TR 1070 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Eudaimonia, Premillennialism, Puritans
5 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Women joining workforce, decrease in time worked
•
Progress- a modern belief
•
Before the late 16th century- static social order
•
Earthly things remain the same
•
Feudal order
•
Focus on god and the world to come after death
•
The enlightenment-origin of progress (late 17th late 18th century)•
A new optimism is born •
Humans can make things better•
Reason and science can improve the human lot•
We are children of the environment •
Progress as the advance of freedom•
Freedom is first and fundamental improvement•
Progress the advance of freedom•
Reason and human effort (work) can free people from the chains of oppression (slavery, tyranny,
exploitation)
Reason applied to government-constitutional democracies and rule of law-political freedom
○
•
The chains of necessity- of having to struggle to make a living
Reason applied to technology (use of reason to solve the economic problem)-economic
freedom
○
•
"Higher Progress"-Walt Whitman•
Abundance- having to do with being able to get enough•
Reason frees human for abundance and "higher progress"•
Please remember abundance as having enough of material goods and services- solivng the
economic problem-no longer absorbed by the problem of making a living
•
Progress in 3 stages
Political
○
Economic
○
Higher
○
•
"Higher progress--daughter of a physical revolution--mother of the true revolutions which are of
the interior life, and of the arts. For so long as the spirit is not changed any change of appearance
is no avail. "
•
Progress is the advance of freedom
What is the American dream?
Higher progress
○
•
What is higher progress?
Human advance beyond the courthouse
○
•
Forgotten American dream--higher progress--advancement--we do not stay the same, we get
better
•
Higher Progress Examples (secular)•
"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" --Thomas Jefferson•
The founders of the Greek word, Eudaimonia•
"I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and
Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural history,
Naval Architecture, Navigation, Commerce, and Argicutrue, in order to give their children a right
to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry, and Porcelain." --John Adams
•
Republican Virtue
John Adam's great grandson Henry Adams writing toward the close of the 19th century•
Optimism of the Enlightenment influences Christianity
Johnathan Edwards' disciple Samuel Hopkins confidently predicted because of reason and
machines "it will not be necessary for each one, to labor more than two or three hours in a day"
•
Post millennialism vs pre millennialism
Christian view having to do with the end of history,
Old View: premillennialism
Pessimistic- Christ returns before the kingdom of god is established, kicks butt and puts
things right himself (old light puritan)
○
•
New View: Post Millennialism
Optimistic- Christ returns AFTER the Kingdom of God is established BY HUMANS- we prepare
the way humans can make things better
○
•
History will end- the new age will be among us •
Kingdom of god = millennial •
What will the we be doing in the Kingdom of God in the Kingdom of God on Earth?
We will use our minds and technology to free ourselves to build health families and ways to live
together convivially
•
To practice the Christian virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love•
Edwards records the First Great Awakening (1730s and 40s) --thinks he sees a glimpse of the
Kingdom
Spirituality--prayer, singing--all of nature had an aura like quality
○
Material concerns gave way to the things of spirit
○
•
Disinterested Benevolence- taking joy in the joy of others •
The Forgotten American Dream for all
Starts out as aristocratic (republican virtue), or emerging from the clergy (Kingdom of God)•
But rapidly, by the National period was democratized•
"If every man and woman would work for four hours each day on something useful, that labor
would produce suffiicnt to procure all the necessaries and comforts of life, want and misery would
be banished out of the world , and the rest of the 24 hours might be leisure and happieness"
•
Franklin added a new dimension of the dream•
The American Labor movement
Realizes Franklin's democratic vision•
The shorter Hours Movement begins in the USA (1820s)•
Shorter hours "the cause of the awakening of the labor movement in the USA"•
3/1 Lecture Notes
Thursday, March 1, 2018
2:02 PM
Women joining workforce, decrease in time worked
•
Progress- a modern belief
•
Before the late 16th century- static social order
•
Earthly things remain the same
•
Feudal order
•
Focus on god and the world to come after death
•
The enlightenment-origin of progress (late 17th late 18th century)•
A new optimism is born •
Humans can make things better•
Reason and science can improve the human lot•
We are children of the environment •
Progress as the advance of freedom•
Freedom is first and fundamental improvement•
Progress the advance of freedom•
Reason and human effort (work) can free people from the chains of oppression (slavery, tyranny,
exploitation)
Reason applied to government-constitutional democracies and rule of law-political freedom
○
•
The chains of necessity- of having to struggle to make a living
Reason applied to technology (use of reason to solve the economic problem)-economic
freedom
○
•
"Higher Progress"-Walt Whitman•
Abundance- having to do with being able to get enough•
Reason frees human for abundance and "higher progress"•
Please remember abundance as having enough of material goods and services- solivng the
economic problem-no longer absorbed by the problem of making a living
•
Progress in 3 stages
Political
○
Economic
○
Higher
○
•
"Higher progress--daughter of a physical revolution--mother of the true revolutions which are of
the interior life, and of the arts. For so long as the spirit is not changed any change of appearance
is no avail. "
•
Progress is the advance of freedom
What is the American dream?
Higher progress
○
•
What is higher progress?
