Introduction
the eighteenth century, was born a new wave of philosophers to be called "Enlightenment". These are the source of new ideas that will influence people's time ...
Presentation
"Enlightenment", a term that refers to the eighteenth century as a period in the history of European culture, marked by the philosophical rationalism and excitement of science, and by the critique of social and religious hierarchy, key elements of the political ideology that was the foundation of the French Revolution. The expression was already frequently used by writers of the time, convinced they had just emerged from centuries of darkness and ignorance and to enter a new age enlightened by reason, science and respect of humanity.
rationalist philosophers of the seventeenth century, such as Rene Descartes and Baruch Spinoza, the political philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, and some skeptical thinkers in France such as Pierre Bayle can be regarded as the precursors of the Enlightenment, although some elements of their doctrines that were contrary to empirical concepts and anti-authoritarian thinkers eighteenth century had been rejected by them. Scientific discoveries and cultural relativism related to the study of non-European civilizations also contributed to the birth of the Enlightenment.
The most important assumptions and expectations common to philosophers and intellectuals of that time was undoubtedly the belief in the power of human reason. The discovery of universal gravitation by Isaac Newton made a considerable impression on the century. Through the judicious use of reason, opened a perpetual progress in the field of knowledge, technical achievements and moral values. In the wake of Locke's philosophy, thinkers of the eighteenth century saw, in contrast to Descartes, that knowledge, far from being innate, proceeded only from experience and observation guided by reason. They argued that education had the power to make men better and even improve human nature. The search for truth should be pursued now by the observation of nature rather than by studying sources such Aristotle and the Bible. Cons by most Enlightenment thinkers did not give up completely to religion. They adopted instead a form of Deism, accepting the existence of God and an afterlife, but rejected the mysteries of Christian theology. They n'attaquèrent anything with so much violence and ferocity than the church, its wealth, political power and his willingness to obstruct the free exercise of reason.
The eighteenth century
The eighteenth century began on January 1, 1701 and ends December 31, 1800. Historically, it began in September 1715 with the death of Louis XIV and ending with the Congress of Vienna in 1815. It involves, first, by a strong movement of questioning and by establishing a more tolerance and, secondly, the weakening of the monarchy, followed by the end of French supremacy in Europe and the beginning of English dominance. the eighteenth century as a period in the history of European culture, marked by the philosophical rationalism and excitement of science, as well as the critique of social and religious hierarchy, key elements of ideology policy that was the foundation of the French Revolution. It is also the century of enlightenment, the century that has felt a deep need for reason, truth, freedom, clarity, and in all fields which, although apparently it has not changed the traditional forms of art and literature, prepared the minds for the awareness of "human right".
The eighteenth century the "century of Enlightenment"
The eighteenth century is called the Enlightenment. In this metaphor the century looking to spend, through the spirit of the Renaissance and the Cartesianism of the previous century, the triumph of reason over the Darkness (obscurantism and prejudice). Lights are a European phenomenon, but the "philosophers" French crystallize the best ideas of the century and give relief to new values, beyond the French Revolution, a lasting mark on Europe and the world.
The eighteenth century (1715-1800) is presented as the "Enlightenment", a metaphor which means the victory of reason (philosophers) over darkness. It is an assertion based but be aware that superstition, obscurantism (ignorance, lack of knowledge) still reign supreme over the whole population. Science babble again, even if experimental methods are gradually in place.
Primacy of thought and critical thinking.
is the time of intellectuals, philosophers (they have lights on all), which democratize knowledge (cf. Encyclopedia). The major areas are the philosophy and science.
They will discover the world (cosmopolitan).
"It does not enlighten consciences in the light of bonfires" (Marmontel) Without tolerance, we can not learn the truth of things. It is not with censorship that develops critical thinking.
It is customary in literary history of each major period designated by an expression which summarizes the main feature. Thus the eighteenth century is known as "Enlightenment" This term evokes imagery of both an ideal and an intellectual commitment. it is to know all areas of reality, trusting only reason. These new enlightenment of the mind should allow Alrosa to improve the lot of humanity by fighting against all forms of injustice and oppression.
The Enlightenment is basically the eighteenth century in Europe, even if its beginning is considered part of the English Revolution of 1688. The Enlightenment refers to the intellectual movement that developed around this time of pre-democratic ideas, such as the establishment of ethics, aesthetics and knowledge based on "enlightened reason" rights. The instigators of this movement saw themselves as a courageous elite intellectuals working for advancement of the world, transcending centuries of irrationality, superstition and tyranny in the past. This whole movement should be closer to the American and French revolutions, the rise of capitalism. Artistically, it is the period neo-classical. There is also talk of the Enlightenment to describe intellectuals, writers, philosophers emblematic of this movement of thought.
early eighteenth century
The financial issue at the heart of society
When Louis XIV died in 1715 at Versailles, he leaves to his successor, Louis XV, a relatively prosperous economy despite popular misery, but a State on the verge of bankruptcy. The dramatic "great winter" of 1709, causing a shortage decimating the European population, has given way to beautiful harvests from 1714. The expansion of the merchant marine has fostered an intense trade with China and South American ports. Trade with Louisiana has developed. After the hard years of the War of English Succession, France leaves grown in territorial terms. It has the first army in Europe and its borders will reinforced obstacle to a century, to any foreign invasion. But the kingdom
sins through his finances. Dramatically. Twenty years of war, lack of credit institutions worthy of the name and the ineffective - and inequitable - distribution of taxes have exacerbated imbalance. In 1715, tax revenues amount to only ordinary 69 million pounds, while the debt consists of the kingdom more than 2 billion pounds and floating debt of 700 million! It is to avoid the bankruptcy of the state that the regent, Philippe d'Orleans, called in 1716 to Scottish financier John Law. This calls for discouraging savings sterile and stimulate productive investment, which ultimately should help increase the wealth and extinguish the debt. It sets up an ingenious system of stock trading, but the successive issues of banknotes and dubious financial arrangements engaged in by the Scots in 1720 caused the bankruptcy of the system "Law" and the ruin of many investors (see box). This bankruptcy discredits sustainable bank note itself, hindering the creation of a real banking system, which will fail in France until the mid-nineteenth century. At the same time, this crazy speculation has promoted initiatives and is responsible for the growth experienced by France in the eighteenth century, while the bed of the Revolution of 1789.
