The center of the Enlightenment is in France. The leader of the French Enlightenment was Voltaire. His thoughts had a great influence on Europe in the18th century, so later people once said, "18th century is Voltaire's century."
The Enlightenment took place in Europe in the18th century, first in Britain, then in France, Germany and Russia, and then in the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries. Compared with other countries, the Enlightenment in France is the most powerful, combative and far-reaching, and it can be called a model of the Enlightenment in Western Europe.
Literally speaking, the Enlightenment is a movement of enlightening ignorance, opposing ignorance and advocating the popularization of culture and education. But in essence, it is a movement to publicize bourgeois political ideology, not just a literary movement. It is the continuation and development of bourgeois anti-feudalism, anti-asceticism and anti-church struggle during the Renaissance, which directly laid the ideological foundation for 1789 French Revolution. Enlightenment thinkers further proved the irrationality of feudal system from humanists, and put forward a set of philosophical theories, political programs and social reform programs, demanding the establishment of a society based on "rationality". They opposed tyranny with political freedom, religious oppression with freedom of belief, destroyed Catholic authority and religious idols with deism and atheism, opposed the view of "divine right of monarch" with the slogan of "natural human rights" and opposed the hierarchical privilege of nobles with "everyone is equal before the law". Enlightenment is not only the continuation and deepening of the anti-feudal and anti-church struggle of the emerging bourgeoisie in the Renaissance, but also the theoretical preparation stage of the bourgeois political revolution. If we compare it with the Renaissance, it will be clearer. First of all, from the aspect of anti-feudalism, the anti-feudalism of the Renaissance mainly opposed the separatist state of feudal lords and demanded the establishment of a unified monarchy in the country in order to develop the capitalist economy under the protection of kingship. In the Enlightenment, the bourgeoisie has completed the process of primitive accumulation of capital, and further demanded to gain political power and establish a capitalist political system. Anti-feudalism in the Renaissance focused on ideology and ethics. The Enlightenment paid attention to the nature of political system and regime.
Secondly, from the aspect of anti-church, the Renaissance mainly exposed the corruption of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, condemned the evil of monasteries against humanity, demanded religious reform, abolished cumbersome religious ceremonies and advocated simpler etiquette. During the Enlightenment, due to the development of materialism and natural science, anti-church was more thorough than during the Renaissance, and it had risen to the height of deism and atheism.
Thirdly, judging from the connotation of humanistic thought, the Renaissance emphasized anti-asceticism, demanded individual liberation, persisted in the world and faced reality. In the enlightenment era of18th century, the focus of humanism shifted to advocating political principles such as "freedom, equality and fraternity". Because the Enlightenment is a political and ideological revolutionary movement, the participants in the Enlightenment are by no means limited to writers. Besides Montesquieu, French Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau, British philosopher Locke, scientist Newton, German aestheticians Lessing and Haider, Dutch philosopher Spinoza, German Kant, etc. , all belong to the ranks of enlightenment thinkers.
Similarly, from the perspective of literary style and method, realism in the enlightenment period is a continuation of realism in the Renaissance period, but it has made new development. Its characteristics are not vivid and rich plots, nor characterization of characters, but more political. Writers consciously integrate their political thoughts into literary works. These enlightenment works have become the spiritual weapons for the bourgeoisie and the feudal class to compete for political power, and they are the "encyclopedia" for spreading the bourgeois world outlook. The language in the works is not poetic, but fluent and eloquent political prose, which is logical, inspiring and combative. Some works, because of their profound and strong philosophical significance, have turned them into fictional philosophical essays. The works of enlightenment writers all have the characteristics of pure rationality.
From 17 to 19, the ideological trend against religious obscurantism and feudal absolutism rose all over Europe. Thinkers in the Enlightenment believed that the reason why society did not progress and people were ignorant was mainly because religious forces dominated and bound the people's spirit. In order to change this situation, we must establish a rational and scientific authority. They believe that human rationality is the measure of everything, and things that do not conform to human rationality have no right to exist. They advocate spreading scientific knowledge to enlighten people's minds and get rid of religious superstitions, thus enhancing human welfare. They opposed feudal autocracy and advocated freedom, equality and democracy. In their view, feudal autocracy stifled free thought, leading to social inequality and cultural and economic backwardness. Therefore, they strongly advocate "natural human rights" and advocate people's participation in politics and equality before the law. The ideas of freedom, equality and democracy advocated by the Enlightenment, especially in the18th century, had a direct and far-reaching impact on the American War of Independence and the French Revolution.
