Exam Paper Evaluation

You are all welcome to have a look at your exam papers on April 19, Thursday in TB 310 where all teaching assistants will gather to answer your questions between 17.00-19.00 o’clock.

MIDTERM GRADES

Grade Average: 46,62

Student ID	Grades
2004104471	0
2010207180	47
2010110192	29
2010301273	48
2011301480	63
2011208144	53
2009502108	11
2010301129	18
2010201111	45
2011201198	45
2010110120	27
2010209117	45
2010209060	53
2010302078	75
2007300085	0
2010208027	71
2010209030	44
2010208150	34
2010301036	12
2010209054	72
2009207120	50
2010201114	58
2010110114	37
2010207126	42
2010207066	60
2010208069	58
2009402123	87
2010301051	14
2008207015	29
2009110120	65
9119358	0
2010401030	76
2009209117	51
2010207171	78
2010110057	30
2010207150	38
2011201096	87
2010502138	37
2010208120	66
2011204078	36
2010207057	54
2010209036	73
2009209099	0
2007100487	0
2010302042	30
2010207141	74
2009110081	34
2010105120	25
2010201063	87
2010401090	22
2011201123	57
2009207144	56
2010302222	47
2011201099	61
2009110042	38
2010209096	57
2011208174	51
2010207045	45
2010209057	63
2010207138	69
2008301198	0
2011208075	57
2010301333	10
2011301297	54
2010302213	87
2011201228	48
2010208030	55
2010201117	38
2011207213	68
8904938	85
2010208096	43
2010110021	23
2009110171	28
2010110180	66
9012420	69
2010208165	61
2010110060	64
2010110024	48
2010207090	92
2010110141	57
2009301174	56
9405252	62
2010301291	63
2010207105	71
2010110198	52
2010301168	41
2011301429	81
2007200324	0
2010207165	17
2009207027	27
2009201063	61
2010201141	66
2010207114	87
2010110111	25
2010301279	41
2010110108	58
2010110012	8
2007104369	0
2010301072	68
2001103469	0
2011401345	71
2010110051	69
2011208087	42
2010208102	85
2008208021	34
2011301291	75
2011302372	39
2008209033	9
2010301225	57
2010301048	54
2011301459	75
2010110117	41
2010302063	84
2010201069	100
2010301195	54
2010207099	68
2010401165	107
2010207111	60
2010201096	77
2011201195	16
2011301306	48
2010302174	43
2010208078	68
2010302066	81
2011302435	81
2010302297	29
2008209135	0
2011301285	12
2011207102	92
2010201129	64
2011201138	43
2010207123	22
2010301321	41
2010301018	36
2010301027	64
2010207075	78
2009209015	52
2011301222	64
2009301198	76
2010207108	93
2010302159	57
2011208165	20
2010301231	49
2010301177	18
2010301309	6
2010301213	68
2010301324	40
2010301330	27
2010208111	0
2010209087	54
2010207102	2
2007100616	0
2008301021	19
2010201051	85
2010301171	26
2010208117	41
2010401093	78
2010208153	69
2010110042	47
2011302453	83
2004104162	11
2010209009	37
2009209120	0
2010201108	45
2010110054	89
2009110126	18
2010209066	86
2010301201	98
2010209033	47
2010401096	61
2011680159	50
2011207174	71
2010201084	70
2010110075	43
2010201159	39
2008209102	0
2010207084	62
2010208144	83
2010207072	31
2010208099	58
2009110057	16
2011301486	70
2008207036	85
2010110171	11
2010302264	44
2010110006	59
2010301240	96
2011201147	50
2007100271	26
2010110069	31
2010207087	99
2010302096	80
2011208195	51
2010201042	57
2010110096	38
2010210102	45
2010110189	30
2011201102	48
2011401135	46
2010207168	99
2009202009	32
2010301021	55
2011201111	44
2007102968	4
2010302084	59
2010110123	42
2009208060	20
2009207117	46
2010201150	0
2010302291	77
2010302087	89
2010110018	79
2011201174	84
2010209018	19
2010301243	69
2011201120	47
9900223	0
2010209135	31
2010207129	51
2010208141	0
2011690753	44
2007101723	0
9900442	39
2009209051	20
2010301114	0
2010110168	67
2010209099	53
2009110051	48
2010301105	21
2010208039	36
2007103382	34
2010110195	43
2011301498	62
