In the early 1700’s a new type of thinking man was invented. The philosophe was an intellectual rather then a philosopher. It is interesting to note however that philosophe in French literally translates to Philosopher. The philosophe’s got their start in France after King Louis XIV died and all of the nobility fled the palace of Versailles. In their new homes the middle class and nobility of France met to exchange thoughts about morality, politics, science, and religion. These philosophes took their ideas and saw an opportunity to change the world. Through their thoughts and ideas the philosophes set out to enlighten the common people and move them towards reform.
The philosopher was a much different person then the philosophe. While the philosophe sought to use their ideas to change the world, the philosophers were interested in acquiring knowledge for the sake of understanding. For this reason I believe that the philosopher was a well-intentioned person while the philosophe was only interested in his or her own personal gain. René Descartes who can most certainly be called a philosopher demonstrates this well. Descartes did not discover or reason ideas to gain power for himself; he acted on what would be best for the advancement of humanity. The philosophes were undeniably important in the sense that they started reform and revolutions, however, it is my belief that philosophers were much more important overall in helping with the advancement of humanity.
I think a little more credit needs to be given to the philosophes...they got the ideas of the philosophers out to the general public. This allowed more people to take part in a self-enlightenment. Without the philosophes the Enlightenment would not be recognized as a period of great learning because new philosophical ideas would not have been spread to the general public.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe enough credit is given to the philosophes in their contributions in transforming the society. It may be true that the motives behind philosophes and philosophers in acquiring knowledge were different, but it does not make one more important than another in the advancement of humanity.
ReplyDeleteThrough the establishment of salons under philosophes, new ideas began to circulate and intellectual activities of the Enlightenment came into play. Since their interests were mainly secular and social, they challenged all forms of intolerance, injustice and inequality. With this point, I do not support the belief that philosophes were only interested in personal gain.
Descartes may be one of the important figure in philosophy that helped advanced humanity, but many other important philosophes also contributed through other methods. For instance, Diderot’s Encyclopedie worked to better humanity in the hopes of erasing human ignorance and transform society. With the rising literacy rate and public interest in everyday life, the Encyclopedie informed and educated the public. Other influential philosophes include Voltaire and Wollstonecraft. Voltaire’s exceptional and innovative use of satire for social reform and Wollstonecraft work toward the importance of equality between sexes to improve the lives of women as well as her influence on future feminist movements are incredible advancement of humanity
I believe philosophes and philosophers challenged thinking in society in different directions. Philosophers offered the society different ways of thinking to help understand the world while philosophes proposed ideas to transform the society. Both are working to better the society, so I do not think it is appropriate to state that the philosopher was a well-intentioned person while the philosophe was only working toward self-interest.
There is little evidence that the philosophes had selfish intentions in their actions and had relatively innocent intentions for the most part. Voltaire is often considered a philosophe and it is apparent that he had good intentions in his writing. He wrote many, many pamphlets supporting the ideas of those he supported, spreading knowledge and ideas across Europe. In addition to this, he tried to discourage religious violence in France by extolling the religious cooperation that existed in England. If anything, this was a very virtuous action by Voltaire and in no way selfish.
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