General characteristics of the 18th century enlightenment era; rebellion against authorities, rationalism, enlightenment ideas, cultural optimism, return to nature, humanized Christianity and human rights. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was adopted by the French National Assembly in 1789.
FONTENELLE (1657-1757)
Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle is a French writer, philosopher and historian of science. He draws attention to the importance of the scientific method and experimental observations, and exhibits a critical approach to religious dogmas.
VOLTAIRE (1694-1778)
François-Marie Arouet is a French writer and philosopher. He emphasized the importance of reason and logic. He argued that knowledge and enlightenment are the most important virtues of man. He declared war on the institution of church and state by defending individual freedom. He had a deist understanding of religion. He was a supporter of religious tolerance and secularism. He saw tolerance as necessary for scientific and economic progress, and advocated the rule of a benevolent single authority enlightened by the influence of philosophers. Although he thought that humans had free will, he adopted a more deterministic attitude in later periods. According to him, the concept of the soul as an immaterial substantial entity was an unnecessary assumption.
MONTESQUIEU (1689-1755)
Montesquieu, real name Charles-Louis de Secondat, is known as a French philosopher, writer and political theorist. In his work titled Spirit of Laws, he describes the existence of some universal principles or laws that govern social phenomena. He accepts that there is a natural moral and legal law that is prior to laws. According to Montesquieu, who said that there are three forms of government: republican, monarchic and despotic, the best constitution is a liberal constitution. Political freedom requires the separation of the legislature, executive and judiciary (the principle of separation of powers). He played a role in the development of the idea of human rights.
LA METTRIE (1709-1751)
Julien Offray de La Mettrie is a French medical doctor and materialist philosopher. He rejects the distinction between mind and body. In his work The Machine Man, he argues that humans function like machines and that all thoughts and emotions originate from physical processes. Moral values originate from human tendencies, and scientific methods should be used to understand human nature.
CONDILLAC (1715-1780)
Etienne Bonnot de Condillac is a French philosopher. He followed an empiricist line under the influence of Locke. All human mental processes are transformed sensations. Condillac recognizes God as the final cause.
HELVETIUS (1715-1771)
Claude Adrien Helvetius is a French philosopher and educator. According to him, knowledge is obtained from sensory experiences. Education is of critical importance for the development of individuals and societies, and the determinants of human nature are environment and experience. According to him, the most fundamental principle of morality is public good, it is formed at the point where individuals meet social interest.
D’HOLBACH (1723-1789)
Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d’Holbach, is a French philosopher. He is known for his materialist philosophy, atheist views, determinism that questions the existence of free will, and the importance he gives to education. He is known for his work called The System of Nature.
DİDEROT (1713-1784)
Denis Diderot is a French writer and philosopher. He edited a 35-volume encyclopedia with D’Alembert. He is known as an encyclopedist. According to Diderot, who examined the relationship between nature and human behavior, knowledge is obtained through experience and observation. Diderot argued that natural religion will always continue to exist. There were periods when he was influenced by deism, pantheism, and atheism. According to Diderot, who exalted values such as benevolence, devotion, tolerance and humanism in the field of ethics, people's behaviors and values are shaped by social and cultural contexts.
D’ALAMBERT (1717-1783)
Jean le Rond d'Alembert was a French mathematician, physicist and philosopher. He is best known for his contributions to the Encyclopedia project and his mathematical theories. D'Alembert emphasized the importance of scientific thought and reasoning. He argued that mathematical modeling was critical for natural sciences. He tried to separate morality from theology and metaphysics, and according to him, morality is being aware of our duties towards other people and establishing the right relationship and balance between our own interests and social duties.
ROUSSEAU (1712-1778)
Jean Jacques Rousseau was a French philosopher, writer and composer. He is especially known for his works on social contract, education and freedom. He emphasizes the importance of emotions and instincts against rationalism, and exalts the value of emotional experiences and human relationships. It is not knowledge but belief that holds society together. However, science and philosophy pursue universal values. Thus, he criticizes philosophy and science with an attitude that defends society. The fundamental difference between animals and humans is freedom rather than reason. The essence of man is goodness, and while he preserved his inner virtues in the initial state of nature, equality was lost with the emergence of property. A social contract was born upon this. The most fundamental emotion of man is self-love.
CONDORCET (1743-1794)
Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas Caritat, marquise de Condorcet, was a French mathematician and philosopher. She is known for her innovative ideas on social and political ideas, education and women's rights. Condorcet argues that humanity is in a constant state of progress through science, reason and education, and believes that it will become more just and equal. He examines social progress in 10 periods; the first period is the hunter tribes, the second period is the slave-owning pastoral society, the third period is the feudal agricultural society, the fourth period is the Greek age, the fifth period is the Roman age, the sixth period is the age when the Arabs flourished and ended with the Crusades, the seventh period ends with the invention of the printing press, the eighth period is the Renaissance, the ninth period begins with the French Revolution, and the tenth period will probably be under the management of scientists and engineers.
GOUGES (1748-1793)
Olympe de Gouges, real name Marie Gouze, is a French writer and feminist. She wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen. She emphasized that every individual should have equal rights and stood against slavery and discrimination. She was executed in 1793 for criticizing Robespierre.
POSITIVISM
COMTE (1798-1857)
Auguste Comte is a French philosopher and the founder of positivism. He advocates obtaining knowledge only through experimental observations and scientific methods and the application of scientific methods in social sciences. He defined sociology as a branch of science and developed a systematic approach to understand social events and human behavior.
He defines social development in three stages; theological state, metaphysical state and positive state. In the theological state, society is dominated by priests. The metaphysical state brings the dominance of the church and lawmen, and in the positive stage, the dominance of industrialists and scientific moral guides. In the positive state, the task of reason is only scientific hypotheses. Comte proposes a moral system to ensure social order.