sin • Salvation comes through social contract • Man must save himself

Carl Linnaeus (1707 -1778) Converting Knowledge into a Rational System

Medicine & the Enlightenment • Body as natural system that functioned predictably & rationally = it operated like a machine • Disease is a malfunction • Study of disease known as pathology • Blood circulation, inoculation, anatomy, microscopic anatomy

The Enlightenments Impact on History • Historical truth derives from objective review of the human record • Man evolves and progresses • Laws govern both heavenly & earthly matters • Laws give power to kings power rather than kings giving power to laws. Viva la France! • Law seen as a relationship between people • Increasing focus on individual liberty • Enlightenment sought reform of monarchy

The Pendulum Swings: Romanticism • Romantics view the Enlightenment – – hyper rational Dehumanizing Emotionally restrictive Superficial source of knowledge • Romantics critical of industrial revolution, middle class materialism • Celebrates the “I, ” Nature, feeling & imagination • Belief in man’s innate goodness

THE NOBLE SAVAGE • 18 th C. – increased travel • Expansion of British Empire & colonialism • Europeans considered their civilization advanced” • They encountered the “noble savage ” – Reinforced notion of progress – Reinforced ideas of a universal moral sense inherent in man

The Deep Sea Cables by Rudyard Kipling 1896

Nearing the End: Fin de Siecle (The End of an Age) • Late Victorian reaction to rigid moral system • The approach of the 20 th C. • Daring new styles, attitudes, behavior • Artists broke from moral constraints & emphasized spirituality, sensuality, love • Era that coined the terms homosexual, lesbian, heterosexual

ART FOR ART’S SAKE • Rebellion against Victorian morals • Defied notion that art had a moral or didactic purpose • Art is not utilitarian – valuable simply as art – need only be beautiful – Can be enjoyed apart from its representational subject matter • Concept is precursor to abstract art • Life should copy art Whistler’s Nocturne in Black & Gold: The Falling Rocket 1874