10–15% of the AP exam. Key topics: Scientific Revolution: heliocentrism (Copernicus, Galileo), Newtonian mechanics, Scientific method: inductive reasoning (Francis Bacon), deductive reasoning (René Descartes), Enlightenment origins: challenge to religious authority, natural law, reason, Key Enlightenment thinkers: Locke (natural rights), Voltaire (religious tolerance), Montesquieu (separation of powers), Rousseau (general will, social contract), Wollstonecraft (women's rights), The public sphere: salons, coffeehouses, the philosophes, the Encyclopédie (Diderot), Enlightened Absolutism: Frederick the Great of Prussia, Catherine the Great of Russia, Joseph II of Austria, Application of Enlightenment ideals to governance: legal reform, religious tolerance, serfdom debates, Tension between Enlightenment reform and maintenance of absolutist power.
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