Product of the Enlightenment
The European Enlightenment was an intellectual movement that subjected theological, philosophical, scientific and political dogma to critical analysis. Although the outcomes of these analyses often differed and even clashed, a defining idea of Enlightenment thinking was that the scientific method could reveal the workings —or laws— of both human society and Nature. Concomitant with this was the idea of progress; rational and scientific inquiry could result in better lives, better societies and better people.
Much of the Enlightenment's foundation was laid in the 16th and 17th centuries, most notably through the European expansion into Asia, colonization of the Americas and the flowering of the Scientific Revolution. Much of the intellectual underpinning occurred during the 17th and early 18th centuries, but the movement was most pervasive during second half of the 18th century. It culminated in two watershed developments: the French and American Revolutions.
Two prominent Enlightenment thinkers, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, were central participants of the American Revolution. Franklin, urban and pragmatic, was a master of business, politics and diplomacy. He was also a conspicuous advocate of bettering oneself. Jefferson was a country gentleman. He was a scholar and idealist who was also a master of the written word. He used this mastery to express his faith in Nature, both physical and human, and in the promise of the American "Empire of Liberty". Both men embraced science. Franklin was the better scientist. Jefferson was the better champion. (1)
Of the two, Thomas Jefferson was arguably the most strongly influenced by European thinkers. Three prominent figures of the English Enlightenment, Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon and John Locke, were central to Thomas Jefferson's philosophy and outlook. For instance, in an 1811 letter to the Philadelphian physician Benjamin Rush, Jefferson reported that the three "were my trinity of the three greatest men the world had ever produced." (2)
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was an influential but often misunderstood philosopher. He is rightly regarded at the "Father of Modern Science" and the "Grandfather of the English Enlightenment", but he is also commonly depicted as advocating applied science and technological progress at the expense of basic science. The quote "knowledge is power" has been regularly, but mistakenly attributed to him. He proclaimed that all of Nature (3) was the proper subject of study.
Bacon was an optimistic skeptic. He was harshly critical of conventional knowledge, be it religious teachings, natural philosophy or Aristotle's logic. The human mind was exquisitely capable of constructing intricate and persuasive systems of understanding that fostered orthodoxy and usually impeded progress. Yet he also asserted that the mind could achieve great things. True understanding, whether it was in the realm of science, ethics or politics, was possible, but it required a method.
Bacon proposed a "contentious" path to achieving knowledge. Given the mind's propensity to theorize and erect elaborate systems, it must be disciplined. So, Bacon proposed a method, or more accurately a set of principles for a method. The first thing was to challenge the conventional wisdom or orthodoxy. Then one must engage in direct observation of Nature. Theory and speculation may arise from these initial observations through Reason, but they in turn must be subjected to well-formulated experimentation. This in turn leads to further theorizing and further experimentation. Bacon saw experimental control as the power to verify knowledge, but that knowledge was necessary for experimental control. The pursuit of knowledge was a dance between theory and experiment. In his 1620 Novum Organum (New Tool) he wrote:
"Knowledge and power meet in one; for where the cause is not known, the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule."
Bacon's contributions lay not in the creation of the "contentious" path to knowledge; Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was a notable practitioner of the method. Rather, Bacon formalized and then vigorously advocated the method, now known as empiricism. He also proposed the formation of scientific societies. In response, the Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge was chartered in 1662. It would become the leading scientific society of the Western World. It also became the model for other learned societies, including the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia (APS). Thomas Jefferson became a member and later the president of the APS. Although he actively engaged in the "tranquil pursuit of science," he regarded himself as an amateur.
Another of Jefferson's heroes, Isaac Newton (1642-1727), is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time. Newton provided significant contributions in differential and integral calculus, optics, gravity and mechanics. But his towering accomplishment was his synthesis of recent astronomical studies (4) with the mechanics of Galileo. Using a set of mathematical laws regarding motion and gravity, Newton was able to explain planetary movements. Significantly, the laws that governed celestial objects were the same laws applicable to objects here on Earth.
