We could say that the philosophical center of gravity h. Europe in the
eighteenth century was in England in the first half, in France in the middle,
and in Germany toward the end of it.”
“A shift from west to east, in other words.”
“Precisely. Let me outline some of the ideas that many of the French
Enlightenment philosophers had in common. The important names are
Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau, but there were many, many others. I
shall concentrate on seven points.”
“Thanks, that I am painfully aware of.”
Sophie handed him the card from Hilde’s father. Alberto sighed deeply.
“He could have saved himself the trouble ... the first key words, then, are
opposition to authority. Many of the French Enlightenment philosophers
visited England, which was in many ways more liberal than their home
country, and were intrigued by the English natural sciences, especially
Newton and his universal physics. But they were also inspired by British
philosophy, in particular by Locke and his political philosophy. Once back in
France, they became increasingly opposed to the old authority. They thought
it was essential to remain skeptical of all inherited truths, the idea being that
the individual must find his own answer to every question. The tradition of
Descartes was very inspiring in this respect.”
“Because he was the one who built everything up from the ground.”
“Quite so. The opposition to authority was not least directed against the
power of the clergy, the king, and the nobility. During the eighteenth century,
these institutions had far more power in France than they had in England.”
“Then came the French Revolution.”
“Yes, in 1789. But the revolutionary ideas arose much earlier. The next
key word is rationalism.”
“I thought rationalism went out with Hume.”
“Hume himself did not die until 1776. That was about twenty years after
Montesquieu and only two years before Voltaire and Rousseau, who both
died in 1778. But all three had been to England and were familiar with the
philosophy of Locke. You may recall that Locke was not consistent in his
empiricism. He believed, for example, that faith in God and certain moral
norms were inherent in human reason. This idea is also the core of the
French Enlightenment.”
“You also said that the French have always been more rational than the
British.”
“Yes, a difference that goes right back to the Middle Ages. When the
British speak of ‘common sense,’ the French usually speak of ‘evident.’ The
English expression means ‘what everybody knows,’ the French means ‘what
is obvious’—to one’s reason, that is.”
“I see.”
“Like the humanists of antiquity—such as Socrates and the Stoics—
most of the Enlightenment philosophers had an unshakable faith in human
reason. This was so characteristic that the French Enlightenment is often
called the Age of Reason. The new natural sciences had revealed that nature
was subject to reason. Now the Enlightenment philosophers saw it as their
duty to lay a foundation for morals, religion, and ethics in accordance with
man’s immutable reason. This led to the enlightenment movement.”
“The third point.”