The Enlightenment started in England and prevailed in France.
The Historical Role of the Enlightenment
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First of all, it is aimed at the feudal system and its spiritual pillar-the Catholic Church, so it is fully prepared for the upcoming French Revolution. Secondly, the enlightenment thinkers advocated natural human rights, separation of powers, and pursued functional freedom, fraternity and equality. These ideas spread rapidly in Europe and America, influenced and promoted the bourgeois revolution in Europe and America, promoted the progress of European society, and played a catalytic role in the ideological emancipation of Asian countries.
Representative figure
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Voltaire
Voltaire (1694- 1778): Formerly Fran-Marie Arouet (Fran? Ois-Marie Arouet), French enlightenment thinker, writer and philosopher. Voltaire was the standard-bearer of the French bourgeois enlightenment in the18th century, and was known as "the king of ideas", "the best poet in France" and "the conscience of Europe". He advocates natural human rights, and believes that all people are born free and equal, and all people have the right to pursue survival and happiness. This right is natural and cannot be deprived. He advocates that everyone is born free and equal before the law. He once said, "I can't agree with everything you say, but I will defend your right to say it to the death." Voltaire also sharply criticized the dark rule of Catholicism. He compared the Pope to a biped, called the priest a "civilized villain", called Catholicism "the most shameful trap set by all cunning people" and called on "everyone to fight the appalling religious fanatics in their own way".
2. Rousseau
Jean-jean-jacques rousseau (17 12- 1778) is a famous French enlightenment thinker, philosopher, educator and writer, a pioneer of the French revolution in the18th century and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment. Among French enlightenment thinkers, Rousseau's criticism of French feudal society is the most severe and intense. Rousseau is a radical democrat, whose ideological essence and basic principle are people's sovereignty. He believes that all rights belong to the people, the government and officials are appointed by the people, and the people have the right to appoint them, to replace them, and even to hold an uprising and destroy the rulers who enslave and oppress the people. This is the concept of people's sovereignty. Rousseau also emphasized "general will" and thought it was very important and citizens should accept its rule. The concrete form of "public will" is law, and the act of obeying the law is the act of freedom. Rousseau's thought became the theoretical banner of jacobins led by robespierre in the French Revolution, which had a far-reaching impact on the prosperity of bourgeois revolution in Europe and America.
3. Montesquieu
Montesquieu, (1689-1755), was born in a noble family in Label Ville, near Bordeaux. Great French enlightenment thinker and jurist. Montesquieu was not only a famous thinker in the French Enlightenment in the18th century, but also one of the early scholars in modern European countries who systematically studied the ancient oriental society and legal culture. Although his works are few, they have a wide influence, especially the Spirit of Law, which laid the foundation for the development of modern western political and legal theories and greatly influenced Europeans' views on eastern political and legal culture. His theory of decentralization has been used by some countries to this day.
4. Diderot
/kloc-French materialist philosopher, aesthetician, writer, educational theorist in the 0/8th century, representative of the Encyclopedia School, editor-in-chief of the first encyclopedia in France.
Diderot insists on materialist philosophy, but at the same time he has dialectical thoughts that contemporary materialists lack. Some scholars think that his materialism should be called transitional materialism.
Diderot stood in the position of the third class in France, insisting that the state originated from the social contract and the power of the monarch came from the agreement of the people. He pointed out that it is the political power that can realize people's freedom and equality, and any political power must be changed. Its life, like the life of an animal, is doomed to die. Feudal autocracy will eventually disappear and be replaced by a regime suitable for human nature.
Aesthetic ideology
5. Kant
Immanuel Kant was born in1April 22nd, 724, and entered the University of Koenigsberg in 1740. From 1746, I worked as a tutor for 4 years. 1755 completed his university studies, obtained the qualification of a supernumerary lecturer, and served as 15 lecturer. During this period, Kant became more and more famous as a teacher and writer. From 178 1, a series of great original works covering a wide range of fields were published in 9 years, which brought a revolution in philosophy and thought in a short time. Such as Critique of Pure Reason (178 1), Critique of Practical Reason (1788) and Critique of Judgment (1790).