If England takes the early eighteenth century, a considerable lead, the French economy is not stationary. Business "capitalists" are emerging in the textile and armament industries. However, the powers available to the nobility and the clergy are impediments to economic development. The size and tithing, which continue to affect farmers' incomes, taxes and tolls (private or public), which affect the movement of goods, and tax exemptions enjoyed by the two privileged orders, generate a sense of injustice in the third state and the bourgeoisie as they explain the structural deficit and growing public finances. Thus, it appears increasingly clear that the public debt row From 1740, the expenses of the wars of Austrian Succession and Seven Years can not be reduced to zero by the usual expedients - loans or sales offices - but only by profound tax reform introducing the equality of all against the tax. In 1749, the attempt by the Comptroller General of Finance of Machault Arnouville, to establish a levy of one-twentieth on all income regardless runs short. It faces strong opposition from the privileged - clergy, nobility, states and provincial parliamentarians - who, exercising their right of remonstrance, refuse registration of the Edict of creation. The outcry will be followed by many others until the Revolution
History and Society:
The reign of Louis XIV was the heyday of the French monarchy and the eighteenth century saw the decline and his fall. The Regency of the Duke of Orleans is reflected by the relaxation of morals as well as authority. Louis XV no longer worthy to be called the "beloved." France is obliged to give India and Canada to England. Financial difficulties are increasing and precipitate the movement of political protest. Louis XVI is trying to shy reform, but faces opposition from the nobles, anxious for their privileges. Political unrest forced the king to convene the States General. The Third Estate began the revolutionary process with the storming of the Bastille, July 14, 1789.
Socially and culturally, the Court continues to be the center of the country and the source of public opinion. The movement of ideas is against it. Lounges, pubs and clubs are the new homes in the intellectual life.
Lounges maintain the taste of brilliant conversation, provoking among those who attend them, people in the world and philosophers, a spirit of emulation and encourage boldness of thought. The best known are those of Ms. Tencin for discussing new ideas, Madame du Deffand encouraging Encyclopedists and Mrs. Geoffrin, famous throughout Europe. We also exchange ideas in the cafes, the most famous is the Cafe Procope, and clubs where serious-minded and keen interest in the progress of political problems.
is the age of Enlightenment, the triumph of the spirit of conquest and philosophical reason. In all areas, in effect, whether absolute monarchy, religious dogmas, of social morality. Science and literature, the philosophers of the Enlightenment Freedom will be "enlightening" and "shining" slogan and the principle of reflection and action.
precursors
current critical thinking and the spirit of inquiry back to the Renaissance, Rabelais and Montaigne, primarily. Graduates in the years of the seventeenth century, the quarrel between ancients and moderns call into question the established values. In the early eighteenth century, the role of Bayle and Fontenelle capital was in the advent of the philosophical movement.
Pierre Bayle (1647-1706) was a disciple of Descartes. It applies to all areas in mind critical, the main lesson of the Discourse on Method. Thus, he examines the ideas as well in science as in morality and religion. Citizen of the "Republic of ideas," he made war on the error. As for Fontenelle (1657-1757), he distinguished himself by his works of popular science, where he clearly outlines the progress made by scholars of his time. Since the beginning of the century, science has dethroned metaphysics and exerts considerable influence on the movement of ideas. Philosophy requires experimental science facts checked, their methods and reasoning borrows. Fontenelle has done much to spread this enthusiasm for science.
the reign of Louis XIV (1700 - 1715)
This era is marked by the terrible weather the mini-ice age. Famine rages and literature does not remain indifferent. It's not only in Le Petit Poucet (from the Tales of Mother Goose by Charles Perrault (1697)) that parents abandon their children. The books sell poorly, even if they begin to penetrate the layers and popular writers have access to a certain independence from royal funding. We can consider Fontenelle and Pierre Bayle are precursors of the Enlightenment. With regard to drama, comedy is mainly represented by Alain-René Lesage (who was also a brilliant novelist) and Jean-François Regnard although other names like Dancourt or Dufresny are also representative of the craze drama that takes place in Paris around the year 1710. For tragedy, we can retain Crebillon father wrote several tragedies during this period.
the Regency (1715-1723)
In 1715, died when Louis XIV, Louis XV became king five years but it is too young to take the throne. France has debts: income = expenses = 69 Mr. 132 Mr. debt = 2800 M. The regency is assured by Philippe d'Orleans. The Regent is power in parliament and the nobility to turn the country - to the excessive demands, Louis XV said "The King wants to be obeyed." The financial situation of the kingdom remains désastrueuse. The Regent supports the bold experiment of a Scotchman, John Law. On the death of Louis XIV, in fact, the kingdom of France was experiencing two crises, one currency, one financial. The reforms of the Scottish economist, who became Controller-General Finance in 1720, aimed to solve the first of these two crises by increasing the money supply by resorting to the creation and widespread use of paper money. According to the "system" of Law, increasing the money supply would produce an increase in commercial activity and the gradual extinction of the debt. Law will therefore introduce paper money (1716) and create a private bank to become Royal Bank (1718), whose main investment is the Company Missippi. Shares soar and fall soon. Fortunes are created but many more are destroyed. Ruined Law fled to Brussels (1720), and the Regent loses much of its credibility. He died suddenly in December 1723.
This particular period of the century is marked by a certain release of manners, the growing taste for luxury, for impiety and licentiousness. This part of the century stands out so early years of the century in which poverty and austerity dominated the scene, but the climate is unstable and fluctuating, causing several plays and novels reflecting some phenomenon. Marivaux is one of those authors who, despite censorship and bans, find a way to publish his texts and to be loved by the public.
Two literary trends compete in this new century. The Ancients and the Moderns each claiming their criteria for writing. On one side, supporters of the progress of innovation in artistic creation, Modern (Fontenelle), on the other those who cling to old ways of antiquity, the ancients (Boileau and La Fontaine). This dispute highlights a significant shift in attitudes. Reason, the mind and the rejection of tradition will be born revolutionary texts that directly attack the Church (very strong at that time) and institutions.
MOVEMENT COSMOPOLITAN
France is the epicenter of the Enlightenment. Political philosopher and jurist Charles de Montesquieu was one of the first representatives: after several setbacks satirical works of Western civilization, he published his monumental study, The Spirit of Laws (1748). Denis Diderot, who produced pamphlets philosophical, begins to share the publication of the Encyclopedia (1751-1772). This ambitious work, which together many philosophers, is designed both as a sum of all knowledge and as a weapon controversy - and political. Voltaire is the most influential and most representative French writers of this period: playwright and poet in his debut, he became famous for his many pamphlets, essays, satires, and his philosophical tales for his immense correspondence with writers and monarchs across Europe. The works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract in particular (1762), Emile or On Education (1762) and Confessions (1782 and 1789, posthumous publications), also exert a profound influence on political thought and theory Education, at the same time they give an impetus to the romanticism of the nineteenth century.
The intellectual movement of the Enlightenment is characterized by its deeply anti-nationalist and cosmopolitan. Immanuel Kant in Germany, David Hume in Scotland, Cesare Beccaria in Italy and Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson in the British colonies of America, maintain close contact with all the French philosophers, while working themselves actively in the movement.
