As we’ve been studying the French Revolution and the individuals who played key roles in its beginning and its outcome, it is important to remember that it is ideas which are the great force that moves the course of history. God’s Word sets forth truth, yet humanity seems bent on finding its own way. For generations an idea proclaimed to be truth will create a political, social, and economic status quo, only to have another idea, usually its opposite, sweep it away.
Take recent theories on parenting, for instance. The generation that survived the Great Depression raised their children strictly, insisting on hard work, stern discipline, and thrift. The children came through World War II and experienced a fantastic economy in their early adulthood. The result is that they raised their children in a manner that was completely opposite to their own Spartan childhoods – they raised the Baby Boomer generation, which gave us the hippie movement and Jerry Garcia.
In like manner, the Enlightenment was a rejection of the conservatism and religious effects of the Reformation. Your assignment this week is to read about the Enlightenment and its chief pupil, Napoleon Bonaparte. Read the essay about the Enlightenment at http://www.mrdowling.com/705-enlightenment.html . On the same page (just an inch or so under the head line) you’ll see a link to an essay about the life of Napoleon. Read them both and answer these questions: How did the Enlightenment gain such popularity with Europeans? How did the ideas of the Enlightenment shape Napoleon? How much impact does the Enlightenment have on today’s society? (Give examples).
Remember the requirements of these assignments and make every effort to complete your work on time.
How did the Enlightenment gain such popularity in Europe? I think people liked the idea of the Enlightenment because it helped them to explain things they had just accepted without a second thought in the years before. Things like the moons around Jupiter, which Galileo discovered during this period. The Enlightenment had the people use science to explain things. Unfortunatly, many of the people who believed in the Enlightenment were aitheists. Being more bloodthirsty times, as they attacked religion and faith, the athiests restorted to killing and destroying everything and everyone Christian.
ReplyDeleteHow did the ideas of the Enlightenment shape Napoleon? The Enlightenment shaped Napoleon militarily, I beilieve. If I have the times correct, then Napoleon was training and just beginning his military career in the years of the Enlightenment. After the Enlightenment, Napoleon was greatly affected by the aftereffects of hte Enlightment, the French revolution and Reign of Terror. This was the period when he rose to power andb ecame the "First Consul" of France, which is funny because he was actually not French for he was born on Corsica, an Italian island that was owned by France. The afftereffects of the Enlightenment definatly made Napoleon what he is remembered for today, a great military leader.
How much impact does the Enlightment have on today's society? Our American Consituation is an affect of the Enlightenment. The Enlightment encouraged people to participate in goverment, which America does in our democracy. Even the American Revolution was viewed by many as an achievmant of the Enlightment. But I see one thing that is not mentioned as an effect of the Enlightenment in the essays. I think that the theory of evolution could be an affect of the Enlightenment as well. This was years before Charles Darwin, but because of the athiests getting their ideas out during the Enlightenment, some of these ideas might have stayed all the way up to the 1800's and into the period of Darwin. Thus, evolution could be an affect of the Enlightenment as well. It is, unfortunatly, around today and many are atheists. Another affect of the Enlightenment perhaps? The number of atheists increased as Christianity decreased?
Works cited: http://www.mrdowling.com/705-enlightenment.html
The enlightenment was a movement of thinkers who believed that science could explain everything in nature. Before the Enlightenment, most of people believed that God controlled the universe in a metaphysical (beyond physical) manner. Which implies that it is not possible for human beings to understand and comprehend the things that happen in our environment.
ReplyDeleteHow did the Enlightenment gain so much popularity with the Europeans? I think the Enlightenment was so popular, because it started giving people some sort of answers, and reasons as to why things happened, mostly through the newly accepted researches of sciences. Instead of just assuming something was right, they decided to find out for themselves. Galileo was one of the first people of the Enlightenment that decided to find things out for himself, he used a powerful telescope to first discover that there were many moons surrounding Jupiter. Later, he used his discoveries to prove that the Copernicus theory, that the Earth rotated around the sun, was correct. The church did not like Galileo's new findings, and put him in prison for heresy.
How did the Enlightenment shape Napoleon? I think the enlightenment shaped Napoleon militarily. It helped enter him in military training, and quickly made him an important military leader.
How much impact does the Enlightenment have on today's society? I think it had a great impact on our society, it helped shape our nation into the way it is today, it inspired democracy and a result of it was the making of our constitution.
The Enlightenment was a time of humans trying to gain control of themselves as an entirety. They desired to answer their own questions without having to answer to a greater God. This particular movement was especially popular with the Europeans because it allowed them to put faith in their inner power. They were as strong as they made themselves. Questions they had never had the answers for could be answered (whether correct or not) by the methods of science and human empowerment. The people no longer had to answer to and trust in an invisible god, but they had to find for themselves whatever they wanted. Napoleon Bonaparte was shaped through this movement. He was taught to be strong within himself. He did not answer to or rely on anybody but his own control. This affected his military style and leadership. He did not trust anybody but himself and made his will the way to be strong and undefeated. Today, we see the effects of the Enlightenment in our society. In the media and the prominent individuals, we see how everyone feels the freedom and privileges to put their beliefs in themselves. They don’t look to God for their basis of beliefs, but their own emotions and feelings.
