Enlightenment? Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot

and their “gang”

Helene Cazes Department of French

Program of Medieval Studies

The Enlightenment

• A critic of religious dogmas • A call for justice • A fight for democracy • The belief in science and

education

A new position for philosophical debate The civic responsibility The people The science The crirtic of political absolutism The severance from University The “Libertines” The idea of Progress

Voltaire, 1694-1778

Voltaire,1694-1778, the iconic figure of a philosophical movement: when ideas and civic involvement change the face of a society

Denis Diderot, 1713-1778

The Encyclopedia : Knowledge for everyone

Rousseau, 1712-1778

20th June 1789

Momentum without collective emotion

August 26, 1789

The Representatives of the French People, formed into a National Assembly, considering ignorance, the lapse of memory or contempt of the rights of man to be the sole causes of public misfortunes and the corruption of Governments, have resolved to set forth, in a solemn Declaration, the natural, inalienable and sacred rights of man, to the end that this Declaration, constantly present to all members of the body politic, may remind them unceasingly of their rights and their duties

DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND OF THE CITIZEN

Article the 1st Men are born and remain free and

equal in rights. The social distinctions can be founded only on the common utility.

The Phrygian hats (bonnets Phrygiens)

Phrygians hats : The symbols of freedom

François-Marie Arouet de Voltaire "Paris in 1694, educated by Jesuits at the Collège Louis-le-Grand (1704-11), 1711 to 1713 he studied law, secretary to the French ambassador in Holland,forced to return to France. ""energetic attacks on the government and the Catholic Church, numerous imprisonments and exiles"In his early twenties he spent eleven months in the Bastille for writing satirical verses about the aristocracy""After graduating, career in literature. "Voltaire's wit made him popular among some of the aristocratic families. One of his writings, about Louis XV's regent, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, led to his being imprisoned in the Bastille. While there, he wrote his debut play, Œdipe, and adopted the name Voltaire which came from his hometown in southern France . "

Exile to England""1726, the Chevalier de Rohan, lettre de cachet issued against Voltaire. " exiled to England without trial, and the incident marked the beginning of Voltaire's attempts to improve the French judicial system." John Locke, Jonathan Swift and Sir Isaac Newton, " England's constitutional monarchy and support of the freedoms of speech and religion. "After three years in exile, Voltaire returned to Paris in 1729 where he published his views on English attitudes towards government, literature and religion in a collection of essays in letter form entitled the Lettres philosophiques sur les Anglais (Philosophical letters on the English). " copies of the document were burnt and Voltaire was forced to leave Paris."

The Château de Cirey"" Marquise du Châtelet, Gabrielle Émilie le Tonnelier de Breteuil. " 21,000 books, experiments with the "natural sciences" ( properties of fire)."

After the death of the Marquise, Voltaire moved to Berlin to join Frederick the Great"salary of 20,000 francs a year. "lawsuit and an argument with the president of the Berlin Academy of Science, (Diatribe du Docteur Akakia) (Diatribe of Doctor Akakia) which derided the president. "Anger of Frederick, who had all copies of the document burned and arrested Voltaire at an inn where he was staying along his journey home. "Micromegas""Voltaire headed toward Paris, but Louis XV banned him from the city, so instead he turned to Geneva, where he bought a large estate. "A law in Geneva which banned theatrical performances and the publication of La pucelle d'Orléans " Candide, ou l'Optimisme (Candide, or Optimism) in 1759"

Callas, Sirvene (1762-71) Chevalier de La Barre (1769)

A French endeavour? A collective adventure The Encyclopedia 1746-1778 The subscription The plan for universal education (Condorcet)

Rethinking philosophical thought with science with the idea of people and universality against dogma against illegitimate authority against intolerance and injustice