An intellectual life at the European level
Extension border to the east (Poland, Russia ,...) - moving the sights of the Mediterranean in Northern Europe. Britain, France and Germany have gained a real economic and cultural advance.
is a cosmopolitan century increased trade. Voltaire made known to France the English regime (enlightened monarchy). Researchers from major capitals (Paris, London, Berlin) broadcast most of their work through publications (general development of the press). In this framework, France has a certain prestige. It's that time of cafes, lounges (bar the Procope).
The French language is fashionable and is used by scholars, the royal courts (court Tsarist). So there are relationships between people of different European states. Similarly, the French art is imitation.
A class intellectual: People letter
The conditions of the French man. The intense intellectual life is to rub writers, scholars, nobles in the salons, companies, club ,...( especially from 1780).
The letter defends the rights of reason, feelings, nature, progress, deism, pacifism. However, the intellectuals are not recognized (because of the divine right of kings - and censorship), the right to literary property happen with the Revolution.
Both sides of the century
New values appear, the idea of happiness and progress are emerging gradually. First half of the century: the establishment of bases that should lead to progress (eg, Montesquieu: The Spirit of Laws, Voltaire: The History of Charles XII). Both writers are founders in the political and historical.
1750: The Encyclopedia of the emergence creates a turning emergence of new literary forms: the drama depicts the bourgeois and the novel is a painting of privacy. The boundaries between
different forms of intellectual activities tend to disappear (literature, art).
A century of conflict
A duality between reason and sensibility. Two orientations literary clearly does not share in the century. Example: Denis Diderot (Jacques the Fatalist, LaReligieuse, founder of the Encyclopedia) is a materialist who wants to order. However, the author of "Rameau's Nephew" (famous musician at the time) expresses the complex personality passionate and exciting Diderot (there is a parallel between him and the nephew) refusal to simplify rational of their works by the writers themselves. Indeed, man can understand the universe through reason as well as sensitivity. There are two ways in sensitivity:
- that of the mild nature of happiness (eg Paul et Virginie, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, 1788).
- one of perversion and debauchery (Les Liaisons Dangereuses, by Laclos in 1782).
Manifestations of the philosophical spirit
Characterized by a full confidence in human reason responsible for resolving all problems and an optimistic belief in progress, the philosophical mind is a new humanism. While the philosophy Traditional is primarily oriented towards theory and abstraction, philosophy in the eighteenth century, is mainly concerned with political issues, social and religious. Taking only guide the reason, the philosopher believes that the right to inspect extends to all areas, to build an enlightened world. Thus, in science, the experimental method becomes the criterion of all right thinking. In politics, absolute monarchy has been questioned in favor of democratic political systems. The privileges of the nobility and clergy are in dispute and the principles of liberty and equality are highly proclaimed. In religion, most philosophers believe in the existence of a God creator and driving force of the universe but they reject religious dogma that can not prove rationally and denounce all forms of intolerance. The work of philosophers
takes the form of a struggle to achieve human large claims. Everyone has the right to be recognized beyond the superficial differences of country and race. In Book XV of L'Esprit des Lois, Montesquieu trial of slavery. Voltaire show, too, in Candide all miseries related to the condition of slaves. Freedom of belief and expression must be recognized and codified in the constitution. Philosophers complain, moreover, all processes that are a challenge to reason and thus a negation of civilization, in particular, war and torture.
A METHOD OF THOUGHT
More than a defined set of ideas, the Enlightenment are an attitude, a way of thinking. According to Emmanuel Kant, the watchword of this century should be "dare to know": the desire to review and question all received ideas and values, explore new ideas in different directions, must be permanent.
This deliberate opening to all fields of knowledge is not without causing inconsistencies and contradictions in the writings of Enlightenment thinkers. These philosophers are not all strictly speaking, they are instead of advisers who are committed to disseminating new ideas. They like to call themselves the "party of humanity" and to curry favor with the public, write pamphlets and anonymous leaflets and write articles for magazines and newspapers, freshly created.
The ideas promoted by philosophers of the Enlightenment
FREEDOM : "Men are born free. It is the most precious of all goods that man can possess. It can neither be sold nor lose. "(From an article in the encyclopedia). They are also freedom of expression, because there is censorship which forbids (no criticism is allowed at this time ...). For more details, click on the heading of excerpts from the Encyclopedia in the article "political authority".
REASON: It is the means of acquiring knowledge. Quesnay said: "The reason is to the soul what the eyes are to the body without eyes, the man can not enjoy the light, and without light, he can not see. "
TOLERANCE: According to Voltaire, it must respect the freedom and social views, political and religious others.
EQUALITY: According to Rousseau, "to be free, having only equal is the true life, natural life of man. All men are created equal. " At that time the, in France, one born in inequality because it is a society of order (nobles, clergy, Third-states.) See also the section of Excerpts from the Encyclopedia in the article "equality".
PROGRESS: they are for the advancement of society and innovation, trade ...
For example, during the Enlightenment, there was the invention of the thermometer, the microscope, accurate maps for geography through math ... Anyway, all the science evolves.
Philosophers criticize abuses of power, so they want SEPARATION OF POWERS: Montesquieu, wrote in "The Spirit of Laws" in 1748, it is useful to separate the three powers, so that 'they are not concentrated in the hands of one person to avoid tyranny.
They are to THE CONCURRENCE divine right of kings but they are generally in favor of a monarchy. But they are not for democracy, except in the case of Rousseau.
Projects society and committed literature
From 1734, Montesquieu believes that it has accumulated experience and documentation sufficient to achieve full extent of his ambition to political thinker: he devotes himself to work of his life. The Spirit of Laws (1748), where he established a model of political system based on balance, moderation and separation of powers. If he generally keeps the serenity of the scholar, the author does not hide his preferences, on the contrary, he constantly mark his contempt for despotism and vigorously denounced the abuses.
As for Voltaire, he distinguished himself in virtually all literary genres and his monumental work bears the stamp of his appointment. In Tales, the Treaty on Tolerance and the Philosophical Dictionary, in particular, he denounced the evils major hindering the march of progress and human happiness. For him, the opponent of the philosophers most dangerous and the most hated is the fanatic, he also calls' The Infamous ".
Other philosophers have exercised considerable influence over their contemporaries. Is the case with Rousseau, who is the trial of civilization in both Speech preferring to it the state of nature. In his book, The Social Contract, it examines the conditions of a new social pact based on respect for natural rights to equality and justice.
