French Enlightenment
Philosophes: A group of philosophers who believed that philosophy was an important means of bringing about progress and change.
• criticized church authority and aristocratic privilege
• transformed French society and culture
• paved the way for the French Revolution
• Created the first Encyclopedia (17 volumes covering science, art and trade) edited by Denis Diderot (1713-1784)
• Charles Louis, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755)
• People can develop laws that are reasonable if they have the freedom to do so
• Reasonable laws for one society may be different from those of another
• (the Idea that what is good or bad on the way a particular society works is Relativism)
• Opposed to despotism (absolute power of the monarchy) - Louis XIV
• Government should allow people as much freedom as possible
• Strong influence on the U.S. Constitution (separation of powers)
Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire (1694-1778)
• Outspoken critic of religious intolerance
• Voltaire is a deist (someone who believes that God exists, but that we cannot know God’s will. God has very little to do with us after the creation of the world (Watchmaker and Watch analogy)
• It is not up to us to try to figure out what God wants; instead we should try to figure out how best to get along with each other
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
• The need to fit into society makes people lose touch with their true feelings
• Problems in our lives come from the denying of our emotions; therefore we should allow our emotions to surface
• People are generally good, but society makes people bad or corrupt
• Man is born free but is everywhere in chains
• Idealized Indians and other primitives as “noble savages” (great influence on the Romantics and Transcendentalists)
• The idea of “vice” and “virtue” are invented by civilization to help keep the wealthy on top of a society. The wealthy tell the poor what they can and cannot do so that they won’t cause trouble
• More attention should be paid to the education of the individual to promote freedom and equality
• Laws of the state should be made in accordance with the “Will of the People”
• criticized church authority and aristocratic privilege
• transformed French society and culture
• paved the way for the French Revolution
• Created the first Encyclopedia (17 volumes covering science, art and trade) edited by Denis Diderot (1713-1784)
• Charles Louis, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755)
• People can develop laws that are reasonable if they have the freedom to do so
• Reasonable laws for one society may be different from those of another
• (the Idea that what is good or bad on the way a particular society works is Relativism)
• Opposed to despotism (absolute power of the monarchy) - Louis XIV
• Government should allow people as much freedom as possible
• Strong influence on the U.S. Constitution (separation of powers)
Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire (1694-1778)
• Outspoken critic of religious intolerance
• Voltaire is a deist (someone who believes that God exists, but that we cannot know God’s will. God has very little to do with us after the creation of the world (Watchmaker and Watch analogy)
• It is not up to us to try to figure out what God wants; instead we should try to figure out how best to get along with each other
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
• The need to fit into society makes people lose touch with their true feelings
• Problems in our lives come from the denying of our emotions; therefore we should allow our emotions to surface
• People are generally good, but society makes people bad or corrupt
• Man is born free but is everywhere in chains
• Idealized Indians and other primitives as “noble savages” (great influence on the Romantics and Transcendentalists)
• The idea of “vice” and “virtue” are invented by civilization to help keep the wealthy on top of a society. The wealthy tell the poor what they can and cannot do so that they won’t cause trouble
• More attention should be paid to the education of the individual to promote freedom and equality
• Laws of the state should be made in accordance with the “Will of the People”
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