Enlightenment And The French Revolution

Any human epoch has massive implications for any human civilization and the French revolution was one such period. It would be unfair to suggest that the revolution was solely a result of economic grievances. It was a period of contrasting morals and customs. French revolution’s impact was not limited to France only. Its effect was felt throughout the continental Europe and still felt today. The revolutionary nature of this social upheaval was down to various ideas and philosophies that were germinating throughout France and across Europe. The uniqueness of the French revolution can be deduced from one plain change that was the eradication of the monarchy of France to its full extent. France was the first country in modern Europe to do so.
Edmund Burke, Tocqueville, and Taine agreed on one thing which was that French philosophers from Bayle to Mably had a major role to play in fostering the revolution. The question remains how true is this conclusion by these conservatives?
The royal family was even partially inspired by the ideas of these philosophers. Louis XVI‘s father not only admired these ideas but had memorized many passages from “ Spirit of laws” by none other than Montesquieu. Rousseau‘s “social contract” appeared as a fine book to him except for the criticism towards Christianity. Rousseau preached republican ideals however only for small states; the revolution embraced his theories and did not pay any head to his warning. Interestingly when France was made a republic by the revolutionists; it was echoing the spectrum of Plutarch’s Roman and Greek heroes. The ideological groundwork was no doubt laid by the philosophers. The real causes may be economic and political even though the phrases used were philosophical. However when on November 10,1793, the successful radicals celebrated in the Cathedral of Notre Dam, it was the “ feast of reason.” In Tours the statues of saints were replaced with new sculptures called Mably, Rousseau, and Voltaire. Never had philosophers been held in such high esteem. The feast of reason in 1795, at Chartres, was inaugurated by showcasing a drama in which both Voltaire and Rousseau were depicted united in action in fight against fanaticism. Of course the philosophers had no intention to instigate a blood bath in the form of massacre, violence and the guillotine. They could rightly point towards the classic notion of masses wrongly comprehending their doctrines. However they themselves were only to blame in underestimating the influence of religion in and tradition in curtailment of animal instincts of man. Simultaneously behind all these momentous events, the real evolution of French society was underway, as the ever growing middle classes, using philosophy amongst many ingredients, took away from aristocracy and the king control of the economy and the state.
The prelude to the genesis of French revolution was down to synthesizing of various ideas integrated during the Age of Enlightenment and Reformation.
The movement of Enlightenment originated in England but took its color and form in France. Under the ideals of the Enlightenment, many in Europe especially the philosophers in France wanted it move away from the medieval ages and prosper under the beacon of reason. Emphasizes was laid on science as a tool to understand the world, emphasis was laid on man as an individual as compared to man as a subject of authority. Francis Bacon and John Locke, the “ demi gods of Enlightenment ”had taken the initiative in deriving that knowledge is based on perception and science is the best tool that can be used to explore avenues of new knowledge and testing the foundations of dogmatic creeds. Rene Descartes founded the modern school of philosophy invigorating the victory of reason over dogma eventually . Nowhere was the effect of the Enlightenment more profound than in France culminating in the French Revolution. The Enlightenment philosophy preferred a society functioning on reason rather than theological dogmas and superstition. It envisioned a scientific creed overflowing on a tide of human empathy. The moral influence of Voltaire was towards justice and humanity and of improvement of French law and custom from legal abuses. Voltaire was the soul of the French revolution as he encouraged the intellectuals of France to voice their
opposition against the tyrannical practices of the Church. Another giants to emerge in France during the Enlightenment were Baron de Montesquieu and Denis Diderot. Montesquieu expanded on the ideas of John Locke on government and politics. He may be forgiven for his brash generalizations of how climate is the key to how various societies evolve. The key idea brought forward by Montesquie’s work “the spirit of laws “ was the check and balance of institutions of power. The theory of separation of powers embodied in the constitution of United States of America is derived from here. These new ideas were to prove decisive in the coming years as the French Revolution arrived. The separation of powers would indicate that philosophers such as Montesquieu were coming up with opposing ideas in governance, clearly the Bourbon monarchy was at risk as soon as “the Spirit of Laws” was published in 1748. The group of philosophes consisted of La Mettrie, Voltaire, Diderot, D’ Alembert, Grimm, Helvetius, and d’ Holbach and Voltaire. What was common amongst these philosophers was they held a negative commotion towards religion especially that of Catholic Church of France. For them it was not reason against religion, it was more about de mystifying the creed of Christianity. The world had never seen such a multitude of philosophers. France was overseeing the fermentation of new ideas at such rapid pace which only the Ancient Greece of Sophists could match.D’ Alembert wrote:
“Our century has called itself the century of philosophy par excellence….. From the principles of the profane sciences to the foundations of revelation, from metaphysics to questions of taste, from music to morals,… from the rights of princes to those of peoples,…. Everything has been discussed, analyzed, disputed …. One cannot deny that philosophy among us has shown progress. Natural science from day to day accumulates new riches…. Nearly all fields of knowledge have assumed new forms”

Most previous revolutions had occurred against one integral authority of the status quo.
The French revolution was unique in this sphere that it went against both the church and the state. The barbarians had overthrown Rome, but assimilated within the Roman Catholic Church. On the other hand both the reformers of the sixteenth century Europe and the Sophists in ancient Greece stood against the prevailing religion but not the existing government. They saw the existing government as an ally against the present religion. The revolutionaries in France went all in against both the monarchy and the church. In such a bold stance taken against the existing social order, there was bound to chaos and anarchy which followed. The embodiment of this dual attack of French revolution was to be found in two main minds; Voltaire and Rousseau. Voltaire ’s persistent attack on the Catholic institution of France along with his witticism against religion was proving too much for the Church to handle. To add to that Rousseau’s magnetic attack on anything from philosophers to modern culture left no room for hiding for the French monarchs and the state. Rousseau differed from the other philosophers in terms of his inclination towards feeling as towards reason. Reason to him was a cold analytical tool that was very limited in scope. The breath and depth of Rousseau’s major workts from “Emile” to “La Nouvelle Heloise” helped in freeing the French society from the shackles of stagnancy.
Rousseau ‘s work led to the formation of the Romantic movement which tended to glorify passion over reason in simple words. Rousseau’s exaltation of sentiment over reason offered liberation to suppressed instincts and proved to be a catalyst for the oppressed classes in France. The theorists of the French Revolution tried to establish a moral code independent of religious teachings. Like Rousseau, Robespierre gave up on this agenda as a fruitless task. Again religion was sought in order to maintain a social and moral order. Robespierre saw the other philosphes as cowards who attacked religion whereas stayed with kings. Rousseau for him had bravely attacked all kings along with speaking in defense of a higher diety and morality. Edmund Burke critically assessed the importance of Rousseau to the French Revolutionary Constituent assembly (1789-91)
“There is a great dispute, among their leaders, which of them is the best resemblance of Rousseau. In truth, they all resemble him….. Him they study, him they meditate; him they turn over in all the time they can spare from the laborious mischief of the day or the debauches of the night. Rousseau is their canon of Holy writ;… to him they erect their statue.”
Rousseau did not appeal to the learned through lofty logic and argument, he communicated with almost the whole of France with passion and sentiment which they could associate with. The magnificence of his eloquence proved mightier than the scepter of Voltaire’s pen. In fact the very essence of the French revolution is found in Rousseau: Bloody yet beautiful.