2009209045	38
2008209051	24
2008403093	0
2009301330	23
2011302363	58
2011301303	47
2010400201	81
2010110177	19
2009110054	0
2010301081	69
2008405123	0
2010209111	74
2010401213	27
2010207051	17
2010209063	88
2010301192	45
2010110174	55
2011501279	62
2010201090	63
2008302150	84
2010201072	56
2009209090	7
2010209078	54
2010301180	36
2011208171	76
2010401207	78
2010209090	69
2011301465	81
2010207069	55
2010110135	39
2008208108	0
2011201189	0
2008110003	43
2010301102	57
2010110138	28
2010207117	48
2010501159	0
2010110186	10
2009209060	16
2007103172	0
2010208057	37
2011208147	64
2010301336	54
2010207174	67
2011204087	0
2010201138	32
2010301339	77
2010302045	15
2010207063	81
2009209027	16
2008209048	54
2010208129	53
2010110033	65
2009209039	0
2009208078	37
2011201177	93
2010302111	49
2010301132	51
2010301174	57
2011401210	96
2010110015	34
2009500117	75
2011208207	39
2011301333	36
2009201117	67
2011207270	0
2010110201	52
2008405072	25
2010207096	87
2009209135	66
2009210015	48
2011302162	102
2006100910	59
2011207117	70
2009209144	15
2009209093	18
2009301285	58
2000102413	0
2010301054	0
2010301288	78
2010110129	52
2008209018	15
2010208126	56
2010207093	63
2009209087	13
2011201222	45
2005100139	24
2008201057	29
2010302048	14
2010400225	45
2006103097	0
2011201105	76
2010301300	65
2011301324	88
2010301117	54
2010207159	62
2006101279	0
2010110036	52
2010301108	40
2010208084	69
2010208087	32
2010209129	80
2010210111	65
2010207081	85
2010301057	62
2011201186	80
2009110090	29
2010401036	22
2009209078	67
2007101195	16
2010208159	94
2009208102	40
2008110009	26
2010301039	0
2009209012	46
2011208162	17
2010301147	17
2009208048	39
2010302024	74
2010402147	81
2002101714	23
2009201042	77
2008209096	0
2011302447	45
2010301327	57
2011207201	15
2009110078	42
2010207177	59
2011301354	88
2010301222	52
2006100940	34
2009110165	27
2010110105	39
2009209105	9
2011110213	75
2010201081	39
2009301189	0
2010301318	69
2010210006	0
2009200102	44
2011302342	92
2010201126	65
2011201207	32
2009207093	43
2010301216	27
2008202066	48
2010301111	68
2010502153	0
2010207132	46
2010208132	55
2010209120	61
2010208138	53
2011301393	55
2009502006	0
2009209066	13
2008209009	54
2010301150	53
2010207054	52
2011302219	51
2010207078	76
2008302093	72
2010110150	2
2010110099	45
2011201135	70
2011207165	94
2010209132	14
2010210069	34
2008110138	15
2010301315	41
2011201132	41
2011201150	27
2011201213	24
2010209051	88
2010301063	77
2009209033	0
2010207048	37
2008209156	0
2009110102	15
2007101732	0
2010209072	73
2008301219	7
2011301471	98
2010110087	21
2010209123	59
2010208156	71
2008208132	14
2010301249	50
2007102884	19
2009207036	35
2011302399	69
2009209102	54
2010301156	43
2011201183	53
2011201141	57
2009105033	60
2011402339	61
2010209102	65
2010201045	93
2011207180	58
2010302282	70
2009301015	28
2010301087	40
2010110063	17
2010301144	96
2009301264	15
2010207156	72
2011201153	38
2009209009	49
2010208135	43
2004101936	8
2011302303	52
2006100793	53
2010501177	20
2009207141	42
2010301246	83
2010301228	69
2008300063	32
2008301315	5
2010209027	69
2005101210	0
2010301252	82
2010110039	34
2010301099	42
2011201114	22
2010209105	88
2010301261	30
2010301141	55
2011301312	91
2011207087	31
2009209129	88
2011208198	91
2011201180	16
2010301270	69

Napoleonic Europe – Vangelis Kechriotis

Notes:

Napoleon as a military leader

—1798: Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign begins (May)

—1800: Bonaparte’s second Italian campaign, May-June (Battle of Marengo, 14 June). 

