53. The age of exploration.

The Age of Discovery, or the Age of Exploration (approximately from the beginning of the 15th century until the end of the 18th century) is an informal and loosely defined term for the period in European history in which extensive overseas exploration emerged as a powerful factor in European culture and was the beginning of globalization. It also marks the rise of the period of widespread adoption in Europe оf colonialism and mercantilism .

Thanks to the first English and French expeditions , Australia was discovered in 1606, New Zealand in 1642 and Hawaii in 1778. In 1497, John Cabot, an Italian explorer working for the English, reached what is believed to be the coast of Newfoundland. Giovanni da Verrazano discovered the entrance to the Hudson River in 1524, and Henry Hudson mapped the island of Manhattan first in 1609

54. Bill of Rights. Constitutional monarchy

The English Bill of Rights created a constitutional monarchy in England, meaning the king or queen acts as head of state but his or her powers are limited by law. Under this system, the monarchy couldn't rule without the consent of Parliament, and the people were given individual rights

- an act signed into law in 1689 by William III and Mary II

- outlined specific constitutional and civil rights and ultimately gave Parliament power over the monarchy

- the primary law that set the stage for a constitutional monarchy in England - an inspiration for the U.S. Bill of Rights

55. Thomas Hobbes. Social contract theory

Developed in 1651, the Thomas Hobbes social contract theory that looks to address the origin of society. At the same time, it looks at the overall legitimacy of how a state has authority over an individual. According to Hobbes, individuals consent, other tacitly or explicitly, to surrender personal freedoms to a ruling leader or group in exchange for protection of the freedoms they can maintain.

Hobbes suggests in his publication entitled Leviathan that social contracts are required for a society to exist. Without such a contract, whether written or unwritten, humanity would devolve into anarchy.

Key Points of Hobbes’ Social Contract Theory

Thomas Hobbes believed that the lives of individuals in the state of nature, or the natural condition of mankind, is one that is solitary, poore, nasty, brutish and short. Therefore, our one natural right is of self-preservation. It is a place where self-interest is present because there is an absence of any rights. This prevents social contracts from being implemented, which makes it impossible to form a society. It is a place where life is essentially anarchy.

People living in an anarchic state are individuals where their state of nature is asocial and apolitical.

Hobbes argues in the social contract theory that all humans, by nature, have equal faculties of the body and the mind. There are no “natural” inequalities that are so great that an individual human would be able to claim an exclusive benefit. Because of this equality, everyone is willing to fight one another. Without a state in power, humanity would be in a constant state of war.

Social contracts are occurrences where individuals came together because they were tired of living in that perpetual state. These groups would cede some of their individual rights with the purpose of having other groups be able to cede their rights. Using the warfare example from Hobbes, Group A would give up their ability9 to kill Group B if Group B is willing to give up the same ability.

By making these agreements, the groups would be establishing a state. A ruler or authoritarian group would be required to oversee that agreement so the ceded rights were not used. Then laws would be created to govern the social interactions that people would have so that the initial social contract could be maintained.

In doing so, Hobbes proposes, humans would be able to focus on other aspects of life instead of living in perpetual warfare.

56. Thomas Hobbes. Leviathan.

Thomas Hobbes is an English philosopher, whose famous 1651 book Leviathan set the agenda for nearly all subsequent Western political philosophy.

In Leviathan, Hobbes set out his doctrine of the foundation of societies and legitimate governments. In the natural condition of mankind, while some men may be stronger or more intelligent than others, none is so strong and smart as to be beyond a fear of violent death. When threatened with death, man in his natural state cannot help but defend himself in any way possible. Self-defense against violent death is Hobbes' highest human necessity, and rights are borne of necessity. In the state of nature, then, each of us has a right to everything in the world. Due to the scarcity of things in the world, there is a constant, and rights-based, "war of all against all" (bellum omnium contra omnes). Life in the state of nature is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short".

Leviathan was written during the English Civil War; much of the book is occupied with demonstrating the necessity of a strong central authority to avoid the evil of discord and civil war. In particular, the doctrine of separation of powers is rejected: the sovereign must control civil, military, judicial and ecclesiastical powers.

