Modern World Civilization
Spring 2009
The Area of Economics
The Philosophes attacked much
that was wrong with society.
The first target was economics.
The principle philosophe in this
area was Francois Quesnay
(1694-1774)
He was a biologist, surgeon, and
personal physician to Louis XV.
He and people who believed like
him were called Physiocrats, believers in the rule of
nature.
The Physiocrats and Nature
They believed that they could
find the Natural Laws that regulated economics.
Quesnay and his supporters
believed that the prime source of wealth was land.
This view clashed with the
prevailing doctrine of Mercantilism, which placed an
emphasis on gaining specie -- Gold and Silver.
As a result the cost of goods
became too expensive.
What did the Physiocrats Want?
They called for
Laissez-Faire,
Laissez-passer.
Live and let live.
They wanted nature to take its
course.
They rejected controls on the
economy and wanted nature to take its course.
Most of all the State should not
interfere with private property.
They believed in a single tax, a
tax on land.
Along Comes
Adam Smith
(1727-90)
He believed that the wealth of a
nation was attributed to the production of goods.
This reflects his English
background.
He took a less agrarian view
than Quesnay.
He also minimized the role of
the State in the economy.
He thought that those who freely
compete in their own fortunes enrich the nation.
Like they were guided by an
invisible hand.
Adam Smith & The Physiocrats
Reversed the view of the
Mercantilists that place the State over the Individual.
They advocated the economic
liberty of the individual.
Free Trade
and saw this as part of the
natural law.
But they did not have much sway
with European governments.
The Philosophes, Justice & Laissez-Faire
Like Quesnay, the Philosophes
wanted to use Laissez-Faire to Justice.
Many believed that man-made
legislation prevented natural law to Justice.
Likewise they were appalled by
the cumbersome procedures used by the Old Regime.
Cesare Beccaria
(1738-1794)
Was an Italian Philosophe who
provided the basis of modern sociology.
He was the author of
Essay on Crimes and Punishments
(1764).
He developed principles
concerning the use of punishment and the prevention of crimes.
Cesare Beccaria and Crime Prevention
Punishment ought to make a
lasting impression on the criminal with the least torment to the body of the
criminal.
Justice should be speedy.
It is the certainty, not the
severity, that will reduce crime.
As a consequence he opposed the
death penalty and the use of torture.
Jail time should replace capital
punishment and education can reduce crime.
The Philosophes and Education
They felt that the Old Regime
failed in Education.
Dislike the reliance of the
Church in Education.
Especially the emphasis placed
on Theology, Greek, Latin, and Ancient History.
Instead they wanted a new
emphasis on modern languages and modern history.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(1712-78)
Rousseau rebelled against his
upbringing in Geneva.
He rebelled against the bookish
learning he was forced to endure.
He rebelled against the polite
conventions he discovered in the Paris salons.
As a result he wrote the novel
Emile
(1762), which was a treatise and a
romance as well as a plea for a progressive educational program.
Emile
Two characters -- the teacher
and the student.
The teachers goal was to turn
Emile into a man, not a magistrate, soldier, or priest.
To do this he followed the
principles of Laissez-Faire.
This included not arguing with
Emile, not disciplining Emile, not forcing him to learn.
Allow the student to progress on
their own pace.
The Importance of
Emile
It marked a return to the
Renaissance concept of the universal man.
The Greek view of a sound mind
and sound body.
By the 1960s, many of Rousseaus
concepts found there place in some of that decades educational reforms.
This was the basis of
Summerhill.
The Philosophes and the Church
When the philosophes attacked
superstition and fanaticism they pointed to the Jesuits.
Even the Catholic kings of
Europe attacked them.
In 1733 Pope Clement XIV
dissolved the order.
They would be revived 50 years
later when the political situation changed and was less hostile.
Deism
The term came from Deus
meaning God.
It started in 17th Century
England when the English sought ways to resolve religious disputes by
reason.
They accepted aspects that all
people could agree.
God created the Universe and the
Last Judgement.
But little else.
Voltaire was the leading Deist
in France.
Voltaire and the Church
Voltaire once cried Crush the
Infamous thing.
What he meant was the bigotry
and superstition and intolerance of the church.
He spent time in the Bastille
because he criticized the government.
He went into exile in England
and was impressed by religious and political freedom he found there.
The Perfect Nation
Montesquieu (1689-1755)
He was a French lawyer who set
out to analyze the political virtues of England.