—1805: Battle of Trafalgar (21 October).
Battle of Austerlitz (2 December).

—1806: Battle of Jena (14 October).

—1812: Invasion of Russia (June) and Battle of Borodino (7 September).

—1813: Battle of Leipzig (16-19 October).

—1815: Battle of Waterloo (18 June).

 

Napoleon as a statesman

 

—1799: Bonaparte seizes power in the coup d’état of Brumaire (9-10 November). Start of the Consulate: Bonaparte appointed First Consul (13 December).

—1800: Plebiscite approves Constitution of the Year VIII; creation of Prefects (February).

—1802: Bonaparte proclaimed Consul for Life after referendum (August).

—1804:Referendum proclaims Bonaparte as hereditary Emperor (May) and coronation (2 December).

—1806: Abolition of the Holy Roman Empire (August). 

—1808: Imperial nobility established (March).

—1810: Napoleon marries Marie-Louise of Austria (April – ‘King of Rome’ born March 1811).

 

General observations

 

—The Napoleonic system was the most advanced, principled and efficient one until then.

—The constitutions of all satellite states were modeled upon the Napoleonic one.

—Contrary to earlier reforms in other states, it was huge and all-embracing.

—Modernity, uniformity and a desire to control every aspect of public life.

 

Satellite states

 

—The Napoleonic regime created satellite states to be able to administer the conquered territories.

—French and non-French experienced these reforms together.

—For non-French, revolutionary conquests amounted to brutal, military occupations.

—French-inspired bureaucracy dominated.

—Jacobin and royalist agitation was suppressed.

—A policy of internal pacification establishing confidence in the superiority of French culture.

—The policy of internal conquest aimed at securing the resources for the war effort, in a less brutal manner.

—Until 1808, military success kept the core of the Empire away from the war zone. They were affected by the war only due to the need for conscription.

 

Administrative reforms

 

—1807, land survey, cadastre, with the purpose  of setting taxation on a more accurate basis.

—The state gathered statistics on every aspect of life.

—Division in prefectures (canton). The prefects found a country driven by localism, divided into a multitude of micro-climates and mutually incomprehensible dialects. Maires (mayors) of communes ruled at  the local level.

 

Conscription

 

—First initiated in 1798, it established categories of eligibility based on age.

—The maires (mayors) of the communes  were unwilling to draw up lists of eligible conscripts.

—In an empire overwhelmingly rural, the maire being a peasant, opposed to conscription as anybody else.

—The implementation was made at the level of the ‘canton’ with a public lottery, but again only by force and threat. Prefects supervised this operation, even five times a year.

 

Bureaucratic centralization

 

—This is how the Napoleonic state entered the lives of its subjects. The ‘prefect of the canton’, the ‘juge de paix’, and the ‘commander of the gendarmerie’ worked together to collect information.

—Satellite states used policing and bureaucratic centralization as well as the eradication of local privileges in matters of military service, in order to meet French demands but also achieve independence.

 

Citizenship

 

—The legacy of the French revolution, uniformity.

—This concept of citizenship had to be imposed on earlier fragmented identities.

—The process of assimilation was ruthless and no attempt was made to compromise with local traditions.

—All resistance against this policy was wiped out.

 

Legal reforms

 

—Introduction of a new civic code over the entire Empire, abolishing local customary law.

—The new Code introduced the concept of a unified system based on general principles of law,  promoting the ideas of the French Revolution beyond French borders.

 

Educational reforms

 

—A Concordat with the Pope permited the state to take over provincial religious schools.

—Another law was passed which forbade any ecclesiastic to become a teacher. Priests and nuns could no more teach in so-called “public” schools, including secondary schools.

— New high schools, the “lycees centrales” as well as professional schools were established.

 

Ideology

 

—A  popular form of national ideology based on the duty to defend the country has been compromised by the cult of the Emperor.

—Napoleon took the ideas of democracy and popular rule and used them to legitimate his military and imperial ambitions.

—At the beginning of his career, Napoleon was seen as the outcome of a revolutionary movement. By the end of his career, many in Europe regarded him only as a dictator who used the rhetoric of the revolution.