ReplyDeleteWell, to start off I'm going to answer your question "How much impact does the Enlightenment have on today's society?" The foundation of modern science began during this time period. I'd say the effect of Galileo's discovery and Copernicus' theory have impacted our lives today, more than we give it credit for. The Enlightenment motivated people to use science and find out its boundaries. I wish the Enlightenment had an impact on other areas to such as the totally freedom of speech and religion and the fact that the press could print any true statement. Now-a-days we have to argue to keep our rights as Christians, to be able to pray in school, to be able to publically display the Ten Commandments, things that should be freely allowed and accepted. The Enlightenment did become popular with the Europeans. It caused the people to be more religious, artistic, creative, and curious. Although it took a long time, they produced new sewer systems and brought cleanliness in their cities. I'd say it gained most of it popularity across Europe by its extravagant visual arts. This time period also cleared a way for the birth of Romanticism. Romanticism was a movement in literature and art during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that celebrated nature rather than civilization.
ReplyDeleteI believe the Enlightenment had an affect on Napoleon Bonaparte simply because during this time he was a military leader of France. He defeated a lot of Europe giving him the power to control the continent. Therefor he must have been informed of all the current news going on around Europe.
http://www.pccua.edu/keough/enlightenment_and_revolution.htm
http://www.mrdowling.com/705-enlightenment.html
The Enlightenment was not a single movement or school of thought. Some of the Enlightenment ideas could be contradictory depending on the country you were connected to. After the Crusades science was still trying to figure out its identity apart from the church.
ReplyDeleteEnlightenment was less of a set of ideas than it was of values. At the core of its bases, it questioned traditional institutions which were mainly the church and government. Both having corruption displayed openly. It also questioned customs and morals. It elevated rationality and science.
The French Revolution threw off the chains of absolute monarchy, feudal, aristocratic and religious privileges. It elevated the equal rights of a "citizen".
To tell the truth, the French Revolution was very narrow minded! Certain citizens had inalienable rights , but not all! The rights of the aristocratic s were taken from them. Not all men were declared equal.
The Reign of Terror which happened after the French Revolution was incited by rival political factions. It did not hold true to the course it had set out to accomplish. I hope this does not happen in Egypt today. It's political factions destroyed scientist and thinkers and anybody that got in its way.
On October 3rd, royalist in Paris declared a rebellion against the National Convention.(One rebel against another!) One of the leaders knew of Napoleon and gave him command of an improvised force. Napoleon excelled and the rest is history.
After an Italian campaign, Napoleon took to Egypt. Because of the influence of the Enlightenment his Egyptian expedition included 167 scientist, mathematician, naturalists, chemists and geodesics. Their discoveries included the Rosetta Stone and they published all their findings in a book entitled Description de Egypte.
In spite of Napoleon being raised a Catholic he ambitiously threw his spiritual heritage aside. I find it amazing that when he took on a general as part of his military team it was important to know it he was "lucky". He would only take him if he carried luck with him. I find that superstitious and not Enlighten!
source cite:Enlightenmenthttp:www.mrdowling.com/705-enlightmenthtml. wikipedia
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ReplyDeleteThe Enlightenment also know as the age of reason became popular quickly. I think the there are several reasons it swept through Europe with such popularity and with such little opposition. One I think people were sick and tired of the fighting over which religious view was right and all the killing and bloodshed over it. The Christians weren't really acting as they should. The rationality that was presented was a welcome and a much more peaceful way of seeing things at that time. Secondly people were hearing so many different things from the views of the people who called themselves religious that when they were presented with something proved by science and not just something they had heard for years and had been bickered over they were ready to accept something new and proven. Thirdly I believe that the new belief that man was actually good and that they didn't need God was a big hit. If it was truth then they could get away from all the fighting and lies and corruptness of the religious and governmental leaders and not have to worry about eternity in hell if the were good people who didn't need God. People wanted something new to believe. With all the new sciences and inventions and ways of thinking an interest for newness and learning was sparked.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon was a brilliant millitary figure. With people fed up with being deprived of rights, food, wealth of any kind, and were being cheated, opressed, and ignored they understandably revolted. After all the blood desired had been spilt and people were tired of that kind of fighting and ready for a new start and a new way of life and leadership, Napoleon saw his chance and stepped in. He strategically worked his way into favor and to the top. He quickly became a hero and crowned himself emperor. He saw that people were tired of being on the bottom and getting kicked around so he took that to his advantage as well and went to war. He soon became adored as he swept through Europe unchecked. People were happy to be on top winning and kicking butt that had kicked them around for so long. So in conclusion to this question you can see the Elightenment shaped Napoleon not necessaritly with thoughts and ideas but it provided a place for a brilliant hero and Napoleon stepped in a filled that spot which would shape the rest of his life.
