Asher K. Sisneros Prof. Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Western Civilization Since 14931 October 28, 2024 Introduction There have been many legal disputes in the history of the United States, ranging from Schenck v. U.S., which restricted free speech during times of war; to Liebeck v. McDonald’s, which held McDonald’s liable for putting customers at risk … More American Revolution: The Legal Dispute
Asher K. Sisneros Prof. Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Western Civilization Since 1493 October 28, 2024 Enlightened absolutism arose as a merger between principles of the Enlightenment and absolutism, hence the name. Monarchs lenient to Enlightenment thinkers such as Diderot and Voltaire wound up governing with policies that favored such philosophical ideas. Typically, they viewed themselves … More Enlightened Absolutism
Asher K. Sisneros Prof. Dr. Gary North American Literature October 28, 2024 The First Great Awakening saw a huge spiritual revival in the United States and parts of Europe. Itinerant preachers went around giving powerful sermons, often calling out church-goers for having counterfeit faith. Their audience was accused of attending church, reading their Bibles, and … More Whitefield, Edwards, and Great Awakening Literature
Asher K. Sisneros Prof. Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Western Civilization Since 1493 October 22, 2024 It is often said that one generation builds, another maintains, and the third destroys. This cycle vaguely resembles what happened to absolutism in France. At one point, all of Europe’s monarchs envied King Louis XIV’s consolidation of centralized power and … More The Fall of Absolutism in France
Asher K. Sisneros Prof. Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Western Civilization Since 1493 October 21, 2024 Economics did not truly become a social science until Adam Smith and his followers. Economic theories had existed before him, such as mercantilism, and even the University of Salamanca had theologians and scholars who pushed for laissez-faire principles, but none … More Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand
Asher K. Sisneros Prof. Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Western Civilization Since 1493 October 21, 2024 The Enlightenment in France gave rise to a philosophy known as materialism, which completely rejected prior Christian norms. Though many thinkers through the Enlightenment retained their faith in God, such as Isaac Newton, the materialists were an exception. Unlike their … More French Materialism
Asher K. Sisneros Dr. Gary North American Literature October 21, 2024 Cotton Mather was among the most prominent New England writers and preachers during his life. His reach was most prominent in the American colonies, though people read his sermons in Great Britain as well. But like many Puritan preachers, he was concerned with far … More Cotton Mather’s Message to the General Court
Asher K. Sisneros Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Western Civilization Since 1493 October 14, 1493 The basic backbone of the Enlightenment was the presupposition of the sovereignty of reason; more specifically, reason accompanied by empirical evidence. Man became the authoritative sovereign during this era and the definer of truth. Those who shared this belief ran contrary … More Ideas of the Enlightenment
Asher K. Sisneros Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Western Civilization Since 1493 October 14, 2024 Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) was a theologian and natural philosopher during the 18th century. He even taught as a minister after abdicting from Calvinism because of his theologically liberal views. But upon meeting Benjamin Franklin, he became enamored by science and made … More Joseph Priestley (1733-1804)
Asher K. Sisneros Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Western Civilization Since 1493 October 14, 2024 It is a misconception that the Scientific Revolution was the first attempt to understand the universe in terms of rationality. Many Scholastics engaged in this behavior, and the pioneers of the Scientific Revolution did build on some ideas from the past. … More The Copernican Revolution
Asher Sisneros 