The+Baroque

=The Baroque - "Life is a theater"= The Baroque period was characterized by extreme class differences, wars and the evolution of art, literature, architecture, the theater and music. Life was also compared to a theater and the "drama" of life started appearing in plays. Philosophy was thrown into a tug-of-war between the Reniassance optimism and the religious way of seclusion and self-denial. Popular themes during this time were "carpe diem" ("seize the day") and "memento mori" ("remember that you must die"). The word "baroque" can be used to say that something is "elaborate". Such was the theme for the Baroque era. The artistic style of this tim e featured exaggerated motion, heavy detail, and feelings of drama and tension. When people see a work of art that "shows the qualities of vigorous movement and emotional intensity" (Pioch), they are looking at pieces that are typical of the Baroque era. Basically, Baroque art looked like someone had painted scenes from a play because the artists would "dress up" the picture to make it seem more dramatic than it would be in real life. During this time, artists were engouraged by the Roman Catholic Church to create work that depicted religious themes on a more emotional level. Artists also experimented with repeated and varied patterns. It was also during the Baroque period that the modern theater was born, and it was also this time that William Shakespeare wrote his greatest plays. While Shakespeare grew up in both the Renaissance and Baroque philosophies, he really sums up the Baroque period in two of his plays:

"From //As You Like It//, he says:

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.

"And in //Macbeth//, he says:

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more; it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury Signifying nothing" (Gaarder, 228).

=__**Philosophers of the Baroque Era:**__=

**(1596-1650)**
In addition to being a philosopher, René Descartes was also a mathematician, a physicist, and a physiologist, although he is most famous for taking philosophy in a new direction. Whenever possible, he used mathematical equations and reason to aid him in his philosophical thoughts. He didn't believe in the Aristotelian and Scholastic way of thinking, which was prevalent during the Middle Ages. Instead, Descartes sought to "...[peel] away the layers of beliefs and opinions that clouded his view of the truth" (Burnham, Fieser). Descartes is responsible for establishing the method of hyperbolic doubt and only believed in things that were purely beyond any doubt. He found that doubting almost everything was, in a way, "playing it safe." This way of thinking could backfire on a philosopher because to say that nothing truely exists would mean that the //philosopher// wouldn't exist either. However, since Descartes was doubting everything, he figured that //something// had to formulate the thought of disbelief, therefore, although the existence of many things in the world that are perceived by the eye might be questionable, Descartes himself existed because he could doubt. Thus, he stated, "I think, therefore I am." Descartes was an important philosopher in that he made new connections between philosophy and theology and he also wrote //[|The Discourse on Method]//.

//To learn more about R////ené Descartes, click his picture above!//__ _____ __

**Benedictus de Spinoza (named** Baruch Spinoza by his synagogue elders)

 * (1632-1677)**

__**[[image:spinoza2.jpg width="204" height="255" link="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spinoza/"]]**__
Baruch Spinoza also goes by the name Benedictus de Spinoza, Bento de Espinosa or Bento d'Espiñoza. He is one of the more radical - but very important - philosophers who combined elements of Stoicism, Cartesian metaphysical and epistemological principles and Jewish rationalism to formulate his own beliefs. Spinoza was critical of the Bible and denied its reliability. He discredited the Scriptures because he said that they were all influenced by the period it was written in. Spinoza also claimed that "...Christianity and Judaism were only kept alive by rigid dogma and outer ritual" (Gaarder, 247). Convicted of heresy by the Jewish community, Spinoza was excommunicated. He continued to be critical of the Bible and claimed that "Jesus preached a 'religion of reason' that valued love higher than all else" (Gaarder, 248). For this as well, his own family disowned him. Spinoza's criticism of the Bible did not make him an atheist - or even agnostic because through nature, he saw God. To him, "...God is all, and all is God" (Gaarder, 249). He was a pantheist who believed that God is in everything, not some controlling dictator standing outside of the world. Spinoza also believed that "...there is only one being which is totally and utterly 'its own cause' and can act with complete freedom. Only God or nature is the expression of such a free and 'nonaccidental' process" (Gaarder, 254). His ways of thinking were due to his attempt to see things in perspective of eternity. He tried to look at the world from different views of all the past ages and did not fall into the severe case of "tunnel vision" like his contemporary Christians and Jews. Like Descartes, Spinoza used reason and mathematics in his philosophical reflections, and these preferences helped him produce his most important book: //[|Ethics Geometrically Demonstrated]//. This book contained a philosophy made of logical conclusions. he tried to see things in perspective of eternity. He tried to look at the world from all different perspectives of the ages and did not fall into the severe case of "tunnel vision." Without Spinoza's bold statements, philosophy might still be stuck in the tunnel visions of his time.