Midterm Exam Places

NH 101              AÇIKGÖZ           –     ÇAKI

NH105               ÇAKIR         –      GÖKÇE

NH 305              GÖKMEN      –       KOLOĞLU

NH 405              KORKMAZ          –    SOLMAZ

NH 301              SOYDEMİR         –     YETİM

NH 303              YILDIRIM         –      YÜCEL

Age of Capitalism (all lectures) – Yücel Terzibaşoğlu

Origins of Capitalism

Capitalism as a social system, where production is organised for exchange in the market for profit.

The novelty of this form of social organisation, historically specific.

Different explanations of the rise of capitalism:

Commercialisation model: assumes rational individuals, markets as arenas of opportunity, associates capitalism with cities, continuity in history, bourgeois as the agent of change.
Demographic Model
World System Theory

Critiques of the commercialisation model: Karl Polanyi, from markets to the market society

The rise of the market society in historically specific conditions and the necessary intervention of the state

The transition from feudalism to capitalism: England

The dynamics of agrarian relations: the agrarian origins of capitalism.

Mercantilism and Free Trade

Mercantilism as economic nationalism, protectionism.

Rise of the absolutist states in Britain and France, and mercantilist policies

Colonialism and mercantilism

Adam Smith and laissez faire

The idea of a natural order: the invisible hand, division of labour

English industrialisation and free trade policies

The Industrial Revolution
roughly 1780-1830: industrial revolution in England
Technological development is the result, not the cause

characteristics of Industrial Revolution in England:

the role of enclosures for the creation of a market in labour power, dispossession of peasants, emergence of a gentry and a class of wage labourers, the role of the Tudor monarchy, creation of a home market

The factory system

The family firm

Continental industrialisation as a reaction to English industrialisation

Latecomers

Protectionism

The role of railway construction

German industrialisation

Imperialism (1875-1914)I

Imperialism and capitalism
Imperialism and industrialisation

The distribution or redistribution of the world as colonies among half a dozen European states
(land grab)

Economic motives

White settler communities

Raw materials

Markets

Protectionism

The fusion of economic and political motives

Impact on the colonized world

Impact on the metropolitan countries

The Working Class and the Bourgeoisie
Democratisation of politics at the turn of the 20th century

Expansion of the electorate

Participation of the poor and the unprivileged to politics

Rise of mass working class parties

Trade unions

Suburban lifestyle as symbolic of the waning of middle class influence on politics

The link between the bourgeoisie and puritan values broken: spending as important as earning, the birth of the leisure class, tourism, sports

Changing structures of the bourgeois family

Who is middle class?
lifestyle and culture, leisurely activities and education as class markers

The growth and insecurity of the lower middle classes

Radical right in politics

The End of an Age: The French Revolution – Noémi Lévy-Aksu

I-                    Origins

-Political: crisis of absolutism

-Socio-economic: bad economic conjuncture (bad crops), financial crisis linked to the military expeditions

-Intellectual: influence of the Enlightenment

-Cultural: rise in literacy and development of the press; secularization (Religion losing its influence in society); new forms of sociability (ex: Free-masonry)

 

II-                  Main steps

-Revolution, Constitutional Monarchy and its crisis (1789-1792):

-The revolutionary summer: Estates General (june 1789), Capture of the Bastille (14 July 1789), Priviledges abolished (4 August 1789), Declaration of the rights of Man and the Citizen (26 August 1789)

– Reforms: administrative and judiciary powers elected, economic liberalism,

-Constitution (September 1791) based on the separation of powers and censitary suffrage.

-Republic, War and Terror (1792-1794)

-Republic proclaimed (21 September 1792), Louis XVI executed (January 1793)

-War against European monarchies

-“Terror”: elimination of political opponents, struggle against religion (new calendar),  civil war (“Vendée war”), state controlled economy

–The Bourgeois Republic (1794-1799)

    – Elimination of the radical leaders (Robespierre), economic liberalism

-Growing power of the army (November 1799: Coup of Bonaparte)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

An Enlightenment Experiment: The American Revolution – Meltem Toksöz

THE BRITISH COLONIES IN NORTH AMERICA

British citizens settled the colonies in North America for the most part. The first successful colony was at Jamestown, Virginia. By 1700 there were the thirteen colonies which became The United States and British possessions in Canada. The 13 colonies were inhabited by 250,000 people who considered themselves English. The free men considered themselves entitled to an Englishman’s rights. Women of course had diminished rights, and slaves none at all.

