The role of philosophers in french revolution

it describes the role of philosophers in the french revolution and how they helped the common people to seek justice.

1. Made by : Abhinav The role of French philoso phers in the revolution

2. The philosophers played an important role in the French Revolution. They inspired the common mass of France with their revolutionary ideas and prepared them to fight against injustices . 

3. Society of estates

4. THE PHILOSOPHES The philosophes were instrumental in shaping revolutionary ideas in late 18th century France The philosophes (French for ‘philosophers’) were writers, intellectuals and scientists who shaped the French Enlightenment during the 18th century. The best known philosophes were Baron de Montesquieu, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Denis Diderot. Other lesser-known figures included the mathematician and political scientist Nicolas de Condorcet, religious critic Nicolas Boulanger and atheist writer Jacques-Andre Naigeon .

5. Montesquieu Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) was an enlightened nobleman turned political philosopher, responsible for articulating a clear explanation of the separation of government powers. Montesquieu was born into a noble family near Bordeaux in January 1689. Several of his relatives were involved in provincial politics, so the teenage Montesquieu also developed an interest in law and government. The family’s wealth gave him the opportunity to read, write and socialise . The young Montesquieu became a vocal and charismatic regular in the Paris social set, where he spoke freely and critically about the old Régime. He also travelled widely in Europe, observing and studying different forms of law and government. By his late 20s, Montesquieu had worked as a lawyer, an academic and a history lecturer. He also began writing in earnest. His first significant public work was Persian Letters (1721), which satirised many aspects of French society.

6. The Spirit of the Laws :Montesquieu expanded on this point in his best-known work, De l’Esprit des Lois (‘The Spirit of the Laws’), which was published anonymously in 1748. The Spirit of the Laws compared different systems of government, with a particular focus on how each system protected individual liberty. :The Spirit of the Laws  was despised by the church and placed on its list of prohibited books, however, it proved very popular and sold thousands of copies across Europe. Montesquieu died seven years after the first edition, however  The Spirit of the Laws  became arguably the most significant work of Enlightenment political theory, shaping the outcomes of the American and French revolutions.

7. Voltaire Voltaire’ was the pen name of the French writer Francois-Marie Arouet (1694-1778). He was born in Paris to a moderately wealthy family, the son of a government official. Arouet received a Jesuit education in Greek, Latin and the law. A free-spirited character in his youth, at age 20 Arouet attempted to elope with a young French émigré but the plot was discovered by his father. After arriving back in Paris, Arouet spent a year imprisoned in the Bastille for writing libellous poems about members of the aristocracy. Around this time he adopted the pen name Voltaire, a Latinised anagram of his real name.

8. Religious criticisms Voltaire was also an advocate of religious tolerance. Throughout his life he was a fierce critic of the Catholic church, condemning its endemic corruption and the greed and depravity of high ranking clergymen. He wrote sourly about the church’s vast landholdings and the large tithes it imposed on the struggling peasantry. He condemned venality in the church, criticising the practice of nobles buying positions in the clergy, and complained about the Vatican intervening in French civil matters. Supporters of the church damned Voltaire as a heretical atheist but like many other philosophes, in reality, he was a deist who believed in God but distrusted organised religion.

9. Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was another Enlightenment writer whose political and philosophical ideas shaped the French Revolution. Rousseau was born in Switzerland to a successful middle-class family. His mother died a few days after Rousseau’s birth; his father was a third-generation watchmaker. The young Rousseau was raised around craftsmen and artisans. He became an avid reader, though he had little in the way of formal education. Rousseau spent most of his 20s travelling, working a variety of menial jobs while studying and educating himself. In his 30th year, he moved to Paris, where he later befriended fellow philosophe Denis Diderot and had an article published in Diderot’s famous Enlightenment work Encyclopédie .

10. The Social Contract Probably Rousseau’s most significant contribution to Enlightenment political theory was his 1762 work The Social Contract. In this book, he made a simple but now famous statement: “Man is born free, yet everywhere he is in fetters [chains]”. Rousseau pondered why people voluntarily submitted to the rule of kings and governments, surrendering their freedoms and liberties in the process. The answer, he concluded, was that humans are essentially good and desire peace, stability and good order. Civilised human society cannot exist without government and laws to keep order. During this exploration, Rousseau articulated the idea of the ‘social contract’, an unwritten agreement that exists between governments and individuals. He also articulated the concept of popular sovereignty, suggesting that the true power of government was derived from the consent of the people .

11. Diderot Denis Diderot (1713-1784) was another prominent figure of the French Enlightenment. The son of a cutlery maker, Diderot was born in Champagne, northern France. He received a Jesuit education and moved to Paris with the intention of joining the clergy, before choosing to study law instead. Soon after, Diderot turned to writing. He spent his early years undertaking small writing and translation jobs and filling clerical positions. His lack of connections prevented Diderot from obtaining any significant writing roles and, as a consequence, he was frequently broke. Among his early writings were a history of Greece, an anthology of short stories and essays containing criticisms of the Catholic church. One of Diderot’s essays was condemned as heretical and in 1749 he was arrested and imprisoned for several months.

12. The impact these philosophes, their writings and theories had on the French Revolution has sometimes been exaggerated and is open to debate. None of the philosophes were revolutionaries and very few advocated or even predicted a revolution. Indeed, most were intellectual elitists with little regard for the common people, believing they had little or no role in government. Most of the significant philosophes were also dead long before 1789. Despite this, their writings and ideas, particularly their political theories and criticisms of the Ancient Régime, helped create an environment where revolutionary ideas could germinate and prosper. Impact on the revolution

13. role of philosophers in raising the awareness among people of france During 18 th century , France had many revolutionary thinkers.Among them were Voltaire , Rousseau , Montesquieu and Dederot .Their revolutionary ideas helped the people to fight for their rights . 2) They exposed the inefficiency of the monarch and and his government. (3) Voltaire's ideas encouraged people to fight against the privileges and finance of the Church without guilt. John Locke propounded the ideas refuting divinity and absolute rights of monarch. Montesquieu believed that all the powers should not be concentrated in one person's hand. (6) Rousseau asserted the doctrine of democracy and popular sovereignty. He believed that the government should be based on the consent if the governed .He wrote a book known as " Social Contract" .

14. Revolutionary thoughts of philosophers (1) They did not believe in the doctrine of the divine and absolute right of the monarch. In his Two Treatises of Government John Locke refuted this doctrine strongly. (2) Rousseau carried the idea forward proposing a form of government based on a social contract between people and their representatives. (3) In The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the government between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. (4) The ideas of these philosophers were discussed intensively in salons and coffee-houses and spread among people through books and newspapers. These were frequently read aloud in groups for the benefit of those who were illiterate. Thus, the philosophers contributed a lot in bringing of the French Revolution. (5) Ideas of having a society based on freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all were put forward by the French philosophers.