//Click on Spinoza's picture above to learn more about him!//__// //__// //

**John Locke**
Englishman John Locke is characterized by his strong restistance toward Authoritarianism. Locke wanted people to use their reason to find the truth instead of being spoon-fed the beliefs of others. Locke also believed in a 'natural right' and that the idea that God exists is inherent in human reason. He was an empiricist, and his greatest work was the //[|Essay Concerning Human Understanding]// in which he tried to answer two questions: where do ideas come from and are our senses reliable and trustworthy. Locke said the human mind was like an empty room and only through senses that we fill the room with decoration (simple ideas of sense). Then, the brain processes these simple ideas of sense with reason, faith, thought, and doubt, which turns these simple ideas into reflections. Thus, Locke believed that the brain was not a passive receiver, but rather an active orgainizer and processor. Locke then went on to say that the only things our senses can truly perceive are simple senses but combined with reflection, the simple senses become complex ideas. When someone looks at an object, Locke also established the difference between the primary and secondary qualities of the object. Primary qualities deal with weight, number and anything that is a solid fact. Primary qualities encompass anything that is a certain fact - anything that will always be the same. An example that can be used from the book is where Alberto says that 7 plus 5 will always equal 12. There are 12 inches in a foot, 12 hours written on a clock and half of 12 will always be 6, and that is that. Then secondary qualities are sought out. These qualities are based solely on the opinions and experiences of an individual. An example from the book is where Sophie says, "When Joanna eats an orange, she gets a look on her face like when other people eat a lemon...She says it tastes sour. I usually think the same orange is nice and sweet" (Gaarder, 265). Also on page 265, Alberto concludes, "...if you have a round orange, you can't 'think' it's square. You can 'think' it is sweet or sour, but you can't 'think' it weighs eight kilos if it only weighs two hundred grams." In conclusion, Locke supported the belief of thinking independently and that the mind is a processor, at how it processes is heavily influenced by opinions, beliefs and experiences of the individual.
 * (1632-1704)**
 * [[image:j_locke.jpg width="230" height="268" link="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/"]]**

//To look up more on Locke, click his picture above!// _

David Hume

 * (1711-1776)**

[[image:495px-David_Hume.jpg width="237" height="287" link="http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/4t.htm"]]
After the public rejected David Hume's book, the //[|The Treatise of Human Nature]//, his dreams of becoming a philosopher diminished. However, it is said that he might have been the most important philosopher ever to write in english. Hume applied a scientific method of observation to the study of human nature and believed that people cannot rely on the "common-sense" of superstitions that haven't any facts to prove them, "...nor can [people] achieve any genuine progress by means of abstract [|metaphysical] speculation" (Kemerling). Hume's beliefs state that the purpose of philosophy is to explain why people believe what they believe. In a way, Hume adopted the belief of complex ideas from Locke. During his time, many believed in angels. Hume explained the idea of an angel is actually two experiences put into one thought. Everyone has seen a bird's wings and everyone has seen a man. He thought these beliefs to be false and commited these thoughts "to the flames." Hume was not a Christian, nor an atheist. He was agnostic and explained that the human imagination forms objects that are not present in the world. Thus, he believed that "...the idea of a father led to the idea of a "heavenly father" (Gaarder, 271). Hume view of the world can also be compared to [|Buddah's beliefs]. Buddha believed that everything is constantly changing and that there is no "I" or unalterable ego. Hume also explained how our life experiences make us jaded toward the world. For example, in //Sophie's// World, Alberto says, "Who do you think would be more surprised if [a] stone floated above the ground for an hour or two - [an adult] or a one-year-old child" (Gaarder, 275)? Alberto explains Hume's belief that the older we get, the more we get set in our ways and the more we lose our sense of wonder. Hume reminds people to always think in a different way and never get stuck in society's way of thinking.

//Read more about Hume by clicking his picture above!//

**George Berkeley**

 * (1685-1753)**

[[image:g_berkeley_edited.jpg link="http://www.iep.utm.edu/b/berkeley.htm"]]
George Berkeley was an idealist, empiricist and an immaterialist who thought that "//esse// is //percipi//" (to be is to be perceived). Matter did not exist, according to Berkeley. "...everything that exists is either a mind or depends for its existence upon a mind" (Flage) and objects in everyday life are only collections of ideas that are "mind-dependent." Alberto Knox clarifies that "to assume what we perceive has its own underlying 'substance' is jumping to conclusions. We have absolutely no experience on which to base such a claim" (Gaarder, 283). Berkeley also questioned the validity of concepts such as time and space, doubting whether they were real or were just merely things that humans have pulled from the imagination. He thought of science, materialism, and other current philosophies as a threat to the church. Berkeley also claimed that everything in the world, including mankind, exists only in God's mind and our own thoughts are of a spiritual nature. He believed it was more certain to say that God existed rather than saying that mankind exists. Many would find Berkeley's beliefs to be shocking, but regardless, he put forward new ideas for later philosophers to branch off of.

//Learn more about Berkeley by clicking his picture above!//

__Works Cited/Bibliography__
"Baroque." __Wikipedia__. 7 September. 2006. 7 September. 2006. . _

Burnham, Douglas and Fieser, James. "René Descartes (1596-1650)." __The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy__.2006. 7 September. 2006.

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Flage, Daniel E. "George Berkeley (1685-1753)." __The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy__. 2006. 7 September. 2006.

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Gaarder, Jostein. __Sophie's World__. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1991. _

Kemerling, Garth. "Hume: Empiricist Naturalist." __Philosophy Pages from Garth Kemerling.__ 27

October. 2001. 7 September. 2006. . _

Nadler, Steven. "Baruch Spinoza." __Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy__. 10 January. 2005. Stanford University. 7 September. 2006.

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Pioch, Nicolas. "Baroque." __Web Museum, Paris__. 14 October. 2002. BMW Foundation. 7 September. 2006. . _

Uzgalis, William. "John Locke." __Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy__. 26 September. 2001. Stanford University. 7 September. 2006.

<[|http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/]>. _

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