How does the elightenment shape todays society? Well, thats can be a difficult question. There are so many things that came out of the Enlightenment. Although it wasn't the first time the idea of atheism was presented the Elightenment made it more popular. Also the it brought about new ways of thinking and caused people to demand more involvement in government. It also demanded more scientific research which brought about rapid changes as people began to discover more and more.
My sources:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.allabouthistory.org/age-of-reason.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment
http://www.mrdowling.com/705-enlightenment.html
How did the enlightenment gain such popularity with the Europeans. In order to answer this question one must first know what the enlightenment was. The enlightenment was a movement that said that God was not the ultimate source of truth. The enlightenment sought to put man in God’s place. However, the enlightenment also did some very good things. Because it strongly emphasized that people should have liberty and freedom the American Colonies took a stand against England.
ReplyDeleteNow, on to the Question. The enlightenment became extremely popular in Europe partially because of the oppressive rulers and partially because of the oppression of the church establishment. I say this because back then the kings dictated everything that happened and the church ruled over people by fear and intimidation. Because of this the people became angry with the establishments and demanded change . The enlightenment movement provided the people with a way to get this change.
The ideas in the enlightenment shaped Napoleon by giving him an opportunity to take power. After the French Revolution, which was brought about partially by the Enlightenment movement, France was in desperate need of order and Napoleon was someone who could give it.
If it were not for the enlightenment movement then the world today would be much more different. Because of the enlightenment movement the principals that were the foundation for the revolution in America became widely spread. Without the movement then it is very likely that the United States would not exist and we would be under the control of Great Britain.
Morgan,
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about people being tired of all the bloodshed and that Christians weren't acting the way they should. I think Christians now-a-days could learn a lesson from the Enlightenment. Because Christians then weren't acting like Christians, it led many to want to adopt a life without God, such as many wish to do today. Perhaps if us Christians acted in everything and everyway as Christ would, more would accept Him. Good essay!!!
Alex,
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% with what you said about " I wish the Enlightenment had an impact on other areas to such as the totally freedom of speech and religion and the fact that the press could print any true statement. Now-a-days we have to argue to keep our rights as Christians, to be able to pray in school, to be able to publically display the Ten Commandments, things that should be freely allowed and accepted." It is sad that we have, as Americans, the freedom of speech and press, yet these rights are restricted because people don't want to tread on other's toes, but by doing that they still tread on people's toes, by infringing the rights of Christians in public. Just shows that the phrase "Freedom isn't free" is true, both in the way freedom is earned and the fact that there is no absolute freedom until death when we go to Heaven. I too wish that we didnt have to argue for our rights, as you mentioned, yet we still claim to be a "Christian nation". America needs help right now in a very bad way. Good essay!!
The Enlightment was a movement of people who believed that sicens was the goal to explain nature. Before that, almost everyone believed, that god was the one who controlled everything n earth. Galileo helped a lot in the process of the Enlightenment. He was the one who disscovered other planets, and used those as proves for the Copernicus theory, whih says that the earth travels around the sun. Nageative aspects were theat a lot of people did not believe in god since they were atheists. They attacked religion, and some were also bloodthirsty in attempting to get their will.
ReplyDeleteNapolen was one of the greatest military figures in history. He was born on the island Corsica.
I would say that the Enlightenment gained such popularity with Europeans, because of Napoleon, who conquored almost all Europe. I think he brought a lot of influence from the "new" thinking, the Enlightenment, with him and his army to the countries he conquered. I guess people were thinking and starting to believe the new theory, because of the "proofs" which were given.
In society today, we know that a lot of people believe in evolusion and atheism. So I would say it is a part of todays society and life.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe Enlightenment was a time of change in Europe, and it took place between the Reformation and the French Revolution.
ReplyDeleteAll of a sudden, people started to question the things they had been taught, amongst others also by the church that oppressed people not to oppose its teachings. The area of science was especially developed. Also, people became involved in government, and spread ideas like freedom of speech. They started questioning the unfair situation respective the classes of society, and started using their human intellect. It was mainly the peasants who wanted equal rights, and freedom instead of the absolutism, because they were at a disadvantage. People wanted to gain more knowledge, explore and prove things themselves instead of just believing what higher class society taught them.
The time of the Enlightenment helped Napoleon in his career: the people loved him and therefore Napoleon was able to rise in society and become a military leader. Eventually, he even crowned himself emperor. Crowning himself symbolizes that there is no one who is over him, he is free to make his own choices without anyone telling him what to do. There was a way for him to get out of the misery of the class society, where you had to be what you were born as.