Newton published his discoveries on motion and gravity in his monumental Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) in 1687. This publication, more commonly referred to as Principia, underwent numerous editions and translations. Most of Principia was highly mathematical and beyond the understanding of most readers. Indeed, it would take scientists a couple of centuries to work out all the work's implications. However, some salient elements were quickly grasped. One was that Nature was ruled by universal laws; you didn't need Divine intervention to explain natural phenomena. Another was that these universal laws were knowable.
Newton's work encouraged a flowering of Natural Theology, in which Nature is studied to promote theology. Nature was given as proof of the Divine, since its apparent perfection and harmony could only have been the work of a master designer. The Christian variant of Natural Theology was popular among European thinkers during the 18th century and remained so among the English well into the 19th century. The other variant, Scientific Deism, held that Nature was the result of a Divine creation, but it henceforth operated via universal laws and in the total absence of Divine intervention. Deism was popular among many Enlightenment thinkers, including Thomas Jefferson. (5)
While Jefferson —like many of his educated contemporaries— couldn't understand most of Newton's science and mathematics, he fully appreciated its importance. (6) On the other hand, Jefferson had a firm understanding of the works by this third hero, John Locke.
John Locke (1632-1704) was one of the leading philosophers of the European Enlightenment. His Two Treatises of Governement (1690) greatly influenced political thought in Britain, Continental Europe and the early United States. In particular, Locke's ideas on the reasons, nature and limits of government played a central role in the American Declaration of Independence and the development of the American Constitution. Among the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson was the most prominent advocate of Locke's political philosophy. (7)
Locke's other great work, Essay Concerning Human Understanding (also published in 1690), was —along with Newton's Principia— one of the dominant intellectual inspirations of the European Enlightenment. In contrast to theologies and philosophies advocating innate morality and knowledge, Locke argued that humans are born with a tabula rasa (blank slate). Expanding on Bacon's empiricism, Locke contended that all knowledge comes from experiences received via the five senses and processed by "internal reflection." An individual's beliefs, understandings and morality were derived from the environment. One's education and social institutions, Locke noted, were particularly influential.
Locke's sensationism—that our knowledge is based on our senses—was a cornerstone of Thomas Jefferson's philosophy of science. He put great emphasis on the gathering of facts (i.e., sensory input). For example, Jefferson systematically recorded meteorological data from his student days at the College of William and Mary to his final years at Monticello (8). The Lewis and Clark expedition provides another example. Although the primary purpose of the venture was to discover a navigable route from the Mississippi to the Pacific, Jefferson provided Meriwether Lewis with detailed instructions to investigate the climate, soils, natural history and ethnography of Louisiana Purchase (9). Jefferson's hunger for facts was such that he became one of the most knowledgeable men in North America, and arguably one of the best-informed people of his time. (10)
In contrast to many gentlemen scholars in Europe, much of Jefferson's science had a decidedly practical bent. For instance, he used Monticello and his other land holdings to investigate the agricultural or horticultural potential of indigenous and imported plants. Similarly, the scientific explorations of Lewis and Clark were largely an effort to ascertain the development potential of the newly acquired territory. Even Jefferson's pursuit of fossil remains was informed by practical considerations; the "Mammoth" (mastodon) had become a symbol of national identity.
Jefferson's interest in practical science was shared by most of his American colleagues. This preference for the utilitarian is strikingly illustrated by the expressed purposes of the American Philosophical Society (APS) and the Royal Philosophical Society upon which it was modeled. Whereas the Royal Society was founded "for improving natural knowledge", the APS was founded "for promoting useful knowledge." Consistent with this utilitarian bent, Jefferson —like several of his countrymen— tinkered with a variety of inventions. He made no effort to commercialize his agricultural research or his inventions. Instead, he believed that they should be made available to all.
