History 4403
Study
Questions 6
Jacob, The
Enlightenment, 50-65.
Part A
1. What was the significance of public reaction to the 1746/47 French
invasion of the Austrian Netherlands (1713-1786) and the Dutch Republic
(c. 1560s-1806)?
2. If the second half of the 17th century could be seen as the Dutch
period of the Enlightenment, the period during the first half of the
18th century as the British phase, then how could we term the phase
after 1750?
3. What were the five factors that contributed to the arrival of the
Enlightenment in France?
4. What was materialism?
5. What was Julien La Mettrie's (1709-1751) argument in L'Homme machine (1747)?
6. Compare and contrast the approaches of L'Homme machine and Thérèse philosophe to
the issue of materialism. Why might the latter have had more
impact?
7. What ideas pushed Denis Diderot down the road to atheism?
8. Pierre Bayle and Denis Diderot both wrote encyclopedias. What
impact did these works have?
Part B
1. What was Rousseau's basic complaint about the philosophes and their approach to
social ills and how did Rousseau think one ought to go about seeking
solutions?
2. What two insights in On Social
Contract did Rousseau apply to the problems of "greed,
hypocrisy, [and] hierarchy," which he thought was rampant in society?
3. In what two ways did Rousseau envision a new approach to relations
between men and women and in which work did he do this?
4. How did Rousseau's approach differ from that of the philosophes?
5. In which societies was Rousseau happiest?
6. What was Rousseau's ideal state and in why did those who subscribed
to a religion respond positively to his views of the state?
7. What was the Republic of Letters?
8. How did the abbé de Mably evolve from being a supporter to
being an opponent of the French crown and what was his solution to its
failings?
9. What three political events in the 1770s made the issue of
enlightened governmental reform more urgent?
10. In what ways was Freemasonry helpful to Prussia's political
stability and how did the League of the Illuminati undermine that role?
11. Why did Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) need to be more modest in
his support of the Enlightenment cause?
12. What do Thomas Paine (1737-1809), Jean-Paul Marat (1743-1793), and
John Wilkes (1727-1797) have in common?