French revolution

french transformationTo what extremity were the approximations of the french philosophes and enlighten custodyt sentiment a precondition to the French transition in 1789 were the tender and stinting c locomotes of the time not sufficient in causing the transmutation themselves?The extent to which the philosophy of the 18th cytosine imp consummationed the French transmutation has busy the historian ever since the days of the revolution itself. It has proved to be immensely complex publicy historians nourish written on the subject of the Revolution objet darty choosing to c on the whole(prenominal) it purely as a sequence of events culminating in Revolution. The intellectual origins of the Revolution take root initially in the ideas of 16th Century writers. The eonian development of these ideas direct into the great period of the 18th Century, where philosophers sought to develop innovative ways of sentiment that would allow man to better himself, and to fre e him from old ways of idea and superstitions that had engrained themselves in the populace. The generations that had giving up in the intellectual environs of the time and the way they were touch on by these subversive ideas was an essential tallyt of the Revolution. Trained historians have tended to extend down the role of played by the philosophes instead they focus on the historical causes of the Revolution, on the incidents such as the financial crisis or the inefficacy of the tax system. However, it is fundamental in understanding the cause of the innovation to apprize the undercurrent of the development of new ideas over time this graduated detail does not necessarily warrant as more attention as events that happen abruptly, which may have caused the influence of enlightenment thinking to be cast aside somewhat. So how can the extent to which the ideas and writings of the philosophes influenced the habitual population be meatireed? To what extent were the re volutionaries influenced by the philosophes and mayhap approximately importantly did the revolutionaries mould their own philosophies around the circumstances in which they institute themselves?The idea of volont earthale was a fundamental concept that call for to be considered by many judgment thinkers. What was meant by volont raise of matterale? It could be interpreted as volont de la studyit, but how could the testament of the masses be gauged? The will of the people inevitable to manifest itself in some form in order for a people to be settle revolutionary. To understand how the heaven affected the e sincerelyday single(a) in France is to fully appreciate the indecision at hand il faudra chercher a connatre ltat stilbesterolpirit stilboestrol hommes lpoque, nous rendre compte de ce quprouvait alors lindividu par rapport la masse dont il fasait government agencyie.1The Philosophes and profundity thinking in the 18th CenturyVoltaire was adept of the key fig ures in basis of his revolutionary thinking during the Eighteenth Century. He believed that laws were outdated and needed to be assortmentd because they had been spend a pennyd at a different time, haphazardly and the make iting laws were bases sur lignorance et la superstition.2 In a allowter he wrote to Catherine II Voltaire stated les lois sont faites aprs coup, comme on calfate diethylstilbestrol vaisseux qui ont voies deau elles sont innombrables, parce quelles sont faites sur des besoins toujours renaissants elles sont condradictoires, attendu que ces besoins ont toujours chang. Voltaire was convinced that laws needed to be changed in order to allow the society to start out learned person. For Voltaire religious belief too holds man back from becoming enlightened. In price of lessons, he comp ares the religious morals with philosophical morals. Voltaires belief that the philosophical morality is no different from religious morality is get inly explained by Groethu ysen Les philosophes ont tous des ides diffrentes sur les principes des choses, mais ils enseignent drift la mme parole.3 whole religions thitherof have a harmonising and moralising aspect, however Voltaire criticises the way in which religion is base upon so many superstitions and obscure cult practices. These outdated superstitions have led to war and destruction les gens se sont broils sur les dogmes, ils sont fait la guerre des nations en ont detruit dautres parce queelles croyaient en Jesus-Christ et non en Mahoment.4 Laws and religion are not needful in order to allow man to know the difference amongst right and wrong contend out is independent of law and religion. Man has been demoralize by the irrational aspects of religion. He does not use his sense of reason to understand the world and commits act of destruction and violence solely in the name of religion. Voltaire cute man to be freed from its inability to reason, much as well Kants belief in Was ist Aufklar ung that Aufklrung ist der Ausweg des Menschen aus seiner selbstverschuldeten Unmndigkeit. Sapere aude In answering the question as to how a law of reason can be formal Voltaire proposes une loi fondamentale qui agit sur toutes les nations que nous conaissons.5 The principle behind this law is first and maiden to distinguish between what is right and what is not. But Voltaire get holds this law as alternate in terms of human judgement and reason any man has an inner instinct that allows them to know what is right, un sens de lequite commun a tous les hommes. For Voltaire ideas of morality are of the ut well-nigh importantce knowledge of all some other ideas essential come flash to morality seules les idees morales peuvent nous