Jefferson's enthusiastic adoption of Locke's sensationism and Bacon's empiricism led him to be extremely skeptical of scientific speculation and theory. This sentiment was strikingly expressed in a discussion on the presence of fossil seashells on mountaintops in his Notes on the State of Virginia . Confronted with three competing but unsatisfactory theories, Jefferson rejects all three and concludes with the following:
"Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, then he who believes what is wrong."
His aversion to theory and reliance on sensationism led him to regard geology in particular as a fruitless endeavor. For one thing, he believed that geologic investigations of rocks were hopelessly limited to the most superficial layers of the Earth. Consequently Jefferson had little tolerance for the debate raging between the two competing theoretical systems of his age, the Neptunists and the Plutonist. He regarded this debate to be "to idle to be worth a single hour of any man's life." (11)
Jefferson's insistence on sensationism and his aversion to theorizing limited his scientific contributions per se. He took great pleasure in scientific pursuits, but he considered himself an amateur and willingly deferred to those with greater expertise or talents (12). It's also obvious that he had other, more pressing duties.
On the other hand, Jefferson's contributions to American science were substantial. He was the early republic's leading advocate, promoter and patron. As a prominent public figure, his actions and words imparted significant prestige and credibility onto a range of scientific, technological and educational endeavors. His own pursuit of science also served as a model and inspiration for others.
His Notes on the State of Virginia, his patronage of Peale's American Museum, and his participation in the American Philosophical Society encouraged the study of Natural History and the elevation of American Nature in the national psyche. As Secretary of State from 1790-1793, he shaped the American Patent Office. (13). As President, he established the precedent of government-sponsored scientific expeditions with the Lewis and Clark expedition. And finally, his private sponsorship of the Clark-Jefferson expedition to Big Bone Lick provided paleontological specimens for Georges Cuvier in Paris and an assortment of American paleontologists in Philadelphia.
Americans in the late 17th and early 18th centuries were preoccupied with establishing themselves politically and economically as well as with their westward expansion. In comparison with Europe, American science had a long way to go, but Jefferson helped get it started on the right foot.
Websites:
- Barbara Friedberg's article on Francis Bacon and Skepticism:
www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m2843/6_24/
66496164/p1/article.jhtml - EarlyAmerica.com web page on Jefferson at the Patent Office:
earlyamerica.com/review/winter2000/jefferson.html - Internet Encyclopedi of Philosophy's web pages on Francis Bacon, John Locke, and Lucretius:
www.iep.utm.edu/b/bacon.htm
www.utm.edu/research/iep/l/locke.htm
www.iep.utm.edu/l/lucretiu.htm - Lucid Cave.com's web page on Issac Newton:
www.lucidcafe.com/library/95dec/newton.html - Philosophy Pages' web page on John Locke:
www.philosophypages.com/ph/lock.htm - Scienceworld.wolfram.com's web page on Isaac Newton:
scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Newton.html - Stanford Enclopedia of Philosophy's web page on John Locke:
plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/
Print Resources:
- Bedini, S.A. 1981. "Jefferson: Man of Science". Frontiers: Annual of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 3: 10-24.
- Boorstin, Daniel J. 1993. The Lost World of Thomas Jefferson. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Mayr, E. 1982. The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance. Cambridge & London: Harvard University Press.
- McKay, J.P., B.D. Hill, J. Buckler. 1987. A History of Western Society, Vol II: from Absolutism to the Present. (Third Edition). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
- Miller, C.A. Jefferson and Nature: An Interpretation. Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins University Press.
- Osborn, Henry Fairfield. 1935. "Thomas Jefferson as a Paleontologist". Science 82(2136):533-538.
- Randall, W.S. 1993. Thomas Jefferson: A Life. New York, Henry Holt and Company.
