Asher Sisneros

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…

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…

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…

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…

The High Renaissance more or less died with Michelangelo, and Mannerism (1520-1600) took its place. Following the death of the three greatest Renaissance artists—Leonardi da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael—most artists more or less gave up on trying to top their predecessors. Instead, Mannerism was a movement to explore the individuality…

Asher K. Sisneros Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Western Civilization Since 1493 October 7, 2024 Peter the Great (r. 1682-1725) had one primary objective as the Tsar of Russia: Westernization. Today, his rule is highly controversial. To some, he was an absolutist despot who sought to vanquish Russia of its old…