explain the role of thinkers of France revolution
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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. Other lesser-known figures included the mathematician and political scientist Nicolas de Condorcet, religious critic Nicolas Boulanger and atheist writer Jacques-Andre Naigeon. The impact they had on the French Revolution 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. Nevertheless, their writings and ideas, particularly their political theories and criticisms of the Ancien Régime, helped create an environment where revolutionary ideas could germinate and prosper.
Charles de Secondat, 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 Ancien Régime. He also travelled widely in Europe, observing and studying different forms of law and government.
Montesquieu
Montesquieu
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. His early writings reveal Montesquieu as a liberal, a deist and a supporter of constitutional monarchy. He was less receptive to republicanism or democracy. Like other intellectual giants of his age, Montesquieu believed that government was best left to educated and enlightened elites. Common people, Montesquieu argued, were too shiftless and poorly equipped to discuss either law or the business of government. Montesquieu also believed that political systems must be organised so that those in government could not accumulate or abuse power.
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. Expanding on ideas previously explored by the English philosopher John Locke, Montesquieu decided the best means of protecting individual liberty was through the separation of government powers. The different functions of government – executive or monarchical, legislative and judicial – must be carried out by different people and different departments. The power of each branch of government must be limited, ideally by a constitution. 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.
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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. Other lesser-known figures included the mathematician and political scientist Nicolas de Condorcet, religious critic Nicolas Boulanger and atheist writer Jacques-Andre Naigeon. The impact they had on the French Revolution 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. Nevertheless, their writings and ideas, particularly their political theories and criticisms of the Ancien Régime, helped create an environment where revolutionary ideas could germinate and prosper.
Charles de Secondat, 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 Ancien Régime. He also travelled widely in Europe, observing and studying different forms of law and government.
Montesquieu
Montesquieu
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. His early writings reveal Montesquieu as a liberal, a deist and a supporter of constitutional monarchy. He was less receptive to republicanism or democracy. Like other intellectual giants of his age, Montesquieu believed that government was best left to educated and enlightened elites. Common people, Montesquieu argued, were too shiftless and poorly equipped to discuss either law or the business of government. Montesquieu also believed that political systems must be organised so that those in government could not accumulate or abuse power.
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. Expanding on ideas previously explored by the English philosopher John Locke, Montesquieu decided the best means of protecting individual liberty was through the separation of government powers. The different functions of government – executive or monarchical, legislative and judicial – must be carried out by different people and different departments. The power of each branch of government must be limited, ideally by a constitution. 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.
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