Notes:
- Franklin was widely acknowledged among European savants as one of the great scientists of the age. In particular, his work on electricity was understood to be a major advance in physics. He was also notable for numerous practical inventions, of which the lightning rod probably had the greatest impact. To a lesser extent Jefferson also tinkered with a variety of practical inventions, which included an improved plow and a device for copying correspondences. He also indulged in some pioneering work in archaeology, anthropological linguistics (see a Sampling of Notes), and paleontology (see The Giant Claw - Part 1: the Great Cat). However, these activities were of modest consequence in comparison to his sponsorship of scientific expeditions and advocacy of science and technological innovations. [go back]
- Bacon, Newton and Locke were central to Jefferson's intellectual and philosophical development, but he was also influenced by other writers and schools of thought. One important source was Lucretius (c99-c55 BCE), a Roman philosopher and poet who wrote De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of the Universe). This work presented a Latinized version of Epicureanism that espoused a materialistic worldview.
Another major source was the Scottish Enlightenment, a movement that was strongly influenced by Bacon and Locke, but it also sought a distinct, non-English identity. The Scottish Enlightenment included such luminaries as Adam Smith, David Hume and James Hutton, but Jefferson was most attracted to the moral philosophy of Lord Kames (Henry Home). [go back] - Nature is an important concept in science, philosophy and everyday use, but its definition can be problematic. Modern users tend to regard Nature as "everything except humans" or "irrespective of humans"; the major exception is when it's referring to Human Nature.
Its meaning during the European Enlightenment was substantially different, although is definition is still hard to pin down. The salient characteristic of the Enlightenment was its opposition to traditional institutions and their dogma. Although there are significant exceptions, Enlightenment thinkers usually regarded these institutions and their dogmas as contrary to or corrupting of Nature. For example, with respect to science, it could mean the institutions and dogma impeded the discovery of Nature. For religion, it could mean they corrupted the true meaning of God or the "natural morality" of people. For government, it could mean they denied people their "Natural Rights" (the best modern equivalent of which is Human Rights).
Nature was a particularly important concept for Thomas Jefferson. He dismissed Europe as Nature corrupted, whereas America held the promise of a Natural Ideal. He celebrated Natural History of America, but he did not advocate the preservation of wilderness. Instead, he advocated westward expansion and cultivation. He also believed that the life of a farmer was more consistent with Nature that the life of a city dweller. [go back] - Orthodox Astronomy was in tatters. Based on the work of Ancient Greeks and Romans, European scholars and the Church accepted as dogma the idea that the planets and the Sun revolved around the Earth. Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) proposed that the planets, including the Earth, orbit the Sun. Tyco Brahe (1546-1601), Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) and Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) confirmed Coperinicus' heliocentric theory. A problem, however, was to explain why they orbit around the sun and why they have elliptical rather than circular orbits. [go back]
- For much of his life, Jefferson's Deism led him to vigorously oppose the idea of biological extinction. His faith in the perfection of Creation and the Harmony of Nature precluded the possibility that any product of that creation or actor in that harmony could be lost. In particular, he argued that the Megalonyx (a ground sloth) and the "Mammoth" (American mastodon) were probably roaming the unexplored western and northern portions of North America. However, the convincing case for extinction made by Georges Cuvier and the failure of the Lewis and Clark expedition to discover any trace of these giant creatures apparently convinced Jefferson they were in fact extinct.
In an 1823 letter to John Adams, Jefferson reaffirms his conviction that the Universe was the result of Divine Creation and that it operated via universal laws:
". . . I hold (without appeal to revelation) that when we take a view of the Universe, in it's parts general or particular, it is impossible for the human mind not to perceive and feel a conviction of design, consummate skill, and indefinite power in every atom of it's composition. The movements of the heavenly bodies, so exactly held in their course by the balance of centrifugal and centripetal forces, the structure of our earth itself, with it's distribution of lands, waters and atmosphere, animal and vegetable bodies, examined in all their minutest particles, insects mere atoms of life, yet as perfectly organised as man or mammoth, the mineral substances, their generation and uses, it is impossible, I say, for the human mind not to believe that there is, in all this, design, cause and effect, up to an ultimate cause, . . ."
