Analyse the role of philosphers in the French Revolution in
CBSE Class IX Social Science LA (5 Marks)
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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.
The French philosophers of the Enlightenment Era didn't play an active role in the events of the revolution, but their ideas inspired the revolutionary movement. The main philosophers were Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot and Montesquieu.
Diderot was the editor of a ground-breaking Encyclopédie, which brought awareness to the inequality in France by describing some of the injustices of the ancien régime (the system of monarchy). Its promotion of individual rights influenced the revolutionaries.
Montesquieu proposed the idea of a system of checks and balances, whereby a monarch should not operate with absolute power, but limits (e.g. a constitution, parliamentary bodies). There should be a separation of powers, he believed, into 3 branches: legislative (they make the laws), executive (they enforce the law) and judicial (the court system). This inspired revolutionaries to demand this form of government in France, and to act in outrage against the absolute monarchy at the time.
Voltaire's main ideas revolved around individual liberties. He believed that people should have freedom of expression, religion, movement, the press, etc. He spoke out against the financial inequality and the government oppression in France. His ideas inspired revolutionaries to seek greater liberal rights and liberty.
Rousseau was the most radical of the philosophers. He believed in a rudimentary form of socialism. He believed that the ideal society would exist where there was no class distinction, no inequality, and everyone would work together towards ensuring the common good. He believed that the current monarchical system in France reduced people's liberties. He also believed that in a state of nature, a man untouched by civilization would act morally, this idea is sometimes confused with the idea of the "noble savage" a native who seemed to share the morality of the then current Europe. He believed that the French aristocracy was the embodiment of the corruption created by societal structure.