server a conduire notre vie de facon a la mener en commun avec les autres hommes. A new philosophy of morality was necessary to create the new modern man this was Voltaires main intentionive he wrote in a letter to Frederic Guillaume in October 1737 that lhumanite est le principe de toutes mes pensees. Man has to look just now to the goodness deep down him and his own instinctive moral principles rain cats and dogs que sa raison trouve en lui une egalite universelle dominant toutes les legislations particulieres. This in turn would lay down the foundations for a moral law.As Voltaire grew older he increasingly focused his thoughts against religion and the Church. In a letter written to Frederic II in 1767 he state depuis dix-sept cents ans, la secte chretienne na jamais fait que du mal. He called on all philosophers of his time to rise up with him in his fight against the Church. Voltaire declare that so whizzr or subsequent the time would come in France when people would be able to see the conspiracy and lunacy of religion people were raising des mains invisibles pour percer le fanatisme dun bout de lEurope a lature avec les fleches de la verite. He became very excited about the prospect of the coming revolution by mea ns of the Enlightenment and could foresee the coming of the age of reason. In 1761 he wrote to dAlembert, je suis tetu. Jusqua mon dernier souffle, je repeterai mon caeterum censo Ecrasez lInfame. Cest une grande lutte, la lutte de tous les etres pensants contre les etres non-pensantstous les etres pensants doivent etre tendrement uniscontre les fanatiques, les hypocrites, egalement persecuteurs. However, Voltaire was particularly critical of other philosophers of his time, toutes les philosophes sont trop tiedes ils se contentent de rire des erreurs des hommes, au emplacement de les ecraser.6 Voltaire wanted all the philosophes to join together to cause change in the world and to help the population become enlightenened, he did not wanted the other philosophes to want to enlighten the world and not just see the mistakes in the existing 1 les missionaries courent la terre et les mers, il faut au moins que les philosophes courent les rues, il faut quils aillent semer le bon grain de maisons en maisons.7 This use of particularly strong spoken language by Voltaire shows the extent to which he believed in the Enlightenment and how much he wanted it to be earn in the world. Voltaire, in writing to Alembert vehemently calls those leaders who prevent their citizens from becoming enlightened as monstres persecuteurs, quon me donne seulement sept ou huit personnes que je puisse conduire et je vous exterminerai.8 He declared that eventually reason will master but bemoans the circumstance that he will not be alive to see this boyfriend changement of lEglise de la sagesse, dans laquelle les philosophes seront les precepteurs du genre humain. He calls on the philosophes to see the fruit of the trees that they themselves had planted.As regards the division of France into three estates Voltaire is very discipline that the existing system require to be abolished. Representez vous le tier etat. Mais ce sont les paysans sur leur champsles millions dhommes qui travaille nt, a cote des deux cent mille members du clerge ou de la noblesse qui ne travaillent pas.9 This inequality is a major fuss for Voltaire for, in his eyes, all men are born evenly on the Earth and this inequality from birth poses a major problem in allowing the Third Estate to become enlightened. Le tiers etat a lui seul est dj toute la nation10 Voltaire calls on the revolutionary masses of 1789 to look deeper and to a greater extent closely at things and to question eachthing around them. Fiez-vous donc a votre raisonnement, substituez toujours le concret, le defini aux affirmations indecises ou populares. He explains how not every man is born with the ability to be a philosophe but that every man is able to become enlightened la faculte critique est quelque chose de positif en lhomme. Cest la joie detre libre de prejudges, de savoir que la raison est souverain en tout homme.11 Voltaire wants every man to win the fight against superstition and false beliefs. Voltaire praises the other philosophes, for despite their differences, they are honnetes gensqui ne savent aspire ce qui est, mais qui savent fort bien ce qui nest pas.12 They have called the world into question and although they do not have answers to much of it they have created the foundations upon which the Enlightenment can be built. Although Voltaires philosophy may be interpreted as somewhat pessimistic in terms of the insignificance of man in terms of the universe, he is also optimistic in that man does have the capacity to think about things outside his world there is la misere de la condition humaine but also les grandes pensees, le ciel etoile dans sa legalite invariable, leternite dont lhomem essaye de surprendre le secret pendant le court instant dure sa pauvre conception instable.13 The philosophes need to join together and give their mutual support to one another in order to win the fight against the enemy that seeks to retain its domination over unenlightened man. But by what means could Voltaires impulse of an enlightened nation be carry outd? In a letter to the marquis dArgence de Dirac in 1764 he declares il ne faut pas disputer avec les gens entetesjamais la dispute na convaincu personne on peut ramener les hommes en les faisant penser par eux memes, en paraisant douter avec eux, en les conduisant, comme par la main, sans quiils sen apercoivent. For Voltaire if all the philosophes were united in their