However, he also acknowledged a degree of imperfection and disharmony in that Creation. Later in the same letter he notes the extinction of animals and the "well known" loss of stars, both of which provided "evident proofs of the necessity of a superintending power to maintain the Universe on its course and order." [See Fossils and Extinction for more information.] [go back] - Jefferson was not the only one to enthusiastically celebrate Newton's scientific accomplishments. Perhaps the most widely cited example of Newtonian adulation was written by Alexander Pope (1688-1724):
"Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night:
God said, Let Newton be! and all was light." [go back] - The core concept of the Declaration of Independence has its philosophical roots in Locke's analysis of the social contract between the government and the governed. He argued that the authority of government rests on its ability to protect the life, liberty and property of the governed. But if the government exceeds this authority, the governed have the right to reject its authority.
Some important elements of Locke's political philosophy were also incorporated into the United States Constitution. One was the imposition of limits on the authority invested in government. Locke proposed that different parts of government should only have authorities specific to their functions. This idea was elaborated upon by Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755), a French disciple of Locke. He proposed the creation of three separate branches of government: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Locke's emphasis on natural rights finds one of its finest expressions in our Bill of Rights. Finally, his proposal for the separation of Church and State was a cause that Jefferson vigorously championed. [go back] - Jefferson was among the first people in North America to systematically collect weather data. He also frequently promoted the collection of such data by others. An early example presents itself in his Notes on the State of Virginia. In response to a query regarding things "that can increase the progress of human knowledge" Jefferson presents some observations of the local climate and a tabulation of weather data collected from Williamsburg, Virginia over the course of five years. He was acutely aware that paucity of weather data over an extended geographic area hindered substantial advances in meteorology. Several times he proposed a statewide system for recording data, and in 1824 he proposed a national plan for recording the weather. [go back]
- In addition to the major objectives of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Jefferson instructed Lewis to collect the following information:
"The commerce which may be carried on with the people inhabiting the line you will pursue, renders a knolege of these people important. You will therefore endeavor to make yourself acquainted, as far as a diligent pursuit of your journey shall admit,
- with the names of the nations & their numbers;
- the extent & limits of their possessions:
- their relations with other tribes or nations;
- their language, traditions, monuments;
- their ordinary occupations in agriculture, fishing, hunting, war, arts, & the implements for these;
- their food, clothing, & domestic accommodations;
- the diseases prevalent among them, & the remedies they use;
- moral and physical circumstance which distinguish them from the tribes they know;
- peculiarities in their laws, customs & dispositions;
- and articles of commerce they may need or furnish & to what extent.
"And considering the interest which every nation has in extending & strengthening the authority of reason & justice among the people around them, it will be useful to acquire what knolege you can of the state of morality, religion & information among them, as it may better enable those who endeavor to civilize & instruct them, to adapt their measures to the existing notions & practises of those on whom they are to operate.
"Other objects worthy of notice will be
- the soil & face of the country, its growth & vegetable productions especially those not of the U.S.
- the animals of the country generally, & especially those not known in the U.S.
- The remains & accounts of any which may be deemed rare or extinct; [a reference to the "Mammoth" and the Megalonyx]
- the mineral productions of every kind; but more particularly metals, limestone, pit coal & saltpetre; salines & mineral waters, noting the temperature of the last & such circumstances as may indicate their character; volcanic appearances; climate as characterized by the thermometer, by the proportion of rainy, cloudy & clear days, by lightening, hail, snow, ice, by the access & recess of frost, by the winds, prevailing at different seasons, the dates at which particular plants put forth or lose their flowers, or leaf, times of appearance of particular birds, reptiles or insects. [go back]
- An indication of Jefferson's breadth of knowledge is his private library, which was widely regarded as the best and most extensive library of any kind in the United States. Events outside of his beloved Monticello elevated the importance of Jefferson's collection.