The enlightenment was a very important time period that changed people’s ideals significantly. People realized that they could change what they didn’t like.
Today’s health care would probably not be as developed, and our knowledge of the universe wouldn’t be as advanced either, since it was Galileo who started to observe first star constellations. And if there hadn’t been the Enlightenment our politics would look a lot different from ours as well. Maybe we would live in feudalism. Also, Napoleon wouldn’t have had a chance to become as successful, because it were the people who supported and helped him to get what he wanted.
I actually for the first time really find this topic interesting. The Enlightenment has impacted our world greatly today. Most every day things that happen we don’t even realize are a result from it. Think about how in todays society we are always looking and striving to find answers and to better explain every little detail of everything we see. Now you may think that that’s just the way we are, and you would be correct. However why are we like that? Why do we have painters and poets that are continuously producing more and more masterpieces? The answers to those questions would be because of the Enlightenment. Now you probably ask how did what happen all those years ago, affect us. Well here is one simple thing we don’t even think about. You know how the earth orbits around the sun? Well back then everyone thought that everything orbited around us. The Enlightenment cause one Galileo to think and try to understand the stars. What he found was evidence of the Heliocentric Model. Now because of his efforts we know whats what. The ambition and curiosity has been handed down from generation to generation ever since completely reshaping the world as we knew it.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Enlightenment was so popular among the Europeans because of all the arts. The poetry and paintings of that time were revolutionary! Any and all that saw these masterpieces flocked together to see them. However just like with everything there are those who don’t like it. In that time France had some enemies that were trying to stop these innovations. I believe that this is what shaped Napoleon the most. Since he was a military leader he definitely had to keep up with all that was going on and help defend his country. All this would have shaped him into the strong military minded person that we knew hi m for.
I think the enlightenment gained such popularity in Europe because it helped explain ideas people had just accepted for no reason really. The enlightenment started the idea of using science to explain things. Like Galileo and how he used a powerful telescope to discover all of the moons that surrounded Jupiter, this helped prove Copernicus Theory that the earth travels around the sun.
ReplyDeleteThe enlightenment shaped Napoleon into a great military leader. Napoleon had just began his reign or military career when the enlightenment began. Napoleon was affected more by what happened after the enlightenment. There was the reign of terror, he was briefly jailed during this time, this all ended in him eventually defeating Austria and making northern Italy a French possession. The enlightenment made Napoleon into a powerful military leader, which is what we remember him as today.
The enlightenment had a significant affect on our society today. Our constitution was greatly impacted by the enlightenment, even the American Revolution was said to have been affected by the enlightenment.
WORKS CITED: http://www.mrdowling.com/705-napoleon.html
First of all I write about what the Enlightenment was. It was a movement of thinkers who thought you could explain everything in nature by science. Before that the people usually believed that God controls everything and that humans never could understand everything in nature. They tried to get the people to think about science and to question things. People used to accept everything what they got told. One big thinker of the enlightenment was Galileo. He discovered many moons and proofed that the earth is traveling around the sun. Galileo was imprisoned because of his theory but his students kept on discussing his teachings and observations. The American Revolution was seen as a big achievement for the Enlightenment cause people there started to think about government just what the thinker of the enlightenment wanted. Logically many of the Enlightenment followers were atheist who didn’t believe in God at all. I think it spread so fast because the people just liked science because they never had it before and it made sense to them. Also they had something proofed and with reason and not only a Believe in something. Napoleon wasn’t a really faithful general; he was more a really good strategist and used logic and science. I think the Enlightenment has a really big effect on today. There is such a big controversy even today if you can explain everything with science or not, for example the evolution.
ReplyDeleteWorks cited:
http://www.mrdowling.com/705-enlightenment.html
Emily C. I appreciate what you had to say about the Enlightenment. "The Enlightenment was a time of humans trying to gain control of themselves as an entierely." They desired to answer their own questions without having to answer to a greater God. It gives a whole new angle to the French Revolution, "Power to the People"! It gives me a scary feeling when people put their trust in their inner power and not in God.
ReplyDeletePaco: I found your thought on the Enlightenment interesting. "Enlightenment being popular among the Europeans because of the arts." That is an interesting theory. People look for ways to express themselves in so many different mediums. Causing people to use their brain should not be a threat to truth. If you think about it, truth impowers a person. After the Crusades the very things that opened the Europeans to science became closed in the far East. The Moslem rulers started to have rules put on the scientist, mathmaticians, doctors, artist. Anytime you hinder creativity and the use of God given talents you short change civilization.
So to answer your first question... "how did the enlightenment gain such popularity with the Europeans"... i believe that the enlightenment was one of those things where everybody wanted to believe in something but only very few got it right. and everybody knew they were entitled to their opinions so they just spilled. people worked so hard trying to find all the right answers to better themselves and i respect them greatly for such an effort.
