Philosophes

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The philosophes ( French parti philosophique ) were initially a group of French intellectuals of the Enlightenment . The term was later extended to include protagonists of the Enlightenment from other origins, but its exact demarcation, also with regard to the demarcation from the group of philosophers , is controversial.

term

The term philosophe was first used in 18th century France by the intellectuals resident there to refer to themselves. The areas to which the philosophes devoted themselves were extremely varied, but often had in common that they were limited to solving practical problems. Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote about topics such as politics, education and the relationship between theater and the values ​​of society. However, he also wrote a novel, an opera, and his autobiography. The works of the philosophes were aimed at a wide audience of educated people and enjoyed great demand, even if nobles and clergy tried to prevent the circulation of these works.

Between 1740 and 1789 the concept of the Enlightenment continued to spread, and although the Enlightenment was skeptical of authorities, they even found some followers among their ranks. The spread of the concept of the Enlightenment was also partly responsible for the spread of the concept of the philosophes. The philosophes viewed themselves merely as members of the Res publica literaria , which was not bound by the borders of state territories. Immanuel Kant wrote in 1784 in his answer to the question: What is Enlightenment? that all those people can be attributed to the movement of the Enlightenment, who were able to free themselves from their self-inflicted immaturity.

The philosophes were directed against many forms of religious and political dogmatism. Denis Diderot remarked: "People will never be free until the last king has been strangled with the entrails of the last priest." The philosophes also saw reason at the center of progress. They considered critical, informed and scientific thinking to be the most sensible way to solve society's problems. Therefore they saw the freedom to acquire and disseminate knowledge as a natural right .

Whether the concept of philosophes applies to all Enlightenment thinkers or only to those of France is a matter of dispute today. Peter Gay, for example, applies the term to all Enlightenment thinkers "from Edinburgh to Naples, Paris to Berlin, Boston to Philadelphia." Neil Postman, on the other hand, delimits the content. While he ascribes those people to the group of philosophers who are mainly dedicated to the search for universally and timelessly valid truths, he counts to the group of philosophes those people who are only involved in political and social matters in order to change existing conditions educate other people.

Representative

The list of philosophes, like the term itself, is controversial. In the narrower sense, the following people are counted among the philosophes:

In a broader sense, the following people are counted among the philosophes as well as others:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Isaac Kramnick: The Portable Enlightenment Reader. 1st edition. Penguin Classics, 1996.
  2. ^ Lynn Hunt, Thomas R. Martin, Barbara H. Rosenwein, R. Po-chia Hsia, Bonnie G. Smith: The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures. 2nd Edition. Bedford St. Martin's, 2004.
  3. ^ Lester G. Crocker: Interpreting the Enlightenment: A Political Approach. In: Journal of the History of Ideas. Volume 46, No. 2, 1985.
  4. ↑ Peter Gay: The Enlightenment: An Interpretation: The Rise of Modern Paganism. 1st edition. Peter Smith, 1996.
  5. ^ Neil Postman: The Second Enlightenment: From the 18th to the 21st Century. 2nd Edition. BvT Berliner Taschenbuch Verlags GmbH, 2001.

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