How Did The French Philosophes

The age of enlightenment in the 18th century was primarily caused by a group of individuals known as philosophes. These philosophes were mostly made up of the middle class of society in France, but there were not only french philosophes. They could range from philosophers to ordinary journalists. These people had a change in mindset from the traditional mindset of the leaders at that time, as they wanted reform. The philosophes believed that the world that they were living in needed change, and they were determined to change it. They wrote entire books about the issues that were taking place, and what the reform should look like. These sources show that the philosophes were committed to political equality, but they lacked the belief in social

In Denis Diderot’s Encyclopedia, the first sentence used to define “government” is, “The good of the people must be the great purpose if the government”, and english philosophe John Locke, on the subject of laws, wrote in his book called Second Treatise on Government: “These laws also ought to be designed for no other end ultimately but the good of the people.” These two philosophes shared the same thinking. They both believed that governments should be for the people, and if they were not, then those governments would not work. The philosophes argued that government serves the people, in the words of Diderot, “It is not the state that belongs to the prince, it is the prince who belongs to the state, because the state has chosen him for that purpose.” This would be a very controversial view at that time because the French ruler had all the power, and Diderot argued that the people possessed more power than him. The head of state is only supposed to reinforce the ideas of all the people, he is not the one who creates the

They believed, contrary to their government at the time, that there should be different forms branches in government. There would be an executive that runs the state, a legislative that makes the laws, and a judiciary that does the judging of crimes. They believed that these different governing forms had the ability to keep each other in check so that there would never be inequality amongst them. In Denis Diderot’s Encyclopedia, a sentence mentioned to define the word government is, “Power cannot be arbitrary.” Montesquieu, another esteemed french philosophe, wrote in his book “Spirit of the Laws”: “Were the executive power not to have a right of putting a stop to the encroachments of the legislative body, the latter would become despotic; for as it might arrogate to itself what authority it pleased, it would soon destroy all the other powers.” These two excerpts showed their belief in the importance of an equal government. Montesquieu also writes, “When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty.” There would be no checks. The leader would be able to make the laws, and govern the state, which would turn a monarchy (which was what they were trying to get away from). Likewise, Montesquieu believed that the judiciary must be separate from the other two branches for the same potential reason