philosophies and it cogitationed its way peacefully by dint of the masses then la plus belle poque de lhistoire de lespirit humain would be born.From the advent of Christianity Voltaire believes that annals has only been formed through errors and mistakes. In opposition to Montesquieu, he proposes all existing laws to be forgotten so that humanity can be re-rooted in reason and enlightened thinking. For Voltaire there is nothing to be learnt from invoice la critique historique decouvre partout la deraison dont temoignent les actes et les lois faites p ar les hommes, depuis que lEglise a fat regner la superstition dans le monde.14 Man needs to be enlightened from this farcical world, created by generations of mans mistakes. Although on the face of it Voltaires analysis of the current situation could be interpreted as pessimistic he trusts that reason will prevail in allowing a new order to be created, as Groethuysen explains la raison conduira la passionla passion devenue raison, la passion de la raison va posseder les hommes de la revolution francaise.15Montesquieu and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were also arguably among some of the most important Enlightenment thinkers impart to the French Revolution. In terms of laws Montesquieu believed that all men should conform to laws and that they must(prenominal) begin by working to create worthy people.16 Justice, for Montesquieu was a harmonized relationship which really exists between two things. This relationship never varies whether it is viewed from the sight of God, an angel, or of maneven if God did exist, we ought always to love justicejustice is eternal and nowise pendent on human conventions.17 Justice was an absolute standard and laws must exist because they are just. Montesquieu proverb man as a product of his environment and felt that man should adapt himself as best he could within this environment. Unlike Voltaire, Montesquieu did not see the need to rid the world of all its existing laws instead he declares it is sometimes necessary to change authentic laws, but such occasions are rare and when they arise one should only touch laws with a trembling hand.18 This approach to the tampering with laws is not particularly revolutionary however, he wanted all governmental societies to be judged on his absolute principles of justice and liberty. For Montesquieu the idea form of government took specify in a moderate government, however, he states that moderate governments are a masterpiece of legislation that chance produces very rarely and men rarely allow prudence to create19In de lEsprit des Lois, published in 1748 Montesquieu discusses the impartiality of laws and how to judge whether a law exists for the good of man. He believes that laws should be make in order to better mankind and to transform the existing system. All laws need to be judged as to whether they correspond or contradict the rights of man. For Montesquieu every law needs to be based on moral principles and should doorkeeper man towards morality. Cest dans les principes du droit que noud devons chercher la norme absolue qui nous permettra de construire une collectivite.20 Montesquieu saw the intellectual world as a conference of collectivites. The life of every individual is fundamentally teach by the confederacy in which they live. A world of collectivites would create a new, happy people and man would achieve happiness in such a collectivite. It could be interpreted that Montesquieu sees France as a collectivite. Cest la nation qui seule peut se donner la loi.21 Montesquieu wanted to see a change in the law-citizen relationship he wanted it to change from man being the object of laws to man becoming the subject of legislative berth. Montesquieu wanted human reason to be applied to the reality in which people lived. However, Montesquieus philosophy does not sit well with the French Revolution because his i dish ups of universal and absolute reason are only applicable to the world at large and which must govern the world at large. As a result, if these laws were to be implemented, one would only be implementing ideas based upon legality within nature. Montesquieu believed that the legislative and administrator powers needed to be separate so that the citizens could not be crush and would remain free. For Montesquieu the main purpose of religion was to make better citizens he believed that religious beliefs were a product of the environments in which people lived. Despite the fact that he believed that all religions strengthened t he morality of the followers Montesquieu believed Christianity to be the most favorable in creating good citizens. Montesquieus de lEsprit des Lois put forward the pattern of liberalism in which liberty could only be secured through a create mentally equilibrium between the competing interests within society22 Although Montesquieus message is not always clear within de lEsprit des Lois he does not waver from his belief that governments should act in the needs of the people, as opposed to being the means to change a society, that institutions and beliefs are the result of the environment and the actions of generations in the past and that there are moral imperatives that transcend time and which bind all men together.Fundamentally Montesquieu and Rousseau had conflicting concepts of freedom. As previously stated Montesquieu believed that freedom could be achieved in collectivites. Governments needed to follow the independence of these collectivites and vote in favour of the espri t general. On the other hand, Rousseaus notion of political freedom consisted of allowing man to