The colonies were sparsely populated compared to Europe and were made up mostly of small farmers (with a few large planters) and merchants who prided themselves on their independent spirit. Each colony considered itself independent of the other colonies, and preferred a loose tie to Britain.

There was peace between the American Colonies and the mother country as long as Great Britain left them alone.

THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

THE COLONIES IN AMERICA FIRST BEGAN TO HAVE PROBLEMS AT THE END OF A WAR IN EUROPE. THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR BETWEEN BRITAIN AND FRANCE IN 1756-1763 ENDED WITH THE GREAT VICTORY OF THE BRITISH, FRENCH EXPELLED FROM CANADA, AND INDIANS LESS OF A THREAT. FOR BRITAIN THE VICTORY OF THE 7 YEARS WAR MEANT VAST TERRITORIES IN CANADA AND IN THE WEST WHICH WERE READY FOR EXPLOITATION. IN THE SAME YEAR, IN 1763 A GROUP OF INDIANS REBELLED IN THE OHIO VALLEY AND COLONIAL FORCES COULD NOT SUPPRESS THE REBELLION SO BRITAIN SENT REGULAR SOLDIERS. THIS GAVE A CHANCE TO BRITAIN TO INTERFERE MORE FOLLOWED BY A PROCLAMATION FORBIDDING ALL COLONIALS FROM SETTLING WEST OF A LINE ALONG 200 MILES OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS. SOMANY TAXES BEGINNING WITH THE SUGAR ACT OF 1764 WERE INTRODUCED. THESE WERE MAINLY IMPORT TAXES. AMERICANS HAD TO PAY IMPORT DUTIES ON MANY ITEMS COMING FROM THE MOTHER COUTRY OR THE OTHER COLONIES. ANOTHER TAX, THE STAMP ACT OF 1765 MEANT PAYING FOR A LARGE VARIETY OF ITEMS FROM LEGAL PAPERS TO LIQUIR LICENCE, DICE, PRESS, AND EVEN ACADEMIC DEGREES.

Colonists objected to the tax without representation and to the new bureaucracy that was to be put in place to collect the taxes, and the use of the taxes to pay officials. They saw this as an attack on their legislative authority. Colonists waged a campaign of non-importation as Boston merchants adopted a non-importation agreement in 1768, agreeing not to import certain items rather than pay the duties. This civil disobedience spread to other cities. By 1769 imports of British goods had fallen by 40%. Finally in 1770, Parliament gave up and repealed all the duties except for the tax on tea. At first colonists accepted this compromise and often evaded the tax by smuggling.

But when Parliament allowed the near bankrupt East India Company, the English monopoly on the trade of Indian goods, to sell its tea directly to the colonies without paying the usual import duties in England, colonists were outraged. This meant that the East India Company could sell tea more cheaply than the local merchants, who had to pay high duties on the tea they imported. All the old opposition to the tax returned. In New York and Boston the company’s ships were not allowed to land.

In Boston a group of colonists dressed as Indians showed their opposition by dumping company tea into the harbor. Colonial resistance had resulted in damage to private property and Britain felt that it could not let this episode (later known as the Boston Tea Party) go unpunished. The result was the Five Intolerable Acts.

So BRITAIN ANSWERED DEFIANCE WITH COERCION AS THE AMERICANS MET COERCION WITH RESISTANCE. OTHER ACTS FORBIDDING AMERICANS WESTWARD EXPANSION WERE THE LAST BLOW. IN 1775 THE FIRST SHOTS OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE WERE DRAWN IN MASSACHUSETTES BY FARMERS. IN 1776, JULY 4^TH, AT PHILADELPHIA, THE WAR LASTED UNTIL 1783. IN 1778 FRANCE AND SPAIN ENTERED THE WAR AGAINST THE BRITISH. (FRANCE FOR ITS TERRITORIES IN CANADA LOST IN THE 7 YEARS WAR AND THE SPANISH FOR THEIR OWN COLONIES.) IN 1783 PEACE WAS SIGNED IN PARIS.