The philosophical mind finds its most complete expression in Encyclopedia (Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts and Crafts), a large collective work intended to spread enlightenment. The company's management is entrusted to Diderot, who devoted her for twenty years, much of its activity. Diderot, assisted by a team of collaborators, among which are the mathematician D'Alembert, Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau, conceives a plan to implement this vast and original, first a picture of scientific and technical knowledge, and then make the book a weapon in the fight philosophy. The impact of seventeen volumes of the Encyclopaedia was considerable and the last volumes, published in 1772, ended on an act of faith in the future of humanity.
Thus, this whirlwind of ideas has affected the different literary genres. He even encouraged the emergence of new genres such as speech, the dictionary, the philosophical tale. Around 1780, the Beaumarchais comedy part of this protest movement. In the Barber of Seville (1775) and The Marriage of Figaro (1784) movement and spirited dialogue go hand in hand with the violence of the satire of manners and bold allusions to current events.
The theater of the eighteenth century
The influence of the great playwrights of the "century of Louis XIV" continues on the stage of the Comedie-French but renewals appear with the tragedies of Voltaire (1694-1778) who introduced modern subjects, keeping the classical structure and the Alexandrian (Zaire, 1732, Mohammed, 1741) and obtains great success. Yet censorship is still active as evidenced, under Louis XVI still difficulties for Beaumarchais's Marriage of Figaro.
The sexual liberation of the Regency provides a further renewal of the theater with the return, in 1716, comedians-Italians expelled by Louis XIV and the beginning of a very fashionable theater: people come to admire actors known (Lelio, Flaminia, Silvia ...) and jeers and laughter of the dynamic characters from the commedia dell'arte as Harlequin, Columbine and Pantaloon. It is in this line that is up Marivaux (1688 -1763) with his comedies that combine the delicacy of the analysis of amorous feeling and subtlety of verbal banter to societal problems by exploiting the symbolic theme of the master-servant couples. The False Confessions (1737), the Game of Love and Chance (1730), or Island of Slaves (1725) constitute some of his major works.
Regnard and Lesage (1668-1747) have also marked the comedy of manners with the sole heir (Regnard, 1708) and Turcaret (Lesage, 1709), but the other great comedy writer of the century is Beaumarchais (1732-1799) which shows skilled in the art of dialogue and intrigue but also in social and political satire through the character of Figaro, valet hustler who challenges the authority of his master and that found in two major works: the Barber of Seville (1775) and The Marriage of Figaro (1784).
theater of the eighteenth century is also marked by new kinds now considered minor, but that will take up and transform the nineteenth century, as the tearful comedy and bourgeois drama that highlight the pathetic situations in a realistic context and dramatically affecting families bourgeois. Some explicit titles: the natural son (Diderot, 1757), Father of the family (Diderot, 1758), the Philosopher without knowing it (Sedaine, 1765), the Barrow's sumac (Louis-Sebastien Mercier, 1775) or the Mother guilty (Beaumarchais, 1792).
mention finally the development of genres that combine text and music as a vaudeville and comic opera as well as material for reflection on the scene with Diderot's Paradox and the actor, the writings of Voltaire to defend the condition of people Theatre still under the ban of the Church and the condemnations of immorality by Rousseau Theatre
The novel of the eighteenth century
The novel of the eighteenth century was marked by the renewal forms and contents that prefigure the modern novel considered a work of prose fiction, the adventures and the evolution of one or more characters. The genus, with a growing readership expanded, is marked by the development of sensitivity, concern for realism (with the process of manuscript found, the use of first-person epistolary exchange or dialogue) and the Enlightenment by taking into account the new values a changing society. The influence of English literature is also sensitive to translation through the works of Richardson, Swift and Daniel Defoe.
The novel of this century rich explores all the possibilities fiction: the narrator's question, the bursting of the story, commitment, careful psychological analysis, realistic painting in the world, imagination and confidence, learning, attention to form ... and the lyrics are difficult reducible to categories indisputable and can also be a risk group by sub-genre.
• The philosophical novels: we can discuss the kind of narrative works as Zadig Voltaire (1747) and Candide (1759) but the most common name today is "philosophical tales". The discussion is more relevant to the Huron, later (1768), which moves away from the wonderful and brought a large part of social and psychological realism.
• The realistic novels: the combination of social realism and romantic journey settles over the century. Include novels, memoirs Vie de Marianne (1741) reached the Peasant (1735) Marivaux, Manon Lescaut (1731) of the Abbe Prevost (1697-1763), the perverted Farmer (1775) and its second phase The woman perverted (1784), epistolary novel Restif de la Bretonne (1734-1806) 1. It can also determine a sub-genre born of the English influence: the picaresque novel with his truculent satire, variety of backgrounds and learning about life and illustrated history of Gil Blas de Santillana (1715 - 1735) Lesage (1668-1747).
• The novel is imagination, for its part, represented by the novels of anticipation as the Year 2440 of Mercier (1771) or fantasy novels like the devil in love with Jacques Cazotte (1772).
• The libertine novels combine salaciousness, eroticism, manipulation and social play with Crebillon son (Sopha, 1745), Diderot (Jewellery prying, 1748, the Religious, 1760-1796) Laclos (Les Liaisons Dangerous, 1782) and finally Sade (Justine or the Misfortunes of Virtue, 1797).
• The novels of sentiment required in the second half of the century with the New Heloise (1761), the novel by letters of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (on the English model of Pamela Richardson) who will be the biggest draw of the century attractive in its pre-Romantic painting the feeling of love and nature, or Paul and Virginia (1787) by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (1737-1814).
• Novels "exploded" as Jacques the fatalist and his master (1773-1778) or Neveu de Rameau (1762-1777) Diderot's works are quite unclassifiable but carriers of modernity.
The poetry of the eighteenth century
If the verse form is used skillfully by Voltaire in his Poem on the Lisbon disaster or in the mundane, poetry, the common sense of the term, does not discharge influences of classical and literary history only takes a few names such as Jacques Delille (1738-1813) (Jardins, 1782) or Parny Evariste (1753-1814) (Elegies, 1784) who prepare a modest romance in a cultivating some sensitivity the nature and the passage of time. But it is essentially André Chénier (1762-1794) who manages a poetry expressive as in the famous poem of the Young Tarentine or that of the young captive (his work was not published until 1819, long after his tragic death at Terror). Mention should also
Fabre d'Eglantine to his songs (It rains shepherdess) and its participation "poetic" in the revolutionary calendar
Other genres of the eighteenth century
• The art critic invented by Diderot in his Salons, where he explores the part of the sensitivity in emotion about art as the poetry of ruins painted by Hubert Robert. •
Buffon meanwhile offers an interesting literary success with his writing popular science in its imposing Natural History, published with great success from 1749 to 1789. •
political discourse and rhetoric can also be somehow regarded as a literary genre with talented speakers like Mirabeau, Saint-Just, Robespierre, Danton and that marked the revolutionary period.
