AP®︎ European History: Topic 4.1 Flashcards

Transformation of the study of nature through greater reliance on observation, experimentation, mathematics, and testable explanations

Diverse late-17th- and 18th-century movement that applied reasoned criticism to government, society, economics, religion, law, and ethics

University tradition that used logic to reconcile Christian theology with ancient authorities, especially Aristotle

Early modern investigation of nature, encompassing fields later identified as science and often overlapping with theology, astrology, and alchemy

The view that reliable knowledge is grounded in sensory experience, observation, and experiment

The view that reason and logically ordered principles are major sources of reliable knowledge

Reasoning from particular observations toward broader generalizations

Reasoning from general principles to conclusions that logically follow from them

The practice of subjecting claims to doubt and critical examination rather than accepting them solely on tradition or authority

Systematic investigation combining observation and controlled experiment with repeatability, rational analysis, and mathematical description

State-supported institutions, such as the Royal Society and French Academy of Sciences, that organized communication, observation, and experiment

Enlightenment belief that accumulating knowledge and rational reform could improve society rather than leave it bound to inherited arrangements

Belief that reason and observation of nature reveal a creator while minimizing or rejecting miracles, revelation, and church doctrine

Limited or broad permission for people to practice differing religions without state coercion or persecution

Social realm in which people discussed matters of general concern outside the direct control of the state or established church

International network through which writers, scholars, officials, and educated readers exchanged books, letters, and ideas across state boundaries

Elite social and intellectual gatherings, often hosted by women, where Enlightenment ideas were discussed and popularized

Urban meeting places where readers, merchants, and other groups encountered news and debated commercial and intellectual issues

Associations that cultivated sociability and intellectual exchange across some confessional and status boundaries

Expansion in the purchase and use of goods that increased domestic comfort, specialized private spaces, and attention to family life

Identifying broader circumstances and explaining how they made a historical development possible, meaningful, or likely