THE CONSTITUTION WAS DRAFTED FOR THE NEW UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN 1787 AND AMENDED IN 1789. THE CONSTITUTION DREW MUCH ON THE IDEAS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT. THAT’S WHY IT IS CALLED THE FIRST APPLICATION OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT. THEY DECLARED THAT ALL THEY DID WAS TO FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF THEIR MOTHER COUNTRY, DEFENDED BY LOCKE AND NEWTON.

DURING THE STAY OF BENJAMIN FRAKLIN IN PARIS SEEKING ASSISTANCE TO THE AMERICAN CAUSE, the Parisian salons of the Enlightenment embraced the American plight. To the French, Franklin was in many ways the embodiment of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s “noble savage.” They saw America as a land where man’s true good nature was manifest, free from the decadence of European civilization. Franklin was its noblest representative and became a folk hero. The French were inspired by the American example and within 8 years of the American victory, began their own revolution.

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION THUS EXPRESSED THE CONCEPT OF A WORLD-MACHINE RULED BY THE LAWS OF NATURE. IT ALSO EXPRESSED THE LOCKEAN IDEA OF SOCIAL CONTRACT, THE SEPARATION OF POWERS AS OUTLINED BY MONTESQUIEU.

BUT IT WAS PARADOXICAL! WHY WAS IT PARADOXICAL?

FOR ONE THING THE AMERICANS THEMSELVES WERE NOT UNANIMOUS IN THE SUPPORT OF THE REVOLUTION. MANY RICH AMERICANS, SOUTHERN PLANTERS EITHER BACKED BRITAIN OR DID NOT DO ANYTHING FOR THE REVOLUTION. THE REVOLUTION WAS REALLY THE AFFAIR OF VIRGINIA AND NEW ENGLAND AMONG THE PIONEERS LIVING THERE AND STRONG PROTESTANTS. SO IT WAS NOT THE FIGHT OF A MAJORITY AGAINST A MINORITY.

IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS THIS IS AN ELITE REVOLUTION TOO.

IN MANY WAYS THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION WAS NOT INTENDED TO FREE SLAVES BUT TO ESTABLISH FREE TRADE AND PRIVATE PROPERTY.

SOME DOCUMENTS:

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, JULY 4, 1776
,

”When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. –Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.”

The preamble to the constitution

“We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Enlightenment and the Power of Reason – Meltem Toksöz

THE AGE OF REASON; PHILOSOPHERS AND ANCIEN REGIMES IN THE 18TH CENTURY

THE AGE OF REASON IS A TERM GIVEN TO 18TH CENTURY VIEWS WHICH WE NOW CALL THE ENLIGHTENMENT.

THE 18TH CENTURY WAS THE NEWTONIAN AGE. THERE WERE MEN THAT WE CALL THE PHILOSOPHERS WHOSE VIEWS ON MAN AS A THINKING ANIMAL MADE WHAT WE CALL ENLIGHTENMENT.

WHO WERE THESE PHILOSOPHES WHO EMPHASIZED REASON AND RATIONALISM ? THEY WERE ABOVE ALL CRITICS AIMING TO UNDERSTAND HUMAN NATURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH HE LIVED IN. THEY CAME FROM THE MAJOR NATIONS OF EUROPE AND FROM BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. MONTESQIEU, VOLTAIRE, DIDEROT, CONDORCET, HUME, ROUSSEAU, KANT, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, BECCARIA, ADAM SMITH, THOMAS JEFFERSON AND LOCKE.

THE GOAL : SEARCH FOR A TRUE SCIENCE OF MAN

THE PHILOSOPHERS QUESTIONED AND DOUBTED EVERYTHING. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE HISTORICAL, MORAL, SCENTIFIC AND THEOLOGICAL WHICH POSED AS ISSUES OF FACT AND FAITH THAT CHRISTIANS NEEDED TO SETTLE. THE PROPER WAY WAS THAT OF SCIENCE. THE PHILOSOPHERS CLAIMED THAT CRITICAL REASON WOULD PROVE EMANCIPATORY. REASON AND SCIENCE, THEY BELIEVED,  WOULD MAKE PEOPLE HUMANE AND HAPPY. THIS OFTEN WENT HAND IN HAND BY ASSUMING AN ABSOLUTE DISTINCTION BETWEEN TRUE AND FALSE. THEY BELIEVED THIS COULD BE DONE JUST LIKE NEWTON DID IN PHYSICS. THUS THE ENLIGHTENMENT CAPTURED NEWSTON’S DISCOVERIES AS REVELATIONS OF THE ULTIMATE TRUTH. NEWTON HAD DISCOVERED GRAVITY AND IT HELD THE UNIVERSE TOGETHER. THE PHILOSOPHERS BELIEVED THAT COMPARABLE LAWS OF SCIENCE COULD BE APPLIED TO ALL PHASES OF HUMAN ACTIVITY. THEY SAW THEMSELVES AS THE NEWTONS IN JUSTICE, GOVERNMENT, ECONOMICS.

