Term
Oration on the Dignity of Man
Pico della Mirandola |
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Definition
Written in 1486
Referred to as the "humanist manifesto"
Asserts the idea that God bestows upon each man the liberty to determine his destiny |
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Term
Attack on Authority and Advocacy of Experimental Science
Sir Francis Bacon |
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Definition
Written in 1609
Emphasizes the "inductive approach": carreful investigation of nature, accumulation of data, and experimentation
Bacon is known as the prophet of modern science and attacks "slavish reliance" on Aristotle |
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Term
Discourse on Method
Rene Descartes |
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Definition
Written in 1637
Proclaimed the mind's ability/right to comprehend truth, invited people to use their reason
Offered a method to achieve certainty |
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Term
The Social Contract
Jean Jacques Rousseau |
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Definition
Written in 1762
"Man is born free; and everywhere, he is in chains"
Believes that reforming the political system will best resolve the tensions between individual freedom and the requirements of the collective community
All legitimate authority stems from human tradition, not nature
Hated absolute monarchy |
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Term
Progress of the Human Mind
Marquis de Condorcet |
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Definition
Written in 1793 while hiding from the Jacobins during the French Revolution
Was optimistic about the future of human progress because of strong belief in goodness and reason
Believes all barriers to progress would be gradually eliminated and humanity would enter a golden age |
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Term
Grievances of the Third Estate
Cahier de Doleances of the Third Estate of Dourdan |
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Definition
Written in 1789 to be given to the deputies who would be present when the Estates General convened
Called for a written constitution, an elected assembly, class equality
Asserted rights such as: freedom from arbitrary arrest, right to privacy, right to property, freedom from arbitrary taxation, voluntary enlistment, etc. |
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Term
What is the Third Estate?
Emmanuel Sieyes |
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Definition
Written in 1789
Expressed the bourgeoisie's disdain for the nobility; adopted Enlightenment ideas
Asserted that the people are the source of political authority, maintained that national unity stands above state and local interests
Supports revolutionary ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity |
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Term
Critique of the Old Regime
Alexis de Tocqueville |
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Definition
Written in 1856
Explores the causes of the French Revolution and the role of the philosophes in undermining the Old Regime
Believed that the entire French political education was formed by its literary men (aka the philosophes) |
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Term
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
National Assembly of France |
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Definition
Adopted in 1789
Expressed the liberal and universal ideals of the Enlightenment
Proclaimed that sovereignty is derived from the people, the government is to protect the natural rights of the individual, and that men are born free and equal in rights
Modeled after John Locke's Second Treatise on Government, the American Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution |
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Term
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Mary Wollstonecraft |
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Definition
Written in 1792 after Wollstonecraft was influenced by Olympe de Gouges "Declaration of the Rights of Woman"
Protested against submissiveness of women as reinforced by Enlightenment philosophy and French Revolutionary ideals
Argues that society needs well-educated, self-reliant, strong women capable of holding their own in the world |
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Term
Address to the National Assembly in Favor of the Abolition of the Slave Trade
Society of the Friends of Blacks |
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Definition
Proclaimed in 1790 using the language of the Declaration of the Rights of Man
Called for the abolition of the slave trade, but not slavery itself
Believed the slave trade was extremely destructive because of how many it killed, France's name should not be assigned to it |
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Term
| Petition of the Jews of Paris, Alsace, and Lorraine to the National Assembly |
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Definition
Proclaimed in 1790, granted citizenship in 1791
Pointed to long history of discrimination and Revolutionary ideas of equal rights |
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Term
Republic of Virtue
Maximilien Robespierre |
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Definition
Speech delivered in 1794
Supported the use of terror to rescue the republic and the Revolution from destruction, was deeply committed to republican democracy, tried to mold a new society founded on reason, good citizenship, patriotism, and virtue
Speech describes his political theory, which equated democracy with virtue and justified using terror to defend democracy |
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