(Azadunifr)
the late eighteenth century
the late eighteenth century, significant changes occurred in the Enlightenment. Under the influence of Rousseau, the feeling and emotion became as respectable as the reason. In the 1770s, writers extended the scope of their criticism to political and economic issues. The War of American Independence did not fail to dampen spirits. In European eyes, the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War accounted for the first time, the implementation of enlightened ideas and encouraged the political movements against the regimes established in Europe. The constitution of America is a model that will be circulated and admired. This leads to the questioning of absolutism.
The general view, the Enlightenment led to the French Revolution of 1789. As she embodied the ideals of many philosophers, the Revolution, in its violent phases between 1792 and 1794, these ideals temporarily discredited in the eyes of many European contemporaries. However, the Enlightenment bequeathed a lasting legacy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The eighteenth century marked the decline of the Church, opened the way for political and economic liberalism, and aroused the democratic changes in the Western world of the nineteenth century. The Enlightenment thus appears both as an intellectual movement and a historical period marked by momentous events.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
During the first half of the eighteenth century, several leaders of the Enlightenment are imprisoned for their writings, and most of them must undergo government censorship and attacks on the Church . The last decades of the century, however, are marked by the triumph of Enlightenment ideas in Europe and America. In the 1770s, philosophers of the second generation receive government pensions and taking control of major cultural institutions. The dramatic increase in the number of newspapers and books published guarantees a wide dissemination of their ideas. Scientific experiments and philosophical writings are popular in many social strata, even among the nobility and clergy. A number of European monarchs also adopted some ideas or at least the vocabulary of the Enlightenment. Voltaire and other philosophers who are fond of the idea of philosopher-king enlightening the people from above, are enthusiastic about the emergence of the so-called " enlightened despots "Frederick II of Prussia, Catherine the Great of Russia and Joseph II of Austria.
Then in the late eighteenth century, major changes occur in the Enlightenment. Under the influence of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the feeling and emotion become as venerable as the reason. In the 1770s, writers expand the scope of their criticism to political and economic issues. The War of American Independence (1776-1783) does not fail to dampen spirits. In European eyes, the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War are, for the first time, the implementation of ideas "enlightened" and encourage political movements against the regimes established in Europe.
The Enlightenment led to the French Revolution of 1789. However, in its violent phases between 1792 and 1794, the Revolution temporarily discredited the ideals embodied by the Enlightenment. Yet this period bequeathed a lasting legacy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: the eighteenth century marked the decline of the church, paving the way for political and economic liberalism, and causes changes in the democratic Western world of the nineteenth century. The Enlightenment thus appears both as an intellectual movement and a historical period marked by momentous events.
Conclusion:
French literature of the eighteenth century shows a wealth of works in all genres, combining more than opposing the commitment of the Enlightenment and the birth of subjectivity and sensitivity modern. Literary history has not remembered everything but the originality of the eighteenth century is in large part to the fact that the expression of ideas was still the literature - the so- called "Philosophers" were men of letters in their own right - and the creators do not reluctant to make their novels or parts of works of combat while expressing their personality and sensitivity in a language that became the language of the culture throughout Europe.
(Azadunifr)
While the eighteenth century was marked by the emergence in 1750 of pre-Romantic sensibility, but it's critical rationalism, which will inspire the Revolution of 1789. Definitive disruption were prepared extensively by philosophers and we understand that the revolutionaries have taken in a tribute Supreme placing the ashes of Voltaire and Rousseau in the Pantheon, temple of the benefactors of their country.
(Azadunifr)
Montesquieu (Charles de Secondat, Baron de la Brede and), 1689-1755
Charles de Secondat was born in 1689 at Chateau de la Brede, near Bordeaux . After studying law, he became adviser to the parliament of Bordeaux in 1714 and president in 1716. He is interested in science, but the success of his Persian Letters, published in 1721, binding to the literature. He performed many trips to Paris where he was received in clubs and lounges, and was elected to the French Academy in 1728. Wanting to write a political work, he made several trips through Europe between 1728 and 1731 where he reads about the different political systems, laws and customs. In 1734, he composed his Considerations on the causes of the greatness of the Romans and their decline, and then continues to alternate his retirement in land and travel to Paris where he attended the personalities of his time. In 1748 he published anonymously in Geneva his major work, The Spirit of Laws. This is subject to strong attacks by the Jansenists and Jesuits, controversy which Montesquieu respond in its defense of the spirit of the laws in 1750. He died in Paris five years later.
Montesquieu is representative of the Enlightenment in the early eighteenth century. It combines several shades in his works: he can be profligate in a novel like The Temple of Cnidus (written in 1725), in his satirical Persian Letters, a historian in his considerations, but also theorist in The Spirit of Laws. But whatever the literary vein it follows the work of Montesquieu is of great consistency. It is written in a clear and concise language, with the art of leading the reader to the appropriate conclusions with subtlety argumentative that leaves no room for improvisation.
During the first two decades of the eighteenth century, the East is in fashion, and this in particular through the translation and publication between 1704 and 1717 in the Arabian Nights by Antoine Galland. The Persian Letters is therefore built in this fashion and taking on board the kind of fictional chronicle of foreign visiting Europe. Montesquieu made a masterpiece here that has been both a huge success, and the convicted official. This book will then be copied many times without any of these imitations reaches its subtlety and depth.
Montesquieu uses the method of light to attack foreign authorities that such royalty, the papacy or the court, abuse their powers. The character of the Persian is custodian of this different perspective that reflects both the strangeness of manners (XXX), that the political tensions inherent in the monarchical system. Added to this is the Orientalism of letters that chronicle the events in the seraglio in the absence of the protagonist. This process establishes a parallel between two types of government and society. The case of France and Persia, and are close to placing the player in a situation where it is forced to reassess the value of its customs and its institutions. Behind the fiction draws a sociological dimension which is found in The Spirit of Laws. Finally, Montesquieu wrote his novel in an epistolary form. The multiplicity of perspectives can individualize each character and nuance of how it is expressed in terms of one to whom the letter is addressed. It also hides some attacks behind the veil of fiction. The allegory of the Troglodytes, who runs the letter XI to XIV, is the most famous example. The failings of society are reported in a story that strikes imagination.
Montesquieu was also interested in history, in order to propose an innovative approach. Indeed, in his Considerations on the causes of the greatness of the Romans and their decline, he developed the idea of historical determinism, whose origin is to be sought in factors as diverse as the social, economic, political, or geography. We find this approach in The Spirit of Laws, regarding the study of the causes for understanding the diversity of political regimes in different countries. Rather than identifying these different types of schemes, Montesquieu based real political science in defining a rational laws may establish a just government. He defined three types of governments: the Republic, which is rooted in virtue, the monarchy, which is based on honor and despotism, which is governed by fear. According to Montesquieu, the ideal government is a constitutional monarchy, as it allows to divide the powers that executive, legislative and judicial. Other intermediary bodies, like the clergy, nobility, and the parliament, are also temper the power. Montesquieu thus able to offer a critique of which, like slavery, is opposed to the moral laws most basic and universal.
