Religion, Philosophy, and Science in History: From Enlightenment to Industrial Revolution

Morisco

A Morisco was a Muslim who remained in Spain after the end of Muslim rule and was forcibly converted to Christianity.

Desiderius Erasmus

Desiderius Erasmus was a Christian humanist who proposed the translation of the Bible into the languages spoken by the faithful.

Bartolomé de las Casas

Bartolomé de las Casas was a Spanish historian and social reformer who championed the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

San Juan de la Cruz

San Juan de la Cruz is considered the most outstanding mystical poet of Castilian letters.

Charles de Foucault

Charles de Foucault was a French Catholic priest, missionary, soldier, and geographer.

Brother Roger of Taizé

Brother Roger of Taizé was a Swiss Protestant monk who founded the Taizé Community, an ecumenical monastic order in France.

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Biography of Cardinal Newman

John Henry Newman was an English theologian and poet, first an Anglican priest and later a Catholic priest and cardinal, who was an important and controversial figure in the religious history of England in the 19th century.

The Galileo Case

Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath, from Pisa. Galileo was the first to discuss in depth the relationship between science and religion. He had a major impact in subsequent centuries. Galileo held that the earth is not the center of the universe and revolves around the sun. Galileo was put to the reason for the Church.

The Encyclopedic

The Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It was edited by Denis Diderot and, until 1759, co-edited by Jean le Rond d’Alembert. It was intended to reflect the enlightened thought. They wanted to educate the people, believing that an educated society that thinks for itself is the best way to eradicate the prevailing absolutism and dictatorship. Montesquieu, Rousseau and Voltaire were key figures in the Enlightenment.

The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was a school of thought that dominated Europe and especially France and England for most of the seventeenth century. Two-edged systems:

  • Rationalism: gives absolute primacy to human reason
  • Empiricism: situated on the senses to the only source of knowledge.

The Enlightenment in Spain

The Spanish Enlightenment was a period of intellectual and cultural flourishing in Spain during the 18th century. It was influenced by the broader Enlightenment movement in Europe, but it also had its own distinctive characteristics. When the Spanish enlightenment was acquired for further development in time of Charles III. Three most representative figures were:

  • The father Feijoo: defended the experimental method of reasoning scholastics and proclaim that faith and science were compatible
  • José Cadalso: Spanish criticize society for its backwardness compared to European companies
  • Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos: I bring new ideas in economics, public works and education, advocating the study of science useful against the study of scholasticism

The Industrial Revolution, the Proletariat, and the Consequences for Working People

The Proletariat

The profound changes affecting society had important consequences in the population. Among others, a change in the production system that primarily affects the working class. The industrial revolution, its social implications were significant and led to the emergence of the proletariat.

The Consequences

The Industrial Revolution led to the depopulation of villages and crowded cities, fourteen working days or more hours, wages that barely covered the costs of a deficient diet, subjecting the worker to the machine.

The Reaction of the Proletariat

The reaction of the proletariat to various positions they had in common to improve the situation of workers: all claimed before the state capital, improved living conditions for workers. They proposed the abolition of private property and the creation of an egalitarian and fraternal society with a new model of social relations. They believed that religion was a pure invention of economic power to be subject to the workers.

The Position of the Church to the Social Question and the Situation of the Proletariat

In 1891 Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Rerum Novarum, the first official document of the Church on social issues. His teachings can be summarized as:

  • Worker’s right to a wage sufficient to live a decent life
  • Right to private property, not forgetting its social function
  • State obligation to intervene to ensure public and private rights
  • Condemnation of the struggle classes while recognizing the workers the right to organize to defend their interests

The Relationship Between Religion, Philosophy and Science

Religion is the set of structures by which human beings express their desire for God or their relationship with the states. It aims to give some meaning of life.

Philosophy is close to religion as it also seeks to give meaning to life, but, and this is close to science, from a rational stance and a demand for intellectual rigor.

Science looks at the specifics of our sense experience. His field is the material world and objective. The particular technique this work, drawing from practical applications of scientific theories.

Vocabulary

Theocratic state:
A theocracy is a form of government in which government leaders agree with the leaders of the dominant religion, and government policies are identical or are heavily influenced by the principles of the dominant religion.
State religion:
A state religion is adhering to a specific religion.
Secular state:
A secular state is one in which the government adheres to a specific religion, but does not reject cooperation with the various faiths.
Secular state:
A secular state is one that is neutral in matters of religion so that it exercises no support or opposition expressed or implied to any organization or religion.

John XXIII

Pope John XXIII, was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1958 to 1963.

Augustinian Values

Augustinian values are a set of philosophical and theological principles attributed to Saint Augustine of Hippo, a prominent Christian theologian who lived in the 4th and 5th centuries AD. These values have had a profound impact on Western thought and culture, particularly in areas such as ethics, politics, and spirituality.