ONE FAVORITE ATTEMPT ALONG THESE LINES LAY IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A ‘NATURAL’ HISTORY OF MAN’ TO REPLACE TO REPLACE THE TRAITIONAL SACRED HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. MANY PHILOSOPHERS TRIED TO DEVELOP EMPIRICALLY, IMAGINATIVELY OR SYSTEMATICALLY SUCH A HISTORICAL VISION, TRACING THE EMERGENCE OF EUROPEAN MAN OUT OF THE STATE OF SAVAGERY WHICH WAS THE PRIMEVAL ORIGIN. SO WENT MANY EXPLORERS TO AFRICA, AMERICA, AND EVENTUALLY AVUSTRALIA TO DISCOVER THE PRIMITIVE CONDITION. TO TRY IF SCIENCE COULD CHANGE THESE PRIMITIVES, SOME WERE BROUGHT BACK TO ENGLAND AND FRANCE TO PROVE THE HUMAN CAPACITY OF PROGRESS. CAPTAIN COOK DID THAT. HE BROUGHT SOME ONE FROM TAHITI AND EXPOSED HIM TO THE LABORATORY OF POLITE SOCIETY.

THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR IT MEANT A CHALLENGE TO FUNDAMENTAL CHRISTIAN THEOLOGIES, BOTH CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT. THESE HAD CHARACTERIZED MAN IRREDEEMINGLY FLAWED BY THE ORIGINAL SIN. THE NEW ENLIGHTENMENT APPROACHES TO HUMAN NATURE, BY CONTRAST, DISMISSED THE IDEA OF INHERENT SINFULNESS AS UNSCIENTIFIC AND WITHOUT FOUNDATION. THEY ARGUED INSTEAD THAT PASSIONS SUCH AS LOVE, DESIRE, PRIDE, AND AMBITION WERE NOT INEVITABLY EVIL IF PROPERLY USED BY HUMAN MIND.

HUME SPOKE OF THE ANALOGY BETWEEN NATURAL SCIENCE AND MEN WHEN HE SPOKE OF BECOMING THE NEWTON OF MORAL SCIENCES. FOR THE NEW SOCIAL SCIENTISTS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT THE ANCIEN TRUTHS OF CHRISTIANITY AND PAGAN CLASSICS NOW BECAME PROBLEMS.

FOR VOLTAIRE NEWTON’S ACHIEVEMENT TRULY DEMONSTRATED THAT SCIENCE WAS  THE KEY TO HUMAN PROGRESS.

THE HISTORY OF THE RACE, SUGGESTED MANY THINKERS, AS LOCKE DID, PARALLELED THE EDUCATION OF AN INDIVIDUAL INFANT. LOCKE BELIEVED THAT CHURCH WAS WRONG TO JUDGE THAT MAN WAS BORNE SINFUL AND THAT GREEK PLATO HAD BEEN ALSO WRONG IN CLAIMING THAT PEOPLE WERE BORN READY EQUIPPED WITH INNATE IDEAS OF RIGHT AND WRONG. FOR LOCKE, THE HUMAN MIND BEGAN AS A BLANK SHEET OF PAPER. IT THEN ABSORBED THROUGH ITS FACULTIES EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD. MAN’S NATURE, CAPACITIES OF KNOWLEGE WERE THUS ENTIRELY THE PRODUCT OF LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE. ENGAGED THUS IN A CONSTANT DIALECTICAL INTERPLAY WITH  HIS FELLOWS AND THE ENVIRONMENT, MAN WAS EVER EVOLVING TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF THE WORLD HE WAS CONTINUALLY CHANGING. SO LOCKE CHAMPIONED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT. HE ARGUED ALL LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY WAS CIRCUMSCRIBED BY THE LAWS OF NATURE. BUT HE WAS NOT A DEMOCRAT.