achieve all he wanted, which was obviously in the best interest of the community at large. This would be achieved through the liberation of man from his state of ignorance by abolishing all existing institutions and denaturing man. One legislator would ensure this denaturing and change his existence through changing the society in which he lived. Despite Montesquieus belief that governments should let people pursue their own interests, he wanted the governments to pursue two freedom and justice it would be wrong to say to say that Montesquieu was not urging political action. Rousseau was urging for a regeneration of the current system, and as Hampson explains this concept of regeneration was to become one of the most abused lyric of 1789.23 Both Rousseau and Montesquieu had devoted a great deal of their time to political issues and had begun to repugn the existing political situation , however more writers needed to dispute the existing order but the influence of these philosophes in allowing revolutionary thinking and ideas to come into being cannot be understated. Montesquieu and Rousseaus impact in the years lead up to the Revolution took shape in numerous forms. There was constant reference to Montesquieu in the many pamphlets of literature of 1788 in support of the parlements challenge to the royal family. Lawyers were constantly referencing Montesquieu and De lesprit des lois. Furthermore, Rousseaus influence was also present with references to du Contrat social the state of monarchy is only useful for corrupted nations.24 Other pamphlets draw on Rousseau to an even greater extent man is born free, laws are acts of the general will, government is the agent of the general will and not a part to the social contract.25 As Hampson further explains all the pamphlets shared a harsh vocabularythe subjects of the kingdom had been replaced by the citizens of the nation. Those of whom the writers approved were the enfants de la patrie and their opponents agents of ministerial despotism26 This is a clear demonstration of the influence of Rousseaus philosophy and his success in shaping revolutionary ideas through the use of this republican language. Billaud Varenne, was particularly influenced by the ideas of Rousseau and expressed his discernment for the fine works of Rousseau, who describes so well the power of the Supreme Being27 In Varennes Despotisme des ministres de France Varenne echoes many of Rousseaus sentiments superior by our knowledge, our industry and our force, to every nation in the universe, when we could be second Romans, betrayed by our generals, strangled by our ministers, every day we risk being subjugated to foreign domination or becoming wholly enslaved to our own28 Moreover, Montesquieus philosophy was also put forward by Varenne in this three-volume work great agitation within a state should always be avoided as much as possible.29 It is clear that the work of the philosophes had a major impact on the revolutionaries and fundamentally provided the intellectual foreplay upon which the revolutionaries could propose concrete changes contributing to the revolution of 1789.The expression of the philosophes ideals in the French RevolutionMany modern day historians continue to argue that the tie beam between Enlightenment thought and the French Revolution long pre-dated the revolution itself, claiming that many anti-philosophes were convinced that the philosophes were attempting to undermine and destabilise the already established order. Nonetheless, the revolutionaries claimed that the Revolution was a direct consequence of Enlightenment thinking as Brissot boasted in 1791 Our revolution is not the fruit of an insurrection. It is the work of a half century of enlightenment. As Roland N. Stromberg explains Those who tried to guide the Revolution never ceased to legitimize or rationalize their actions by appealing to the words of Voltaire, Rousseau ,Montesquieu, Diderot, and other intellectual heroes of the Enlightenment, though they might do so selectively and erratically30Most damming in comprehend the Revolution as the result of the Enlightenment is the fact that the majority of the stay philosophes of the time did not agree with the Revolution. From the Holbach coterie, which included Raynal, Marmontel, Morellet and Grimm. With the onset of revolution, Raynal, who had written perhaps the most influential revolutionary piece of the 1770s, fled Paris. Morellet also declared that the French Revolution had created a state of anarchy and also left Paris. Further, Marmontel saw a dangerous fanaticism and the spirit of licence, crew and anarchy. Grimm, who had served a depositary of sorts to the philosophe movement also fled the country and returned to his native Germany and left his riches to be seized by the revolutionary government. Alan Kors had named this group as the radic al enlightenment group and argues that their opposition to the Revolution held true to their own Enlightenment views. The fact that the French Revolution had taken such an irrational and anarchic course went against their beliefs in rational order and scientific method.31 The philosophes favoured a far more gradual progression of the Revolution through reform and allowing the leaders and the population of France to come to understand the ideas of the Enlightenment. The Marquis de Condorcet, whose pure philosophy contributed a great deal to the Revolution still, on the Eve of the Revolution, believed that France could only solve its social and stinting crises through the slow diffusion of Enlightenment ideas. His friend The Abbe Sieyes in the Societe de 1789, who