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| Europe in the 17th century is home to some of histories greatest scientists including Isaac Newton, Galileo, Johannes Kepler, William Harvey, René Descartes, Pierre de Fermat (Fermat's Last Theorem was finally solved in 1995), Christiaan Huygens, Gottfried Leibniz, and a few others that are on this list. There were many wars going on at this time, especially with the Ottoman Empire in full swing. There are even some battles in north america at this time. St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican completed. Building of the Taj Mahal begins (which is now one of the new 7 wonders of the world). These 10 authors will be our educators and guides for the 17th century. |
Faguet, sections on the seventeenth century
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| The Literature of France |
Francois La Rochefoucauld, Reflections
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 Reading a book of maxims is like enlightenment for the lazy. The subject is wrapped up tightly into a 2 or 3 line package. No need to follow plot, story or setting, just pick a line, read it in 10 seconds and ponder it's meaning. I for one am guilty of this pleasure and enjoy short jabs at enlightenment. Just today I caught myself quoting Rochefoucauld when breaking up a fight between my two kids with: "Fights would not last if one side only were wrong."This book has about seven hundred maxims total. There's hardly any of them that exceed half a page in length, and more frequently they are confined to two or three lines. Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims by François duc de La Rochefoucauld |
Moliere, Plays, esp. Tartuffe, The Miser, The Misanthrope, The Bourgeois Gentleman, and The Feast of the Statue (Don Juan)
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 For some odd reason the ending to Star Wars is similar to the ending of The Miser. hmm. The word "Misanthrope" means 'a hatred towards the human race.' The play has a character that insists on self-censorship, and makes very valid points on misanthrophy. I started to greif over being a human myself while reading this. We are a vulger and murderous bunch.Tartuffe The Miser The Misanthrope (the 'next' button is at the top of the pages) |
Francis Bacon, Essays (Everyman Library)
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 Will Durant considers him one of the 10 greatest thinkers of all time. He certainly was a lover of wisdom, science, and philosophy. He created the scientific method, which can be seen performed daily on the show Myth Busters.Bacon distinctly separated religion and philosophy. Where philosophy is based on reason, faith is based on revelation, and therefore irrational. Online editions of Bacon's works Essays of Francis Bacon at Project Gutenberg |
John Milton, "Lycidias", "L'Allegro", "Il Penseroso", Sonnets, "Areopagitica" and selections from Paradise Lost
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 Long considered the supreme English poet. These are poems you read out loud, ones that make you think deep. These are poems that can move mountains. Here is one of my favorite excerpts from Paradise Lost:"Farewell, happy fields Where joy forever dwells, hail horrors, hail Infernal world , and thou profoundest hell Receive thy new possessor; one who brings A mind not to be changed by place or time. The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven, What matter where, if be still the same..." L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, and Lycidas Areopagitica selections from Paradise Lost Poetical Works |
Williams, History of Science vol. 2 ch. 9-13
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| Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Volume 4 |
Hoffding, sections on Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Spinoza and Leibnitz
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| Online Version Wikipedia: Bacon Wikipedia: Descartes Wikipedia: Hobbes Wikipedia: Locke Wikipedia: Spinoza Wikipedia: Leibnitz |
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (Everyman Library)
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 'Bellum omnium contra omnes' is Latin for "the war of all against all" the famous quote from Leviathan. It's a philosophical book concerning politics. Hobbes doesn't believe in hell but instead has a term Kingdom of Darkness. Darkness he describes as being the oposite of true knowledge, resulting in ignorance.Leviathan |
Benedictus de Spinoza, Ethics and On the Improvement of the Understanding (Everyman Library)
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 You ever wonder about God? I mean do you really ask the questions of how and why when it comes to God? I do, but I never can wrap my puny mind around such an immense subject. It's extremely interesting to read Spinoza's logical reasoning for God. He really dissects the concept in great detail with a very geometric, and logical form.Ethics Improvement of the Understanding |
Faure, History of Art vol. 4 ch. 1-4
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| I cannot find art online covering this era. Chapters suggested are titled: Flanders Holland Spain The French Monarchy and the Aesthetic Dogma |