THE QUESTION OF THE RIGHT TYPE OF GOVERNMENT WAS MOST ELOQUENTLY ASKED BY MONTESQIEU. HE IDENTIFIED 3 TYPES, THE FIRST WAS REPUBLICS. THE SECOND MONARCHIES. THE THIRD WAS DESPOTISM. . MONTESQIEU USED HISTORICAL ARGUMENTS TO PROVE CONSTITUTINAL METHODS. BUT BY MID-18TH CENTURY THE QUESTION WAS MORE ABOUT THIS : WHAT KIND OF STATE WOULD PRODUCE VIRTUOUS MEN ? AT THE TIME, REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT WAS OBVIOUSLY OUT OF THE QUESTION. MONARHCY HOWEVER, WAS TURNING INTO DESPOTISM. SO THE PROBLEMS OF WHO SHOULD GOVERN PROVED PERPLEXING TO THE PHILOSOPHERS. THEY WANTED ADMINISTRATIONS THAT WERE NOT A SIMPLE MATTER OF HEREDITARY SUCCESSION. THEY WANTED ADMINISTRATIONS TO PROTECT LIBERTY OF THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION.

BUT FOR THESE ALL THEY COULD REALLY DO WAS GIVE ADVICE. EVEN PRUSSIAN KANT WHO ACTUALLY DID NOT LIKE THE IDEA OF THE RIGHT OF POPULAR PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT, ARGUED THAT IT WOULD BE DEGRADING, BOTH TO GOVERNMENT AND TO THE GOVERNED, TO DENY BASIC CIVIL RIGHTS.

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT — CONSIDERED NOW THE FIRST FEMINIST. MAYBE THE ONLY FEMALE PHILOSOPHER AS MOST LIKE ROUSSEAU EMPHASIZED A CLEAR CUT DIVISION OF LABOR BETWEEN SEXES.

UNDERSTANDING THE ENLIGHTENMENT TODAY

IN THE 21ST CENTURY, WE STILL SUBSCRIBE TO THE SECULAR VISION OF HUMAN PROGRESS WHICH THE ENLIGHTENMENT CREATED. TODAY’S SOCIAL SCIENCES ALL EMERGED FROM SEEDS SOWN IN THE ENLIGHTENMENT.

YET, WE ALSO LIVE IN A WORLD OF PROBLEMS. SCIENCE DID NOT SOLVE THEM. THAT’S WHY PERHAPS IT IS SAFE TO SAY THAT WHAT THE PHILOSOPHERS ESSENTIALLY DID WAS TO REPLACE A CHRISTIAN MYTH WITH A SCIENTIFIC MYTH. THIS NEW MYTH FITTED BETTER TO TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRY. ACTUALLY, THE TWO MYTHS SHARE A LOT: THE IDEA OF THE STATE OF NATURE RESEMBLES THE GARDEN OF EDEN. THE IDEA OF INDEFINITE PROGRESS IS ONLY THE SECULARIZATION OF HEAVEN.

THE PHILOSOPHERS HAVE ALSO SOMETIMES BEEN ACCUSED OF BEING POLITICALLY UNPRINCIPLED. THE PATRONAGE, SUPPORT AND PROTECTION OF THE ABSOLUTIST MONARCHS WERE VERY USEFUL TO THEM, BUT THE RELATIVE SILENCE OF THESE INTELLECTUALS, WHEN CONFRONTED WITH THE OPPRESIVE POLICIES OF THESE MONARCHS MAKES US QUESTION THEIR REFORM PROGRAMME.

IN MANY WAYS THE NEW ENLIGHTENMENT THEME OF PROGRESS TURNED A BLIND EYE TO THE INEQUALITIES AND OPPRESSIONS OF THE NEW COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL ORDER. FOUCAULT HAS BLAMED THE ENLIGHTENMENT FOR TAKING THE SOCIAL MISFITS FROM THE STREETS FOR BEING UNREASONABLE AND FOR LOCKING THEM UP. CERTAINLY, THE AGE OF REASON WAS NOT ABOUT PLURALISM.

BUT ALL THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT THE ENLIGHTENMENT DID NOT DO ANYTHING. IT ONLY MEANS WE MUST NOT TAKE THE ENLIGHTENMENT AT FACE VALUE.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.