fundamentally symbolised the Revolution of the Third Estate in 1789, also withdrew from government in 1790 due to his disapproval of the path the Revolution had taken. Of the philosophes still alive in 1789 the Cercle Socia l still made attempts to allow the ideas of the past be realised in modern day France. The Cercle Social was later to become the Girondist faction of the Revolution. The group had its own printing press, published journals and placed major idiom on education of the ideas of the philosophes. Condorcet and Brissot were key members of this group and were determined to make Enlightenment ideals become part of the new emerging world. They wanted to spread the ideas of the Enlightenment and create a rational political institutions based on the ideas of the Enlightenment.32 They believed that a sudden and aggressive move from one form of government to the succeeding(prenominal) was not the way Revolution should be carried out, rather ideas needed to be understood by the everyday man so that his attitudes could be changed. The point that changes needed to take place on all levels of society is aptly explained by Foucault nothing in society will be changed if the mechanisms of power that f unction outside, below and alongside the State apparatuses on a much more minute and everyday level are not also changed.33It was believed by these revolutionaries that France would become a nation devoted to the Revolution, in which Rousseau du Contrat Socials well-behaved religion would become the new moral cement. Many of the revolutionaries began to see themselves as the priests of this new religion. These Girondists also believed that education could change human nature an idea derived from John Locke and put forward by Condillac in France. The Girondists were adamant that this could be achieved if the philosophes and revolutionaries were able to gain control of education they could mold a new species of mankind.34 The Jacobins were even more extreme in their views on education as they wanted to take children away from their parents and indoctrinate them in new Enlightenment ideas. As Stromberg explains the philosophes had addressed only an elite, the next task was to expand this appeal circle to embrace the whole nation. However, Gary Kates argues that the Girondists were not a bourgeois company but a party of those who had come to understand the Enlightenment. Despite their will to see the ideas of the philosophes realised within the Revolution they proved to be unproductive politicians and thus were defeated by the Montagnards.Robespierrists felt that their enemies were far more educated than they were and attempted to confuse the masses with their complicated ideas of philosophy. Saint-Just declared that these enemies tried to arse around people with complicated intellectual arguments. Robespierre himself was not an advocate of theory and declared it is not necessary to search in the books of political writers, who did not at all foresee the Revolution. Many historians have also questioned the extent to which Robespierre really was influenced by the philosophes given his suspiciousness of their ideas and many argue that he did not even have a v ery great knowledge of Rousseau, of whom he declared himself to have been greatly influenced. Brissot once called Robespierres speeches unintelligibility posing as profundity. The down with the philosophes slogan of the Jacobins is further evidence in proving the lack of respect that they had for the Enlightenment ideas of the 18th century. At this point it is clear that the ideas of the philosophes were no overnight attached to the Revolution the Jacobins were far more interested in politics than with the ideas of the Enlightenment and thus the Revolution broke away from the Enlightenment.35 The Bourgeoisie and the RevolutionThe middle class and the educated classes played a major role in the French Revolution through the summoning of the Assembly. Between November 1788 and the meeting of the Estates commonplace over 2,500 pamphlets were published. The ideas of the philosophes which were now being forwarded through the revolutionaries became of great interest to the middle class . The bourgeoisie began to focus on how the current system could be changed and how their desires might become a reality. The system of government had been attacked and criticised for decades prior to the Revolution the introduction of new ideas change to the existing constitutional and political situation had enlightened the bourgeoisie and fuelled their desire for change.21 BernardGroethuysen, Philosophie de la Rvolution Franaise, scalawag 82 2 Ibid, Page 1333 Ibid, Page 1354 Ibid5 Ibid, page 1366 Lettre de Voltaire a dAlembert, 26-XII en 17677 Lettre de Voltaire a dAlembert, 26-VI en 17668 Lettre de Voltaire a dAlembert, 26-VIII en 17669 Page 155, Groethuysen10 Ibid11 12 Letter page 15813 Page 16114 Philosophie de la Revolution Francaise, page 16615 Ibid, page 16716 Cahiers, I/393 Grasset, page 11917 Lettres Persanes, LXXXIII18 Ibid CXXIX19 De lespirit des lois, V/1420 Philosophie de la Revolution Francaise, page 12821 Philosophie de la Revolution Francaise, page 13022 voliti on and Circumstance, Norman Hampton, Page 2423 Will and Circumstance, Norman Hampton, Page 5824 Will and Circumstance, Norman Hampton, Page 6025 Ibid, page 6126 Ibid27 Le dernier coup porte aux prejuges et a la superstition, London, 1789, page 34828 Despotisme des ministres de France, Amsterdam, 1789, 3rd Volume, Page 20929 Ibid, Page 24330 The Philosophes and the French Revolution, Some Reflections on recent research, Roland N. Stromberg, Page 323