Main works: •
Persian Letters (1721).
• Considerations on the causes of the greatness of the Romans and Their Decline (1734).
• The Spirit of Laws (1748). • Defense
The Spirit of Laws (1751).
• Arsaces and Ismini (1754).
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Marivaux (Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de), 1688-1763
Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux was born in Paris in 1688. He spent his childhood in Riom, and was educated in the capital. Linked to the Motte de Fontenelle, he was received in the salon of Madame de Lambert. He soon wrote a comedy, Arlequin polished by love (1720), and several novels as an amateur. Only after the bankruptcy of Law in 1720 that Marivaux, ruined, begins to write to live and becomes a true man of letters. It then conducts an intense literary activity. He contributes to several periodicals and founded a newspaper, The Spectator French, 1721. But he needed component in several comedies including The Double Inconstancy in 1723, The Island of Slaves in 1725, and The Game of Love and Chance in 1730. He pursued his novelistic production with La Vie de Marianne (1731-1741) and Le Paysan parvenu (1734). He frequented the salons, and finds in Mrs. Tencin a protector. In 1743 he was elected to the French Academy against Voltaire, but little by little, the tone of his plays went out of fashion. He wrote less and died in 1763. Since
Molière, the comedy had not had a real innovation. Marivaux it brings new life and a surprisingly modern. Most of his works depicts the birth and development of the feeling by focussing on the role played by language. The term "banter" appeared in the eighteenth century. It means the game sometimes complex language and sharing love. Misunderstandings, puns, or apropos replicas are the means by which characters question their feelings, or rather confirm them. The elegance and delicacy of language and embrace the nuances of changing feelings, and allows the plot to develop. This is essentially the whole concept of ordered society of the eighteenth century: living together, and, a fortiori, love life, go through the proper use of language, how to tell the world, and say yourself.
Therefore, in the theater of Marivaux, lovers want, before they occur, be sure the sincerity of the other. To achieve this, they do not hesitate to dress, to disguise, in short to hide behind a corporate identity that is not theirs to solve the mystery of desire to another. In The Game of Love and Chance (1730), Silvia exchange its role with her maid to ensure Dorante, which is promised. But, meanwhile, Dorante does the same with his valet. The plot then develops through a series of misunderstandings, and ends with two marriages: that of the masters and the servants.
Borrowed from the commedia dell'arte, the use dramaturgical the mask introduces an element of Machiavellianism that sometimes turns into lovers of fine strategists. But the scaffolding of subterfuge and artifice never takes precedence over the acting. Instead, it is the engine of some comic scenes, and, above all, what makes the comedy of Marivaux another level of interpretation. Behind the lightness of the parts and about the subtlety of the language, the viewer discovers a painting of social relations between masters and servants who, in essence, aims to make everyone understand that his own social situation is not natural but culture. And parts generate a reflection on the game existential between being and seeming. These elements are also present in his unfinished novel La Vie de Marianne (1731-1741). As in his plays, there Marivaux painted the reality of the society in which he lives, and the truth of complex feelings.
Main works: • Harlequin
polished by love (1720).
• The Surprise of Love (1722). • The Double Inconstancy
(1723).
• Prince travesti (1724).
• The Island of Slaves (1725).
• The Game of Love and Chance (1730).
• The School of mothers (1732). •
The Peasant reached (1734).
• The Legacy (1736).
• The False Confessions (1737).
• The Event (1740).
• The Life of Marianne (1731-1741).
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VOLTAIRE (Francois Marie Arouet, dit), 1694-1778
François-Marie Arouet was born in Paris in 1694, undersigned counsel of a father the king. He studied at the college of Clermont (now Louis-le-Grand), then moves in circles rather than libertines continue his law studies. He composes satirical poems which lead to the Bastille in 1717 where he wrote Oedipus tragedy that will win a great success and that he signed under the pseudonym Voltaire. An altercation with the Chevalier de Rohan-Chabot will lead again to the Bastille in 1725. Released five months later, he moved to England where he remained until 1729. He composed the English or Philosophical Letters will be published five years later. Back in France, he wrote tragedies (Brutus in 1730, Zaire in 1732) and several critical essays. He retired at the Marquise du Chatelet in Lorraine at the scandal caused by his English Letters, and composes his famous philosophical tale Zadig (1747). With the Marquis d'Argenson, he was appointed historiographer to the king in 1745 and enjoys a brief thanks to Louis XV. In 1750, he accepted the invitation of Frederick II, King of Prussia, and left for Berlin. But quarreled with his host, he returned to France three years later. He published The Age of Louis XIV, work on which he worked for twenty years. In 1755, he settled near Geneva, and participates in the composition of the Encyclopedia, to be published essay on the manners in 1756, and Candide in 1759. In 1760 he settled at Ferney, where he stayed until his death. His last years were marked by a great literary activity: it maintains an extensive correspondence, receives many visitors, consists of items that illustrate his philosophical theses, enters into polemics to defend those he believes wronged (Calas, Sirven, Lally), and finally wrote two important philosophical works, the Treatise on Tolerance (1763) and the Philosophical Dictionary (1764). In 1778, several months before his death, Voltaire returned to Paris where he was greeted triumphantly. He died May 30 of that year.
Voltaire is a polygraph. He is interested in all genres and uses them to convey his philosophical ideas. Knowing that the intended audience is satiated treaties austere, he staged his ideas by placing them under the sign of irony and ensures a great success. At this external factor is compounded by the fact that Voltaire was convinced that irony is an effective weapon to denounce the injustice of man and the absurdity of the world.
Voltaire's works that have survived are not tragedies, nor his poems, genres yet earned him his fame. On the contrary, his works are widely read today's stories, tales, dialogues, pamphlets, letters or jokes.
addition to its abundant correspondence (there are about fifteen thousand letters), Voltaire uses the epistolary form to publicly criticize French society. He defied censorship by doing so indirectly. His English Letters or philosophical take the case of England and deal with religion, politics, the founders of modern science (such as Bacon, Locke, or Newton), or literature. But behind the tone he uses to admire about this country and the emergence of a new company, he criticized the French political system. Developments on the religious tolerance of the English stress conversely intolerance is still rife in France. The letter becomes pamphleteer and prefigures books like Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary which attacks the metaphysical, or the Treaty on Tolerance, where he defended his idea of justice.
