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Which of these European leaders was considered an enlightened despot?
Enlightened despotism (also called enlightened absolutism) was a form of absolute monarchy that existed in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The rulers, or enlightened despots, were heavily influenced by the ideas and theories spread by the Enlightenment thinkers of the time, particularly ideas concerning rationalism, freedom, and sponsorship of the arts and sciences. Of the European leaders listed in the answer choices, only Catherine the Great was considered an enlightened despot.
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The Russian inventor Dmitri Mendeleev is most famous for __________.
Mendeleev is most famous for his work in "perfecting" the periodic table of elements. His work allowed people to understand similarities and differences between chemical elements with greater clarity. The theory of relativity was an idea of Albert Einstein's, and Newton invented the system of calculus. Alchemy, the practice of trying to turn materials into precious metals, was very popular during the Scientific Revolution.
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The law of gravity was first proposed by which of the following individuals?
Isaac Newton did a great deal to advance human understanding, including inventing a whole system of mathematics that we call calculus. His most famous achievement, however, is his discovery of the law of gravity, which changed the way scientists understood the universe. A famous quotation about Newton comes from the brilliant English Renaissance man Alexander Pope: "Nature, and nature's laws, lay bathed in night. God said 'Let there be Newton!' And all was light."
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Which of the following Enlightenment philosophers can most reasonably be seen as the foil of John Locke?
Whilst John Locke believed in liberalism and constitutionalism and limiting the power of absolute monarchs, Hobbes argued that absolutism was the only way to protect society from slipping into an anarchistic state of nature in which crime and chaos would reign.
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Leviathan was written by which of the following authors?
Leviathan is a seminal work of the Enlightenment period that stood in contrast to the writings of John Locke, Rousseau, and others. In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes presents his arguments in favor of absolutism as a means of preventing society from descending into catastrophic anarchy. Hobbes argued in support of the absolute power of government to control mankind's base nature.
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How did the writings of Charles de Montesquieu in The Spirit of Laws impact the formation of the government of the United States?
Montesquieu is a famous Enlightenment philosopher who wrote in his seminal work The Spirit of Laws that, to protect against tyranny, a democratic government should be divided into separate branches: an executive branch to enforce the laws, a legislative branch to pass the laws, and a judicial branch to challenge the laws.
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The philosopher Voltaire was primarily concerned with protecting which of the following?
Voltaire was a French philosopher during the Enlightenment era who advocated fiercely for the protection of freedom of speech. Freedom of speech, according to Voltaire, is the best and perhaps only way to guard against the tyranny of government.
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The phrase "I think, therefore I am" is credited to which Enlightenment-era thinker?
Descartes is an Englightenment-era philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, and his work in all three fields continues to be hugely influential today. He is famous for his reductive inquiry into the nature of existence that led him to one simple truth: "I think, therefore I am." Essentially, by doubting his existence, he was proving his existence, for for there to be doubt there must be something to do the doubting.
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This Northern Renaissance artist is renowned for his woodcuts and theoretical writing, and is sometimes referred to as the "Da Vinci of the Northern Renaissance."
Although slightly less revered in popular history, the Northern Renaissance was no less significant or accomplished than the Italian Renaissance. Albrecht Durer is probably the most famous of the Northern Renaissance artists. He is renowned for his woodcuts and his watercolors, as well as his theoretical writings on mathematics and perspective.
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The geocentric model of the universe was initially disproved by __________.
The geocentric model of the universe was originally developed by many ancient civilizations, and popularized by the Greek philosopher and scientist, Aristotle. It was widely accepted by scientific-minded individuals for over a thousand years. In the geocentric model, the Earth is at the center of the universe, and everything else orbits around it; however, in the sixteenth century, the Polish astronomer, Nicholas Copernicus, developed his theory that the sun was in fact the center of the universe. This event is called the Copernican Revolution, and his model was called the heliocentric model of the universe.
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Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz are the two men credited with __________.
Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz are two prominent Enlightenment Era scientists and mathematicians. Seemingly they both independently devised a system of calculus that allowed them to make calculations on things previously impossible. It is generally accepted that Newton invented calculus first, but as he did not publish this information for decades scholars have to rely on clues in his publications and on Newton's word (notoriously unreliable). The two men battled for acclaim for the invention during their lifetimes, but it is Newton who is most commonly remembered as the inventor of calculus (at least in the English speaking world), despite the fact that Leibniz was the first to publish on the matter. Calculus was vital to some of the scientific breakthroughs of Newton's lifetime and has been continued to be ever since.
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A Vindication on the Rights of Women, in which it is argued that women are not naturally inferior to men and should have equal rights in all areas of life, was written by which Enlightenment-Era philosopher?
Mary Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication on the Rights of Women, in 1792. In the text she argues that women are not naturally inferior or less intelligent than men, but merely appear so because they were no allowed an education and were forced to be subservient to men. She imagines a society founded on reason and equality, in which women are given every right and opportunity that men are given.
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This Enlightenment-Era philosopher wrote Candide and was primarily concerned with encouraging religious tolerance.
Voltaire was an Enlightenment-Era philosopher who was most famous for his vehement attacks on the established religious orders—particularly the Catholic Church. He wrote passionately, advocating for freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. This naturally caused Voltaire to be condemned widely by the powers that be (although he was a good friend of Catherine the Great), and he had many causes to fear for his life, but he never stopped his polemical writings. His most famous work, Candide, is a scathing critique of the established order of the European world.
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A Treatise of Human Nature and An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding are two of the most famous works of __________.
A Treatise of Human Nature and An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding are two of the most famous works of the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume. Whilst you might not have recognized the works as immediately belonging to Hume, their titles ought to have been a clue. Hume was primarily concerned with understanding the relationship between human nature and human understanding. He was a particularly prominent supporter of empiricism and moral relativism.
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Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations argues passionately in favor of __________.
Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations is the seminal economic text of the Enlightenment era. In it, Smith presents his arguments in favor of laissez-faire economics, or free-market Capitalism. The book was widely influential among the governments and thinkers of his era and continues to be influential to this day.
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The Encyclopedie is the seminal work of __________.
The Encyclopedie is one of the most famous works of the Enlightenment period. It was written by Diderot, with the help of many other famous writers of his era. The aim of the Encyclopedie was to collate all the knowledge of the Enlightenment into one book that could be widely disseminated around Europe. It was read by the Enlightened despots Catherine the Great and Maria Theresa, among others.
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Which Enlightenment philosopher was known primarily for condemning the use of torture and the death penalty?
Cesare Beccaria was an Italian thinker of the Enlightenment who is best known for his treatise On Crimes and Punishments, in which he condemned torture and the death penalty. John Locke and Voltaire were philosophers whose works covered a greater variety of ideas, such as natural and civil rights, religion, and political philosophy. Denis Diderot was a French Enlightenment philosopher best known for leading the effort to compile the Encyclopedie, a massive general encyclopedia that was meant to incorporate all of the world's knowledge.
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