Unit 2. Enlightenment. Romanticism.

Topic 1. Enlightenment

 

READING

Study the useful words and phrases.

fraternity - братство

constitutional government – конституционная форма правления

scientific method – научный метод

empiricism – эмпиризм

Masonic lodges – Масонские ложи

enlightened absolutism – просвещенный абсолютизм

dogma – догма, вероучение

2. Read and translate the text [19].

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement, which dominated the world of ideas in Europe in the 18th century. The Enlightenment centered on reason and advanced such ideals like liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state. In France, the central doctrines were individual liberty and religious tolerance in opposition to an absolute monarchy and the fixed dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. The Enlightenment made an emphasis on the scientific method.

French historians traditionally place the Enlightenment between 1715, the year that Louis XIV died, and 1789, the beginning of the French Revolution. The philosophers of the period widely circulated their ideas through meetings at scientific academies, Masonic lodges, literary salons, coffee houses, and through printed books and pamphlets. The ideas of the Enlightenment paved the way for the political revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Age of Enlightenment was closely connected with the scientific revolution. Earlier philosophers whose work influenced the Enlightenment included Francis Bacon, René Descartes, John Locke, and Baruch Spinoza. The major figures of the Enlightenment included Cesare Beccaria, Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume, Adam Smith, and Immanuel Kant. Some European rulers, including Catherine II of Russia, Joseph II of Austria and Frederick II of Prussia, tried to apply Enlightenment thought on religious and political tolerance, which became known as enlightened absolutism. Benjamin Franklin visited Europe repeatedly, contributed actively to the scientific and political debates there, and brought the newest ideas back to Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson closely followed European ideas and later incorporated some of the ideals of the Enlightenment into the Declaration of Independence (1776). Others incorporated them into the Constitution in 1787.

The most influential publication of the Enlightenment was the Encyclopédie (Encyclopedia). Published between 1751 and 1772 in thirty-five volumes, it was compiled by Denis Diderot, Jean le Rond d'Alembert, and a team of 150 scientists and philosophers and it helped spread the ideas of the Enlightenment across Europe and beyond. Other landmark publications were Voltaire's Dictionnaire philosophique (Philosophical Dictionary; 1764) and Letters on the English (1733); Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality (1754) and The Social Contract (1762); Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations (1776); and Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws (1748). The ideas of the Enlightenment played a major role in inspiring the French Revolution.

 

Match the date and the event.

1) 1789	a) Louis XIV died
2) 1776	b) Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws
3) 1748	c) Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary
4) 1764	d) Voltaire's Letters on the English
5) 1715	e) Rousseau's The Social Contract
6) 1787	f) the beginning of the French Revolution
7) 1733	g) Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality
8) 1762	h) Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations
9) 1754	i) the Declaration of Independence
10) 1776	j) the American Constitution

Read the text again and complete the sentences.

1) The Enlightenment centered on reason ….

2) French historians traditionally place the Enlightenment between ….

3) The philosophers of the period circulated their ideas ….

4) Earlier philosophers included ….

5) The major figures of the Enlightenment included ….

6) Benjamin Franklin brought ….

7) Thomas Jefferson incorporated ….

8) The most influential publication of the Enlightenment was ….

9) The Encyclopedia was compiled by ….

10) Voltaire's landmark publications were ….

 

5. Make collocations using the words from the lines A and B and make up 5 sentences with these collocations.

A	religious, absolute, constitutional, landmark, scientific,
B	method, tolerance, government, monarchy, publications