Euro Civ 1/07/05
Clark/Julius

The Enlightenment & The Lisbon Earthquake : Reading Guide III

The Evidence

1. Voltaire (2)
 
a) Read the “Sources & Methods” passage describing the Voltaire (2) piece and note its date _________.
b) Which philosophers cried “All is well”?

c) Exegete (provide an analytical explanation of) the passage “This is the result of eternal laws directing the acts of a free and good God”.



d) Who said “God is revenged…”?


e) Wherein lies the irony of “…they dance in Paris”?



f) What is the difference between Voltaire (1) and Voltaire (2)?
 


2. Rousseau

a) Read the “Sources & Methods” passage describing the Rousseau piece and note its date _________.
b) In the first two paragraphs, what is Rousseau’s principal objection to Voltaire’s poem?




c) Use contemporary slang to paraphrase Rousseau’s paraphrase of Pope and Leibnitz.


d) Use contemporary slang to paraphrase Rousseau’s paraphrase of Voltaire (2).


e) Who does Rousseau blame for the size of the Lisbon disaster in the “I do not see…” paragraph?


f) What is the underlying main idea of Rousseau’s “There are often…” paragraph?


g) Exegete Rousseau’s ad hominem (personal) attack on the validity of Voltaire’s reasoning.


h) Why does Rousseau believe in a good God and the promise of heaven?



i) What do you think Voltaire said when he got Rousseau’s letter?






3. Hume

a) Read the “Sources & Methods” passage describing the Hume piece and note its date _________.
b) On what grounds does Hume question the idea of consubstantiation – that the body and blood of Jesus are actually in the communal bread and wine?



c) How does Hume use the idea of probability to undermine the claim that miracles (violations of the laws of nature) have occurred?



d) How does Hume use the idea of probability to undermine the testimony of those who claim to have seen miracles?



e) How does Hume use the idea of probability to undermine the validity of the Christian religion?



f) How does Hume explain the fact that many people do believe in Christianity?

 

g) And then how does the answer to c) (above) impact the answer to f).



h) So what does Hume think about the Lisbon earthquake?