After capturing Washington D.C. during the War of 1812, the British burned the U.S. Capital and destroyed the approximately 3000 volumes held by the Library of Congress. Shortly thereafter, Jefferson offered to sell his entire library of nearly 6,500 volumes to the government at a price of its choosing. Not only did the purchase of Jefferson's collection greatly expand the size of the national collection, it dramatically expanded its scope and purpose. Once envisioned primarily as a reference resource for legislators, the Library of Congress was transformed by Jefferson's polymathic collection into the repository of learning for the entire nation. [go back] - The Neptunism of Abraham Gottleib Werner (1749-1817) argued that the surface of the Earth resulted from the precipitation of minerals from a universal ocean. In contrast, James Hutton's (1726-1796) Plutonists argued that the surface rocks had their origins from deep within the Earth. The Neptunists were eventually discredited, but the debate between the two raged well into the 19 th century.
In addition to rejecting these two schools on the basis of sensationism, it must be said that these two systems presented a serious challenge to Jefferson's Deistic cosmology. Advocates for both systems spoke of fundamental changes to the landscape over immense spans of time. The Deist in Jefferson believed in a single creation. His attitude toward geology is expressed in a correspondence near the end of his life (May 1826) to John P. Emmet on the curriculum at the University of Virginia:
"To [geology] I would give the least possible time. To learn, as far as observation has informed us, the ordinary arrangement of the different strata of minerals in the earth . . . is useful. But the dreams about the mod of creation, inquiries where our globe has been formed by the agency of fire or water, how many years it cost Vulcan [i.e., the Plutonists] or Neptune to produce what the fiat of the Creator would effect by a single act of will, is too idle to be worth a single hour of any man's life." [go back] - Jefferson regularly praised, corresponded with and deferred to other members of the American Philosophical Society (APS). In his Notes on the State of Virginia, he listed fellow member David Rittenhouse (1732-1796) as one of a trinity of American genius; the other two were Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.
Perhaps the most conspicuous case of deferment was to Caspar Wistar on the subject of fossils. Even though Jefferson identified the Megalonyx (Giant Claw) as a giant cat in a 1797 talk he presented at the APS, he deferred to Wistar's determination that it was in fact a relative of the sloth. [See History of the Giant Claw Part 2: the Ground Sloth for more information]. While president, Jefferson instructed Meriwether Lewis to receive training in natural history and other subjects from a number of experts at the APS. Following his retirement from the presidency, Jefferson regularly referred queries regarding natural history to Benjaman Barton (1789-1815), a widely respected naturalist at the Society. [go back] - As Secretary of State during Washington's first presidential term, Thomas Jefferson was the first head of the U.S. Patent Office (1790-1793). At first he was skeptical of the ideas of patents because he believed they gave the patent holder an unfair monopoly. However, he came to appreciate the value a national system of patents registration in overcoming the patchwork of state laws and encouraging innovations. Nonetheless, he was opposed to the frequent abuse of the patent system by frivolous filings. Consequently, Jefferson established a strict set of guidelines for the granting of patents, which rejected inventions that were either not useful or were simply variations on existing inventions.
Jefferson was enthusiastic about his work at the Patent Office (then known as the Board of Arts), but other pressing duties prompted him to leave. In 1793, Congress passed a new Patent Law that released Jefferson from his duties at the office, but also—despite his objections—removed practically all restrictions on issuing patents; abuses over the following decades prompted Congress to reinstitute standards more like those championed by Jefferson.
One of the last patent grants Jefferson oversaw was that for Eli Whitney's cotton gin (1793), a device that was arguably the single most important factor in prolonging slavery in the United States. Ironically, the introduction of this machine rejuvenated cotton production and facilitated the perpetuation of an institution that he vigorously denounced. [go back]
Image Credits
- The image of Thomas Jefferson after a lithographic copy of an original portrait by Gilbert Stuart, circa 1828. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress (American Memories Collection). [go back]
- The images of Bacon, Newton and Locke courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Libraries' Scientific Identity website:
www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/hst/ scientific-identity/intro.htm.
[go back to Bacon, go back to Newton, go back to Locke]