ReplyDeletenow for your second question on Napoleon... well first of all napoleon was always picked on by his fellow soldiers because of his size he was a short little man but he had a lot to say. but the enlightenment turned this short little man into so much more than he or anyone else had ever imagined him to be. it shaped him one of the best and most powerful military leaders the world would ever know. every aspect of the enlightenment made him better in different ways and he grew from it all.
and finally for your last question... i believe the enlightenment had a huge impact on today's society in so many ways our nation is what it is because of the enlightenment and i never realized any of it til now. like i formed us into what we are today... all of those brilliant minds mixed together is what made that happen.it impacted our governments systems and so so much more.
works cited:
Dowling, Mike., "The Electronic Passport to the Enlightenment," available from http://www.mrdowling.com/705-enlightenment.html; Internet; updated Wednesday, May 1, 2002
Dowling, Mike., "The Electronic Passport to Napoleon," available from http://www.mrdowling.com/705-napoleon.html; Internet; updated Wednesday, May 1, 2002
billy the squid,
ReplyDeletewhile reading your essay i say where you were talking about napoleon and how he was in jail for a while... i didn't know that so i found it pretty interesting. and you just did an overall great job on your essay :)
Stella,
i really enjoyed your essay is was very well laid out and worded wonderfully. i learned a lot from it thoroughly enjoyed reading it. your opinion on the enlightenment was very good and it grabbed my attention effortlessly. good job on it all :)
Alexandria,
your essay was really good to me it seemed like you took a different approach to your essay which to me made it rich in information that i hadn't read yet. and i totally agree with you when u talked about the ten commandments and how u thought they should be accepted by everyone and how we shouldn't have to put up such a fight to just display something like that... it would be like MC Donalds having to fight constantly to display the golden arch outside of their restaurants... well honestly it's like any organization having to fight for the one thing that symbolizes them. well like i said i just totally agree with you there. so great job on your essay :)
Private Elijah,
ReplyDeleteGood Job, your report was very informative. I think your thought about Darwin’s idea of evolution originating because of the Enlightenment is an interesting thought. I guess we don’t really for sure know if the Theory of Evolution really was an effect of the Enlightenment but that is an interesting thought. Also, agree it is quite funny to think that Napoleon became the first consul of France considering he was technically Italian. And as you mentioned, Napoleon was a great military leader and that is definitely what most people remember as.
Paco,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that the Enlightenment has impacted our world greatly. That is a crazy thought to think about how things that happened hundreds of years ago are still having an effect on our world today. Your report is very good. I have honestly never thought about why people today strive to find more explanations to things we see or believe but since you brought it up it does seem to lead back to the Enlightenment. It’s also strange to think about how before Galileo, everyone thought everything revolved around us. Now, since I know that’s not true, I can’t imagine why people thought that but I guess it’s just because they knew no better. I love your sentence “The ambition and curiosity has been handed down from generation to generation ever since completely reshaping the world as we knew it.” That seems to be very true, good job!!
Paco, good job. I agree, Enlightenment is really big even in our society today. I mean a lot of times we don't really know where this thinking of getting answers comes from, but actually the Enlightenment is the answer. It all started in that times where people started questioning everything and everyone. I think it is good to ask and have questions and not just believe everthing people tell you, but on the other side not everything has to be questioned, but that's maybe just my personal oppinion. And I do also think that arts helped the Enlightenment to get popular in Europe. Nice paintings, poems and writings make stuff popular, because they express the thoughts of the auther. Keep up your god work!!
ReplyDeleteCamden, I thought a lot about that you said the Enlightenment helped Napoleon to get to power, and I think that's right. I actually didn't think about that, but I think that gave him the opportunity to "take" over. Good job. Keep up your good work!!
Camden,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your essay. You gave a good definition of the Enlightenment, and your essay was easy to understand. It is strange to think how the world would look different from today’s if there hadn’t been frustrated and oppressed people who were brave enough to stand against their country’s situation. It is hard for me to think of a world without the United States, or religious and political freedom.
Simon,
When I read your article a thought crossed my mind that if people during the Enlightenment hadn’t started to explore in the area of science that maybe we wouldn’t have the theory of evolution. But people wanted freedom and explore nature and put themselves in the position of God, until they themselves became God. I think that is a negative aspect of the Enlightenment. Before the movement started people had still believed that no human could understand everything in nature. And then the scientists became atheists. I personally think the more you explore the world and see how complex it is, that exactly that is prove for intelligent design.
The Enlightenment was a movement that changed the mindset of many people. They were encouraged to use science to explain things in nature they had not questioned in times past and to take part in the government. I imagine this movement became very popular because people love to hear new things. I know this scenario is used a lot, but imagine the first person who tried eating chicken. It might have seemed really weird, but look how that turned out!