57. John Locke. Social contract.

John Locke social contract theory also begins with the state of nature. But in his state of nature there was peace, good will, mutual assistance and, preserve. Men enjoyed complete freedom and equality in it. Each man lived according to his own wishes and desires. There was the law of nature, which was based on reason and justice. People enjoyed certain rights such as life, liberty and property. In the state of nature every man was his own policeman and his own judge.

But the question is that, if people were happy and peaceful in the state of nature, why did they say good bye to it? The answer is that there were the following difficulties faced by the people.

1. The law of nature was not clear. Each individual gave his own interpretation, which created difficulties

2. There were no impartial judges to interpret the law of nature

3. There was no common competent authority to enforce the law of nature

This was the reason that when once a dispute started in the state of nature, it could not come to an end. This compelled man to create civil society or the state to remove the inconveniences. So the people made a contract. Although John Locke does not clearly say so, yet one can feel that there were two contracts.

The first was between the individuals and the society as a result of which they created the government. The other was between the society and the government. Unlike Hobbes' ruler whose authority was limited, the people reserved the right to remove the ruler any time lie failed to fulfill the terms of the contract. This is in short Locke's explanation of the theory of Social Contract.

58. Science in the time of Enlightenment. Isaak Newton.

an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, alchemist, and natural philosopher, regarded as the greatest figure in the history of science

His treatise Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, published in 1687, described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, laying the groundwork for classical mechanics.

was the first to show that the motion of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by the same set of natural laws.

The unifying and deterministic power of his laws was integral to the scientific revolution and the advancement of heliocentrism.

In mechanics - enunciated the principles of conservation of momentum and angular momentum.

In optics - invented the reflecting telescope and discovered that the spectrum of colours observed when white light passes through a prism is inherent in the white light and not added by the prism (as Roger Bacon had claimed in the 13th cent).

argued that light is composed of particles.

formulated an empirical law of cooling, studied the speed of sound, and proposed a theory of the origin of stars.

In mathematics - shares the credit with Gottfried Leibniz for the development of calculus; demonstrated the generalised binomial theorem, developed the so-called “Newton’s method” for approximating the zeroes of a function

English poet Alexander Pope was moved by Newton's accomplishments to write the famous epitaph:

Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night;

God said "Let Newton be" and all was light.

Newton's First Law is known as the Law of Inertia

Newton's Second Law states that an applied force, F, on an object equals the time rate of change of its momentum, p. F = ma

Newton's Third Law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Newton’s apple is the legend of Isaac Newton sitting under a tree and an apple falling near him — or, more popularly, on his head — prompting him to ponder what makes things fall, leading to the development of his theory of gravitation (an event often loosely described as him "discovering" gravity).

59. John Milton. Paradise Lost

John Milton (1608-1674) was originally destined for a ministerial career, but independent spirit led him to give this up. Milton is considered to be among the most learned of all English poets.

Unsuccessful experience of his own married life pushed him into writing a series of pamphlets arguing for the legality and morality of divorce (The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce), in which he attacked the English marriage law.

Wrote propaganda for the English Republic in the early 1650s, in attempts to justify the execution of Charles I; got caught and arrested in October 1659

1667 - published Paradise Lost, the epic brought him universal fame. The poem depicts the creation of the universe, earth, and humanity and conveys the origin of sin, death, and evil. Poem imagines events in Hell, the Kingdom of Heaven, the garden of Eden, and the sacred history of Israel; engages with political ideas of tyranny, liberty and justice and defends theological positions on predestination, free will, and salvation.

60. Classicism in literature

By the end of the XIII century classicism becomes the dominant artistic trend. Classicism in literature divides the main genres into two kinds: high (ode, a tragedy and a heroic song) and low (comedy, fable, satire and other works written in a colloquial style).

Classicism in the literature puts first genre of tragedy. It exposes the most important moral problems. “Classicism” may be taken to denote the deliberate imitation of the works of antiquity, and in this sense is often qualified as “Neo-classicism”.

Contrast to metaphysical poets; influence of old aristocracy with its intellectual and elegantly witty taste.

