CMP 2850
Prof. Aron Bederson
Discuss the trend in thinking of this period. How was it different from an earlier period? How did the discoveries in science and the thinking of philosophers shape the period? How do we see this reflected in the literature of the period? Give examples.
Is the newest thing always good? Apparently, we mostly assume it is. People chase newest electronic devices, songs, movies, fashions and any other luxuries. However, we also worry about things are no longer what they used to be, that some tradition has been lost in tremendous improvement. Therefore, a strongly debate of the conflict had been discussed between scholars in the ancient enlightenment period; while some embrace the “moderns”- new way of …show more content…
However, both of them were likely to prove superior to any alternatives. The “ancients” believes in the universality of truth, they denied to invent new ideas and wished to uphold the old values they built. For those who supported “ancients” values at the time, they feared that the promotion of individualism promoted by the moderns would lead to unscrupulous self-seeking, social alienation, and immorality. The “ancients” believer used their power and authority to wipe out the “moderns”. In the earlier period of the enlightenment (early 17TH century), scientist Galileo published his Sidereus Nuncius (in English meaning Starry Messenger), describing the newest observations that he had made with the latest invented telescope, namely the phases of Venus and the Galilean moons of Jupiter. With these observations he promoted the heliocentric theory of Nicolaus …show more content…
The great scientist Isaac Newton first showed the order of natural of law, which encouraged this new of thought, became a seed for the enlightenment ideology leading to the discuss of complexity and fullness of the physical world. “God as a watchmaker and never interfered with nature or with human action”, these thoughts of deism started to grow at that period. Newton’s work disproved many religious and traditional