ReplyDeleteOne of the important aspects of the Enlightenment was the American Revolution. It sparked the life changing concept that no man was above the law. Not even the President, kings or queens are above the law. Freedom of religion, speech, and the press are just a couple of examples of the freedoms that were allowed because of where the Enlightenment took the American Revolution and our Constitution. While there were some negative aspects of the Enlightenment, I don’t think they can compare to the fantastic changes that came about. Without the Enlightenment, we would not have the free country we live in today.
I imagine the Enlightenment would have stirred something within Napoleon Bonaparte something like the excitement of a child when he or she gets a new toy. He probably saw the Enlightenment as an opportunity to excel. I’m quite sure it brought about a wave of education and military advancement that swept him off his feet. Aside from that, the more obvious effects of the Enlightenment on Napoleon was when he was arrested for a brief period of time during the Reign of Terror, one of the negative effects of the Enlightenment.
Essay from Jerome Geils-Lindemann,
ReplyDeletethis week I will talk about the Enlightenment in europe. The Enlightenment
was a movement of thinkers who thought you could explain everything in nature by science.
The basic idea of the enlightenment was using science to explain things.
Before the enlightenment the humans thought god controlled everything.
Most of the Enlightenment followers were atheist who didn’t believe in God at all.
It gained such power in Europe because it helped explain ideas. I think also it gainedso much popularity,
because the science showed the people so many things what they could see and not just a believe from the bible.
Galileo was probably a big factor too for the the enlightenment. He discovered many things.
For instances he proofed that the earth is traveling around the sun. The people were probably very impressed. But unfortunately
Galilio got in jail, because of his theory. Some students still discussed his teachings and observations.
Napoleon was a really good strategist and used logic and science.
I think the Enlightenment is still very important for today, because you can explain many things with the sciencse or some not.
For instance the evolution. Some people believe in it and some not!
Paco, your essay was good. The fact that the earth orbits around the sun may seem like common sense to us, but at the time it was new for them. Remember how we always thought that tomatoes were vegetables? We soon found out that they are really fruits. It seemed like such a foreign concept even though it is true. These are the kind of strange things the Enlightenment brought about.
ReplyDeletejess_megs15, you’re essay was awesome. It made me wonder how difficult it might have been for people to discern truth from lie around that time. With all the new ideas coming at the people from left and right, I imagine many of them were quite baffled by some of the things they heard. I wonder how many ridiculous ideas were tossed around back then. Some of the people forming new ideas might have been brilliant, other just crazy, and some might be a combination of both. What an exciting time period!
Alex, You made a very good point. Some of the historical events that we study in class have affected our society today in such a great way, but they lack the credit. We do not give enough attention or recognition to the events that shaped our history. Yes, we look at Christopher Columbus and his discovery of the New World, and we look at the American wars, but the formative events in Europe are often times overlooked and under credited. We need to really look for and study those historical milestones.
ReplyDeleteMorgan, I agree with your point about one of the reasons for the rapid popularity of the Enlightenment. Men really liked the idea of no God, not having to report to anything other than themselves. In this new mindset, they were their own rulers. There was no need for a supreme ruler or creator if they viewed themselves as self-leaders.
Private Elijah,
ReplyDeleteYour essay was really good, you used a lot of the same topics and opinions as I did. I agree with what you said about how the Enlightenment may have even affected the American Revolution. Your essay was very descriptive and informative. Good Job!
Jerome,
I liked your essay and what you said about how the enlightenment made people start believing in thing by using science. Great Essay!
@Morgan:
ReplyDeleteVery good job on your essay. I enjoyed reading it and I learned a lot form it. Ir was easy to read and to understand. Godd job. It had a lot of informations in it and was very well written. Good job!
@Alexandria Grace:
You too very good job on your essay! It was very informative and well written. I learned a lot from it and it was easy to understand. good job!!
Alexandria Grace,
ReplyDeleteI noticed that you were the first to leave a reply to my essay this week, so I decided to reply to yours as well. I really enjoyed your essay. I think we both got a lot of the same ideas from the reading. Especially the thing about Napoleon. I mean how else would a military leader benefit from the Enlightenment to help shape his career like it did for him? He had to fight many many battles to defend his country. This gave him the experience and the boldness to take charge of the entire country like he did.
Eileen,
Great essay! Now where you said that it was just people who thought science could explain nature, ill have to disagree. Yes there were many atheists who did not believe in God and tried to attack him through all this, nut I believe that there were a great number of people that sought to understand more about how God intricately created our universe.