Neo-classicist poets thought that the aim of poetry was to give new and perfect expression and form to old truths.

61. Alexander Pope.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) is the greatest authors of British classicism of the early 18th century, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer’s “Illiad” and “Odyssey”. Pope was a master of the heroic couplet (the Alexandrian verse). The author of the epitaph on the tombstone of Sir Isaac Newton.

His poetry: The Rape of the Lock, The Dunciad, and An Essay on Criticism

He told that poets need to follow the classical rules of poetry (Roman poets).

62. The rise of novel. Daniel Defoe.

In 18th century a new genre was created – the novel (its language was simple and actual). Novels appeared because of the rise of Middle Class:

sales of books big enough to earn writers a living

ever-growing interest in literature; market for writers

Middle-class values were depicted in literature: psychological description of individuals and realistic description of places

Daniel Defoe (c. 1660 – 24 April 1731), born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy of William III.

He was one of the earliest proponents of the English novel, and helped to popularise the form in Britain. Defoe wrote many political tracts and often was in trouble with the authorities, including a spell in prison. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted with him.

He is most famous for his novel “Robinson Crusoe”. Robinson – an optimistic symbol of the new middle-class man, who triumphs over nature and creates prosperity, security, law and order out of nothing. There were practical middle-class virtues the manifesto of a young nation depicted.

He was also a pioneer of business journalism and economic journalism.

63. The rise of novel. Jonathan Swift

In 18th century a new genre was created – the novel (its language was simple and actual). Novels appeared because of the rise of Middle Class:

sales of books big enough to earn writers a living

ever-growing interest in literature; market for writers

Middle-class values were depicted in literature: psychological description of individuals and realistic description of places

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was an Anglo-Saxon priest, poet, pamphleteer, novelist, satirist most known for his works like A Tale of a Tub, The Battle of Books, A Modest Proposal, Gulliver's Travels. He published all of his works under pseudonyms or anonymously.

Gulliver's Travels is a four-part prose satire, satirising both human nature and the "travellers' tales" literary subgenre. A keystone of English literature, it was one of the books that gave birth to the novel form, though it did not yet have the rules of the genre as an organizing tool. Gulliver’s Travels combines adventure with savage satire, mocking English customs and the politics of the day.

4 voyages:

I. to Liliput [land of small people]

II. to Brobdingnag [land of giants]

III. to Laputa

IV: to the Country of the Houyhnhnms:

64. Principles of Romantic Poetry

Romantic poetry originated in England toward the end of the 18th century. It involved a reaction against prevailing Enlightenment ideas. The most famous representatives of Romantic poetry are: William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, George Gordon Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelly, John Keats

Characteristics (“romantic”):

The cult of childhood – the child is seen as pure and uncorrupted, children were believed to be close to God, to have powerful creative imagination

The Sublime (use of language and description that excites thoughts and emotions beyond ordinary experience)

Subjectivity - on the contrary with Neoclassicism, Romantic poetry is the product of emotions and feelings.

The author is a creator, who found true beauty in the material world

Imagination - the imagination is used to explore the unfamiliar and unseen

Love for Nature - Nature is morally uplifting, man had deep relationship with the nature, The natural world is a living mirror to the soul and could be a better teacher than scholarly learning

Melancholy - romantic nostalgia for the past,

The historical novel – one of the most appreciated prose form

Hellenism - the world of classical Greece was important to the Romantics.

Supernaturalism - most of the romantic poets used supernatural elements in their poetry.

65. Romantic poetry. William Blake

William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Blake is considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age.

Notable works: Songs of Innocence and of Experience, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, The Four Zoas, Jerusalem, Milton, "And did those feet in ancient time".

Blake believed in racial and sexual equality. Blake is sometimes considered a forerunner of the 19th-century "free love" movement (marriage is slavery).

He was aware of the negative effects of the rapidly developing commercial society and saw the potential dangers of a mass society

Several of his poems and paintings express a notion of universal humanity. Social and political statements are often present in his mystical symbolism. His views on what he saw as oppression and restriction of rightful freedom extended to the Church.