Human advance beyond the courthouse
○
•
Forgotten American dream--higher progress--advancement--we do not stay the same, we get
better
•
Higher Progress Examples (secular)•
"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" --Thomas Jefferson•
The founders of the Greek word, Eudaimonia•
"I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and
Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural history,
Naval Architecture, Navigation, Commerce, and Argicutrue, in order to give their children a right
to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry, and Porcelain." --John Adams
•
Republican Virtue
John Adam's great grandson Henry Adams writing toward the close of the 19th century•
Optimism of the Enlightenment influences Christianity
Johnathan Edwards' disciple Samuel Hopkins confidently predicted because of reason and
machines "it will not be necessary for each one, to labor more than two or three hours in a day"
•
Post millennialism vs pre millennialism
Christian view having to do with the end of history,
Old View: premillennialism
Pessimistic- Christ returns before the kingdom of god is established, kicks butt and puts
things right himself (old light puritan)
○
•
New View: Post Millennialism
Optimistic- Christ returns AFTER the Kingdom of God is established BY HUMANS- we prepare
the way humans can make things better
○
•
History will end- the new age will be among us •
Kingdom of god = millennial •
What will the we be doing in the Kingdom of God in the Kingdom of God on Earth?
We will use our minds and technology to free ourselves to build health families and ways to live
together convivially
•
To practice the Christian virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love•
Edwards records the First Great Awakening (1730s and 40s) --thinks he sees a glimpse of the
Kingdom
Spirituality--prayer, singing--all of nature had an aura like quality
○
Material concerns gave way to the things of spirit
○
•
Disinterested Benevolence- taking joy in the joy of others •
The Forgotten American Dream for all
Starts out as aristocratic (republican virtue), or emerging from the clergy (Kingdom of God)•
But rapidly, by the National period was democratized•
"If every man and woman would work for four hours each day on something useful, that labor
would produce suffiicnt to procure all the necessaries and comforts of life, want and misery would
be banished out of the world , and the rest of the 24 hours might be leisure and happieness"
•
Franklin added a new dimension of the dream•
The American Labor movement
Realizes Franklin's democratic vision•
The shorter Hours Movement begins in the USA (1820s)•
Shorter hours "the cause of the awakening of the labor movement in the USA"•
3/1 Lecture Notes
Thursday, March 1, 2018
2:02 PM
Women joining workforce, decrease in time worked•
Progress- a modern belief•
Before the late 16th century- static social order•
Earthly things remain the same•
Feudal order•
Focus on god and the world to come after death
•
The enlightenment-origin of progress (late 17th late 18th century)
•
A new optimism is born
•
Humans can make things better
•
Reason and science can improve the human lot
•
We are children of the environment
•
Progress as the advance of freedom
•
Freedom is first and fundamental improvement
•
Progress the advance of freedom
•
Reason and human effort (work) can free people from the chains of oppression (slavery, tyranny,
exploitation)
Reason applied to government-constitutional democracies and rule of law-political freedom
○
•
The chains of necessity- of having to struggle to make a living
Reason applied to technology (use of reason to solve the economic problem)-economic
freedom
○
•
"Higher Progress"-Walt Whitman
•
Abundance- having to do with being able to get enough
•
Reason frees human for abundance and "higher progress"
•
Please remember abundance as having enough of material goods and services- solivng the
economic problem-no longer absorbed by the problem of making a living
•
Progress in 3 stages
Political
○
Economic
○
Higher
○
•
"Higher progress--daughter of a physical revolution--mother of the true revolutions which are of
the interior life, and of the arts. For so long as the spirit is not changed any change of appearance
is no avail. "
•
Progress is the advance of freedom
What is the American dream?
Higher progress
○
•
What is higher progress?
Human advance beyond the courthouse
○
•
Forgotten American dream--higher progress--advancement--we do not stay the same, we get
better
•
Higher Progress Examples (secular)
•
"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" --Thomas Jefferson
•
The founders of the Greek word, Eudaimonia•
"I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and
Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural history,
Naval Architecture, Navigation, Commerce, and Argicutrue, in order to give their children a right
to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry, and Porcelain." --John Adams
•
Republican Virtue
John Adam's great grandson Henry Adams writing toward the close of the 19th century•
Optimism of the Enlightenment influences Christianity
Johnathan Edwards' disciple Samuel Hopkins confidently predicted because of reason and
machines "it will not be necessary for each one, to labor more than two or three hours in a day"
•
Post millennialism vs pre millennialism
Christian view having to do with the end of history,
Old View: premillennialism
Pessimistic- Christ returns before the kingdom of god is established, kicks butt and puts
things right himself (old light puritan)
○
•
New View: Post Millennialism
Optimistic- Christ returns AFTER the Kingdom of God is established BY HUMANS- we prepare
the way humans can make things better
○
•
History will end- the new age will be among us •
Kingdom of god = millennial •
What will the we be doing in the Kingdom of God in the Kingdom of God on Earth?
We will use our minds and technology to free ourselves to build health families and ways to live
together convivially
•
To practice the Christian virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love•
Edwards records the First Great Awakening (1730s and 40s) --thinks he sees a glimpse of the
Kingdom
Spirituality--prayer, singing--all of nature had an aura like quality
○
Material concerns gave way to the things of spirit
○
•
Disinterested Benevolence- taking joy in the joy of others •
The Forgotten American Dream for all
Starts out as aristocratic (republican virtue), or emerging from the clergy (Kingdom of God)•
But rapidly, by the National period was democratized•
"If every man and woman would work for four hours each day on something useful, that labor
would produce suffiicnt to procure all the necessaries and comforts of life, want and misery would
be banished out of the world , and the rest of the 24 hours might be leisure and happieness"
•
Franklin added a new dimension of the dream•
The American Labor movement
Realizes Franklin's democratic vision•
The shorter Hours Movement begins in the USA (1820s)•
Shorter hours "the cause of the awakening of the labor movement in the USA"•
3/1 Lecture Notes
Thursday, March 1, 2018 2:02 PM