The Enlightenment caught on with so many people for plenty of reasons. Most people who created the Enlightenment were atheist, which explains why the Enlightenment was believed to science could explain everything in nature. We as Christians believed otherwise, that creation was made my God. Thinkers of the Enlightenment wanted people to go out and discover nature, to learn new things, and people wanted to learn new things. They liked having something new to understand.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon used Enlightenment in the military, he used that way of thinking to defeat Austria, also because other countries were scared the French Revolution would spread into their countries as well, and they wanted nothing to do with it. Napoleon became a hero because of his outlook, which was the same as the Enlightenment thoughts.
The Enlightenment has made a huge impact on society today. If it wasn’t for the enlightenment, people would not think different as we do. We would have close to the same ideas, and be scared to say what we really believe. The Enlightenment thinkers made it easier for us to speak our opinions, and say what we really believe and not be worried what others think, in general, of course. The thoughts of the Enlightenment have spread through centuries, and families, and allowed us all to believe what we want.
Abbie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your essay. The way you compare things to things everyone understands makes me realize what you're trying to say, and helps me understand what we're learning/talking about. I agree with the idea of people enjoying new things, everyone does, I don't like change, but I still love being introduced to new things. Anyways, very good job!
Jess_Megs, I liked your thoughts for your essay, like you, I didn't realize how much effect the Enlightenment had on the ideas and way we live now, all of peoples ideas together made our country what it is today. Good job.
This week im doing my report on Napoleon Bonaparte. The first question is, How did the enlightenment gain such popularity with the Europeans. The elightenment consisted on the idea that everything revolved around science, that science could explaine everything that they believed in. Many people liked the thought of that. Thats why i think the Europeans mainly liked the idea of having something to explaine there beliefs. The next question is, How did the Enlightenment shape Napoleon. I think it gave Napoleon Bonaparte something to think about. In a way it kinda helped the way he viewed things. The third question is, How much impact does the enlightenment have on todays society. I think it has a good impact on today society. It makes people want to be more involved in government. It also could have a bad effect on todays society cause of all the religious views. It gives many ways to explaine every one of Gods creation, mainly scientific. Which cause many Aitheist beliefs and they felt like it helped prove them right. All in all i think there are many differnt views on these questions and many many different points of views. Many of them make good points also.
ReplyDeleteStella i really really enjoyed reading your essay. It was very well written and i could get alot out of it. I agreed with most of your esay. I think you did a really really great job! I really like the way you wrote your second paragraph i agree with it mostly and thought you made alot of good points in it it. All in all your essay was very nice and i loved it!
ReplyDeleteEmily Anna i also really enjoyed reading your essay. The way you wrote it was very well written and i loved it. I agreed with pretty much all of it. I reall really like your fist paragraph and the way you worded it. Defianatly the line "Thinkers of the Enlightenment wanted people to go out and discover nature, to learn new things, and people wanted to learn new things". All in all i think your essay was nice to read and very well written.
ReplyDeleteI think this is such an interesting subject. I guess I know quite a bit about it since al of this began in Europe.
ReplyDeleteThe Englishtenment gain such a popularity with Europeans because it was showing them a new way to think on things that the church had always hidden from them. It made them think on the passed like the idea of feudalism and primogeniture. It encouraged people to use sciences and explore nature. I guess they had the desire to know and prove what was right and wrong in the teachings of the church.
I guess, that the French revolution had a great part to do with how the ideas of the Englishtenment shaped Napoleon Bonaparte. He actually supported the French Revolution but was briefly send to jail during the Reign of Terror.
The Englishtenment, I should say, has quite an impact our life today. Most of the people do not follow what the church says but their own ideas and they want to prove it by scientifical facts. Most of the people think that the truth is only what we see.
AlexandriaGrace, Great Essay! I really like the way you talk about the Englishtenment. And Napoleon Bonaparte and all his fights. It's really well written. Again, Good job!
ReplyDeleteAbbie, Great Essay!I really enjoy your writing and your way of seeing things. It is always good to have an other way of thinking. You did a really good job when you talk about all of this. Again, I really enjoyed reading your essay.
The Enlightment produced a group of "thinkers" who used science to explain things in nature. This era encouraged people to question what they had always known as truth. I can see the good and the bad in that concept. It is good because with that curiosity more knowledge can be gained. A perfect example is the story of Galileo. With the use of a powerful telescope he was able to make some important scientific discoveries like the discovery of the moons around Jupiter. I think it is okay to look beyond what you have been told to determine if what you have been told is true at least in some cases.
ReplyDeleteIn Europe this way of thinking was such a success because it began to show the people that things like feudalism and primogeniture were not good things. They came to see that not everything they had been told was good.
And yet this concept is bad if it is used to determine truth about things that one must just accept as truth like God's Word for example. We accept it as truth. We can't question it. We can't doubt about whether it is true or not. We have to just believe. God's Word says many things about his creation. We can't question that.