His most famous work was
The Spirit of the Laws
(1748).
He stressed that no one system
was applicable to all nations.
He felt that laws should fit the
country.
He also believed that old laws
may not be all bad.
He pointed to the situation in
Russia with Peter The Great for example.
Different Strokes for Different Folks:
Montesquieu and Governmental Types
Montesquieu believed that
Republics were best for small and barren countries.
Limited monarchies were best for
mid-size and prosperous countries.
Despotism was best for large
empires.
Montesquieu and Britain
Britain was mid-size and
prosperous.
The monarchy was limited by the
aristocracy.
The hereditary nobility sat in
the Lords.
And those of talent sat in the
Commons.
He had no faith in the common
people.
Montesquieu on English Superiority
Montesquieu felt that if only
France had such a system.
He also believed that the
Checks and Balances ensured British political superiority.
What made this work was The
Separation of Powers.
Mistakes Made by Montessquieu
He failed to take into account
that Britain was moving away from the separation of powers.
This was the result of the
decline of the power of the monarchy.
But this was not totally obvious
in the eighteenth century.
He also thought that climate and
geography help determine human institutions.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Revolution
While Montesquieu and Locke had
an impact with the Americans.
Rousseau had an important part
in the political development of Europe.
He did inspire the radicals of
the French Revolution.
He felt that civilization
corrupts man.
Only if civilization followed
nature more closely.
Rousseaus Social Contract (1762)
He tried to reconcile the
liberty of the individual with the institution of government.
He felt a contract existed
between the people and their government.
It was also believed it was
social too.
The General Will was the task
of all people.
Rousseau on Democracy
Escaping From Freedom
Other philosophes sought a short
cut to political utopia.
They found their saving grace in
Enlightened Despots.
Many of these people were
physiocrats.
The physiocrats believed that
God was the legislator and that nature preserved the divine legislation.
The sole duty of government was
to administer the natural laws.
The physiocrats believed that
the interests of the monarch coincided with national interests.
This would work out since the
monarch was Gods agent and unearth the natural laws decreed by God.
The Enlightened Despots
Frederick The Great of Prussia.
Joseph II of Austria.
Catherine The Great of Russia.
Frederick II (1740-86)
He rebelled against his father.
Frederick William I was a drill
sergeant of a father.
Frederick like playing the flute
and reading poetry.
He read the philosophes
Especially Voltaire
He even wrote an essay called
Anti-Machiavel.
But he was just like Machiavelli
in real life.
Frederick II and Reform
While he attacked Machiavellis
Prince, he would have made Machiavelli blush with envy.
He used the economic theories
when he wanted too.
He advocated crop rotation,
drained swamps, and introduced the iron plow.
He brought in immigrants to
settle Silesia and the Oder River valley.
But he was hostile to
Laissez-Faire since he used the funds for his Army.
While he advocated religious
toleration, he disliked Jews.
Fredericks Dark Side
In justice he reduced torture,
instituted regular appellate courts, and ended the practice of purchasing
justice.
But he did nothing to end
serfdom.
He wouldnt allow his officers
to marry.
On the personal side he
neglected his wife.
He stipulated that he should be
buried next to his his dogs.
Maria Theresa (1740-80)
She increase the tax on the
nobles.
She strengthened the central
government at the expense of the aristocracy.
She took the first steps to
abolish serfdom.
Even as a devoted Catholic, she
taxed the Church.
To get her way, she used a
combination of force and charm.
She became the first housewife
of the realm.
Clio vs. Maria Theresa
Joseph II (1780-90)
He was co-regent with his mother
who restrained him.
He promised to make philosophy
the legislator of his realm.
During his ten year reign, he
issued 11,000 laws and issued over 6,000 edits.
He granted religious toleration
for Protestants, Orthodox, and Jews alike.
Jews no longer had to wear the
yellow star, live in ghettoes, and pay special taxes.
He encouraged popular education
about 25% of all school age children in Austria had a primary education.
He abolished capital punishment
and torture.
Josephs Enemies
He angered the peasants because
he tampered with the Church.
The nobility disliked him
because he was an egalitarian.
When he died, his friends said
that he governed too much and reigned too little.
Catherine The Great
She always saw herself as an
intellectual.
She was well versed in the
literature of the philosophes.
She was a master at PR.
She invited some philosophes to
come to Russia.
And she paid others to write
nice things about Russia.
Diderot pinched her legs black
and blue.
She wanted to reform Russia, but
she was an outsider.