It also uses an immature discipline in the eighteenth century history. His History of Charles XII or The Age of Louis XIV are concerned with objectivity. Voltaire uses the archival documents, research evidence and ushers in a modern writing of history. But this has, as always, a philosophical implications. Emphasizing the role of great men, economics and chance, he tries to prove that history is not governed by a divine transcendence, but is instead a human business, it is important that we build.
Voltaire uses the narrative form of storytelling in a similar design. His Candide is representative of this type of work. In the fiction of a naive young man and optimistic that meets only misadventures, Voltaire blames all thinkers for whom the world order is governed by a higher principle. He is not afraid to do a caricature of the theses of these, especially as those of Leibniz. It seeks to put the laugh on his side. His impertinence is limitless, and, until his death, he testifies an intellectual energy which led him to advocate for the rehabilitation of male victims of injustice. The wit of Voltaire announces so many debates and subsequent battles of ideas.
Main works: •
Oedipus (1718)
• Poem of the League (1723).
• Brutus (1730). •
Zaire (1732).
• History of Charles XII (1731). •
Epistle to Urania (1733).
• The Temple of Taste (1733).
• Philosophical Letters on England (1734). •
Zadig or Destiny (1747).
• The age of Louis XIV (1752). •
Micromegas (1752).
• Essay on the Manners (1756). •
Candide or Optimism (1759). •
Treatise on Tolerance (1763).
• Philosophical Dictionary (1764).
• The Innocent (1767).
• Irene (1778).
ROUSSEAU (Jean-Jacques), 1712-1778
son of a watchmaker, Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in 1712. Early maternal orphan, he boarded with the Rev. Lambercier, Switzerland, at the age of ten years. Thus began a period of learning where it multiplies small businesses. In 1728, he goes on an adventure to France where he was received by Madame de Warens. Converted to Catholicism, he led a wandering life, before returning to his patroness in Chambéry in 1732. It was during his stay at Charmettes with her between 1737 and 1740, he immersed himself in study, cultured sensibility and spirit. But Ms. Warens tired of him, and he went to try his fortune in Paris in 1741. It comes into contact with Voltaire and Diderot who order several articles for the Encyclopedia. In 1743, he accompanied M. de Montaigu, ambassador of France to Venice and back to Paris. He frequented the salons but there shines not because of his poor public speaking skills. In 1745 he begins an affair with Therese Levasseur, a former servant, whom he married more than twenty years later after having five children he has abandoned. At a competition organized by the Academy of Dijon in 1749, he wrote his Discourse on the Sciences and Arts, which crowned, suddenly makes it famous. In 1752, he played the Soothsayer Village, opera is having some success, then the following year a comedy, Narcissus. In 1754 a new contest, organized by the Academy of Dijon, it offers the opportunity to compose a new philosophical essay, the Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men, which he denounced the evils of a society he sees as being the source of all evil, and to which he opposes the ideal state of nature. But this new book does not show award prizes. In 1756, Rousseau responds to the invitation of Madame d'Epinay, and to share ownership of the Hermitage in Montmorency. But his suspicious nature does it quickly break with Madame d'Epinay, then with the Encyclopedists. He made a violent critic of the theater with the Letter to D'Alembert on the shows. From 1758 he made frequent visits to Montmorency in the Marshal of Luxembourg, where he finished and published between 1761 and 1762, his epistolary novel, Julie or the New Heloise, his political treatise, The Social Contract, and his work on education, Emile or On Education. But a few days after the publication of that book, he is pursued by the parliament of Paris to the passage concerning religion without dogma. He fled to Switzerland, then England wins. He leads a life of exile and gradually shuts little in solitude. Back in France in 1767, he continued writing his Confessions, where he painted himself to self-justifying. Moreover, convinced that a conspiracy has been hatched against him, he isolates himself and composed between 1772 and 1776, three dialogues which are in the same vein as the Confessions. He was welcomed in 1778 by the Marquis de Girardin on his property Ermenonville where he completed his Reveries of the Solitary Walker, before dying suddenly.
Rousseau is an autodidact. His literary output is varied and covers both the literary genre of the essay than the novel or autobiography. But she showed great unity. From the Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men (1755), the central idea of his philosophy is this: the company misrepresents the man by plunging into the realm of appearances. To support this idea, he built the assumption of a state of nature prior to any inequality. This obsession of lies, deception and hypocrisy has repercussions both on the question of art, politics or pedagogy that addresses in his later work.
In his Letter to D'Alembert (1758), written in response to the article of the Geneva Encyclopedia, condemning the dramatic that it maintains the logic of his system, as arts of civilization are contrary to morality. This position earned him the wrath of his former friends encyclopedists, particularly those of Voltaire, a great lover of theater. Rousseau is now away from the society of writers, and in this solitude he wrote his mature works. In the Social Contract, it addresses the fundamental problem of the coexistence of individual aspirations and social life. To solve it, he introduces the idea of the general will, a principle which does not come in conflict with the will of the subject since the latter, by establishing a social pact, agreed to submit to what the society collectively decides. In Emile or On Education (1761), Rousseau casts a new light on the issue of education: the freedom of the child shall be protected so that it is able, as adults, to meet its moral responsibilities. To do this, Rousseau advocates giving greater importance to experimentation, and distrust of the influence of books. These provisions seek an education according to nature, away from the evils of civilization. Rousseau also develops his concept of faith in Chapter IV, through the fiction of the Savoyard Vicar: authentic belief in God is a natural religion which refuses dogma. It is written in the heart of man, closer to its sensitivity.
This enhancement of sensitivity is very present in the autobiographical writings of Rousseau. Already about Julie or La Nouvelle Heloise (1762), his only novel, he acknowledges having entered in the account by the passionate love letters of Julie and St. Preux, many autobiographical elements. But it is with the Confessions that he engaged in the autobiographical genre. Increasingly plagued by feelings of persecution, it multiplies the texts in which he takes as a case study. In 1761, he decided to meet the demand of his publisher and writes the Confessions, where he comes in the face "of a man just painted from nature and all its truth. "He dives deep within himself, covers the details of his childhood, tells uncompromising and innovate, thus, some writing of the self.
Main works:
• Discourse on the Sciences and Arts (1750).
• Devin The Village (1752).
• Narcissus (1752).
• Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men (1755).
• Letter to D'Alembert on shows (1758).
• The Social Contract (1761).
• Emile or On Education (1761).
• Julie or La Nouvelle Heloise (1762).
• Letters to M. de Malesherbes (1762).
• Confessions (written from 1765, published posthumously in 1782 to 1789).
• Dialogues (written between 1772 and 1776, published posthumously in 1789).
• The Reveries of the Solitary Walker (written between 1776 and 1778, published posthumously in 1782).