Napoleon Bonaparte was alive during the Enlightment Period. He was a great French military leader. In an article I read it said that while this man was not a Christian, he did use religion to help him in each land he took over. He "adopted the religion of that land in order to gain the acceptance of the general population. In France, he was Catholic. In Egypt, he was Muslim. As a child of the enlightenment, Napoleon used cold authority and calculation to wield one of the most powerful weapons in the world — religion — and he did it successfully." Napoleon's enlightment was truly not a good thing.
When I think of how the Enlightment affects us today I think of the New Age movement. I have an aunt who was raised in the church. She was saved when she was 12 but when she got older she became involved with some people who were from the New Age movement. My aunt began to question the Bible, what she had been taught in church all those years. Finally she gave up on what she had been taught and decided Jesus wasn't God's Son. She decided there wasn't a hell. She questioned things that she should not have. This is a very good example where someone became too curious and in looking to be enlightened they were led far far away from the truth.
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Paco you have a very good essay. You did a good job answering the questions and explaining the Enlightment. I found it interesting what you said about the arts - the impact the Enlightment had on paintings and even poetry. I had not thought about how this era could produce so many masterpieces and written works of art. Great job!
ReplyDeletePrivate Elijah I really enjoyed reading your essay. The point that you made at the end of your essay about Darwin was enlightening. LOL. Really it was. How might the world be different today if Darwin had not been an atheist. If he had not invented evolution. The impact that Darwin has had on the generations since he began teaching this concept is truly shocking. Darwin was surely a thinker who began to question everything about God and about the Bible.
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job bringing out this point. It really caused me think about it. Good essay.
To Emily Cox. Great job on your essay about the enlightenment emily, i really liked it, and enjoyed reading about it in your essay as well. I also learned a couple things from your essay, that i did not find out about in mine. i also agree with all of your essay, that the Enlightenment was a time of humans trying to gain control of themselves as an entirety. the europeans liked it because it put faith in their inner power, and they all wanted to have more power. and since they were as strong as they wanted to make themselves, their power was limitless, they gave themselves all the power. They stopped believeing in an unseen god, and took the responsibility on themselves. but great job on your essay emily, i really liked it.
ReplyDeleteTo morgan, great job on your essay about the enlightenment, i really liked it and enjoyed reading about it.
this week I will talk about the Enlightenment in europe. The Enlightenment
ReplyDeletewas a movement of thinkers who thought you could explain everything in nature by science.
The basic idea of the enlightenment was using science to explain things.
Before the enlightenment the humans thought god controlled everything.
Most of the Enlightenment followers were atheist who didn’t believe in God at all.
It gained such power in Europe because it helped explain ideas. I think also it gainedso much popularity,
because the science showed the people so many things what they could see and not just a believe from the bible.
Galileo was probably a big factor too for the the enlightenment. He discovered many things.
For instances he proofed that the earth is traveling around the sun. The people were probably very impressed. But unfortunately
Galilio got in jail, because of his theory. Some students still discussed his teachings and observations.
Napoleon was a really good strategist and used logic and science.
I think the Enlightenment is still very important for today, because you can explain many things with the sciencse or some not.
For instance the evolution. Some people believe in it and some not!
First and foremost, Mr. Akers, I'd like to say that I highly disapprove of the website you've suppplied us with. I accidentally found SEVERAL grammatical errors, which is undoubtedly intolerable.
ReplyDeleteThe most basic simplification of the enlightenment was a movement that was founded from the idea that 'science could explain everything in nature'. Prior to the Enlightenment, most everybody believed that God controlled all the happenings and such.
How did the Enlightenment gain such popularity with Europeans?
As humans, we always want reasoning--Why everything is the way it is. Therefore, the Enlightenment gained such popularity because people started getting answers and explanations to lots of things they had never questioned before.
How did the ideas of the Enlightenment shape Napoleon?
I think the Enlightenment was very convenient for Napoleon; he worked his way into position and wooed the people with his determination and successful leadership. He struck war, to his advantage, and won not only the war, but his people as his supporters.
The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was a time when man began to use his reason to discover the world, casting off the superstition and fear of the medieval world. The effort to discover the natural laws which governed the universe led to scientific, political and social advances.The term "Enlightenment" came into use in English during the mid-18th century, with particular reference to French philosophy, as the equivalent of a term then in use by German writers, Zeitalter der Aufklärung, signifying officially the philosophical outlook of the 18th century. However, the German term Aufklärung was not merely applied retrospectively; it was already the common term by 1784, when Immanuel Kant published his influential . The Sacred Circle is a term used by Peter Gay to describe the interdependent relationship between the hereditary aristocracy, the leaders of the church and the text of the Bible. This interrelationship manifests itself as kings invoking the doctrine "Divine Right of Kings" to rule. Thus church sanctioned the rule of the king and the king defended the church in return.The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was a time when man began to use his reason to discover the world, casting off the superstition and fear of the medieval world. The effort to discover the natural laws which governed the universe led to scientific, political and social advances.
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