HIS304: Enlightenment Europe and the Creation of the Modern World
Key details
| Accredited towards | Bachelor of Arts in the Liberal Arts |
| Unit type | Elective unit |
| Credit points | 6 |
| Indicative contact hours | 3 hours per week |
| Prerequisites | None |
| Offered in | Semester 2 |
| Tuition fee | Learn more |
Overview
At the end of the seventeenth century and beginning of the eighteenth century, philosophers in Britain and France considered the advancements in science and society of the previous era. Such advancements, they argued, ushered into European society ideals of human liberty and progress, resulting in the publication of dictionaries, encyclopaedias, political tracts, historical works, novels, and a variety of scientific treatises. These writings were intended to promote human knowledge and assist social advancements. The aggressive ideology of these philosophers, as well as the perceived demise of traditional political and religious institutions, also led to social and political revolutions in France and America. And in the early nineteenth century, such changes continued to manifest themselves in religious and political conflict and thought, including the flourishing of German romanticism in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars. This unit considers these events and examines critically the writings of the so-called Age of Reason.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this unit of study, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the events in Europe following the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century
- Evaluate critically the intellectual movements and ideologies that emerged in Europe in the late-seventeenth, eighteenth, and early-nineteenth centuries
- Analyse and explain the contribution of enlightenment authors to modern thought
- Use a wide range of primary sources in reconstructing events and processes of the age
- Engage in independent research and to evaluate critically conflicting scholarship in the field
- Write well-argued and well-structured essays and appropriately use references and bibliographies according to academic conventions
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