Diderot (Denis),
(1713-1784 )
Born in Langres in 1713, Denis Diderot was educated by the Jesuits, before coming to study in Paris, where he received master Arts in 1732. He first worked in a lawyer, but an independent natural and passionate, he turns to literature. It binds with Rousseau, and Condillac, Grimm and D'Alembert. His spirit earned him some unwanted troubles: his first personal work, the Philosophical Thoughts (1746), is condemned by the parliament. Then in 1749 he was imprisoned at Vincennes for three months his Letter on the Blind for the use of those who see. In 1746, the bookseller Le Breton entrusted the direction of the Encyclopedia, the first volume appeared in 1750. The work to which he devoted nearly twenty years of his life, did not prevent further write books of any kind, especially stories like the libertine novel, Les Bijoux prying (1748), or, later, The Nun (1780) and the story in dialogue Le Neveu de Rameau he completed in 1778. Diderot launches into the dramatic genre and makes the theory of bourgeois drama in his Discourse on Dramatic Poetry (1758), it shows two parts: The illegitimate son or the Events of Virtue (1757), and The Father Family (1758). From 1759 to 1781, he wrote reviews of art exhibitions reflecting the Louvre in literary correspondence with his friend Grimm is the director. Finally, he continued his philosophical work with, Specifically, The Dream of d'Alembert (1769), where a fiction allows him to put forward ideas as materialists. Correspondence with Sophie Volland maintains that he met in 1756, takes on the appearance of confidence. This match, which lasted until 1774, allows us to better understand the temperament of Diderot. At the request of the Empress Catherine II, Diderot moved to St. Petersburg in 1773, where he spent seven months heaped attentions. The same year he wrote the Supplement au voyage de Bougainville, a novel, Jacques the fatalist and an essay on the paradox actor. Back in Paris in 1774, he continued to work for his own pleasure, but its production is drying up somewhat. The kindness of Catherine II allows him to live his last years in comfort. He died in Paris in 1784.
Diderot's work is a thought in motion. Just like his temperament, it is both tumultuous and versatile, joyful and insatiable. He composed in all literary records, except for poetry, and never ceases to resume and intensify the paradoxes. Materialist philosopher, Diderot opposes religion and enthusiasm for science. Letter on the Blind raises knowledge as coming from the senses, and makes the metaphysical question of the existence of God an insignificant problem. But it is in the Conversation between D'Alembert and Diderot, and in the book that follows it, The Dream of d'Alembert, his doctrine is accurate and reflects a sensitivity scientific evolutionism announcement: the material is first, and all for nature stems from its combination of increasingly complex.
Alongside these philosophical works, Diderot composed works of art criticism and writing in the journal in the Salons. A text like the Paradox on the actor, written in the form of a dialogue, is the founder of a conception of acting: to be perfect, the actor must not yield to the enthusiasm, but be thoughtful and lucid, without which it can reach to feel the excitement every time he plays. Moreover, Diderot sought to define a new genre, the drama. This part of his work is little read today, but it influenced many playwrights in the nineteenth century.
Diderot finally composed of narrative works, stories and novels, which are strongly influenced by questions from his philosophy, in particular: How determinism and freedom can they be reconciled? Jacques the fatalist is probably the most emblematic example: Jacques is convinced that his destiny is written, but it acts more freely than his master. This relationship between the two is reflected even in the novel form which is very modern. But this question of the relationship between determinism and freedom is also found in two other works: The Nun, and anticlerical libertine novel, and Le Neveu de Rameau, Diderot illustrates where, through the fiction of a conversation between "him", the nephew Rameau's musician, and a "me" akin to the author, the two trends that drive it: the bohemian with a vivid imagination and irony to none, and the philosopher moderate friendly conventions. This work dizzying sums up only the incredible talent of Diderot.
Main works: •
Philosophical Thoughts (1746). • The Jewelry
prying (1748).
• Letter on the Blind for the use of those who see (1749).
• Thoughts on the Interpretation of Nature (1754).
• The natural son or The Events of Virtue (1757).
• Father Family (1758). • Pet
(published posthumously 1760).
• The Nun (published posthumously 1796).
• Jacques the Fatalist (published posthumously 1796).
• Rameau's Nephew (posthume1891 publication).
• Supplement voyage de Bougainville (published posthumously 1796).
• Letters to Sophie Volland (published posthumously 1830)
• Paradox on the Actor (posthumously published 1830).
• Le Rêve d'Alembert (published posthumously 1830)
management and publishing articles in the Encyclopedia between 1751 and 1772 (Aristotelianism, Tobacco, Indigo, Epicureanism, artificial flowers, Violin etc..).
events that define the Enlightenment are the death of Louis XIV in 1715, and the coup d'état by Napoleon Bonaparte on 18 Brumaire Year VIII (November 9, 1799), heralding the empire. Between these two extreme, the century is divided into several stages: first the regency (1715 - 1723), then the reigns of Louis XV (1723 - 1774) and Louis XVI (1774 - 1791), and finally the French Revolution (1789 - 1799 ).
France, which was then the most populous country in Europe, has for nearly eighty years, inner peace and economic prosperity. As the philosophical spirit grows, lounges, cafes and clubs, monarchical authority is dissolved, undermined by attempts to reform no future, as the aristocratic opposition. With its financial strength, the business class its desire to annex the political ambition that will be implemented from 1789.
In the arts, Louis XIV wanted to aging "of children widespread in all things." Under the Regency, this trend is increasing lightness. It flourished during the reign of Louis XV. The taste of elegance, comfort and beautiful objects spread into the ranks of the bourgeoisie. But in the second half of the century, philosophers rebelled against the libertine tendencies of society, which they associate the rococo style. They advocated a return to the virtues of ancient Rome and Republican, who will become much of the revolutionary ideal.
The early history of modern France
1789 (Bastille Day), 1792 (abolition of the monarchy) and 1793 (capital execution of Louis XVI) are the key dates that marked the end of the Old Regime France and the early history of modern France.
Several factors contribute to the birth and evolution of this "spirit of light: intolerant absolutism of Louis XIV, the enrichment of the bourgeoisie, who seeks to participate in the management of power, making the conscience of the share some questions minds " enlightened "the unbearable misery of the people, crushed by famine and taxation, the knowledge of alien civilizations and" wild "the influence of literature (Richardson), philosophy (Locke), political (constitutional monarchy) English, the progress of science (especially the work of Buffon, Natural History, 1749), the mode of travel, the circulation of books (printed in France illegally or purchased from abroad) and ideas in shows some grown women and open to innovations, which are the writers and philosophies French and foreigners: Ms. Lambert, the Marquise (do correspondence with Voltaire is very interesting), Madam Geoffrin confidence that the Encyclopedia, Julie de Lespinasse, protective encyclopedists, Madame du Chatelet, Voltaire's companion, and author of a Discourse on Happiness, who receives his castle in Lorraine, Madame Roland, journalist and author of an interesting book of memoirs.
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