Abstract
This paper pretends to explain the origins of the French Revolution, in particular in regards to its connection with the main proponents of the French Enlightenment. It argues that the Enlightenment movement was rather heterogeneous, shaped by many different thinkers with often incompatible views. The merits of Jean Jacques Rousseau in regards to conservation and education are described, while equivalently criticizing his rather collectivist ideas and his disputable views on women. It is argued that even if during the main period of the Enlightenment movement, liberal thinkers such as Montesquieu, Turgot, Lafayette and Condorcet had defined political theories based on individual freedom and competition, they were possibly “too far ahead of times” to significantly shape the French Revolution. Independently from the positive aspects of the Enlightenment movement, the actual French Revolution was often collectivist and nationalist and led to a violent phase – the ‘Reign of Terror’. Thus, this analysis allows us to understand the complexity and diversity of the Enlightenment movement and its relation to the actual French Revolution. Consequently, the revolution’s collectivist, nationalist and violent phase must be seen critically, also showing us that the implementation of democratic processes can bear risks, as the ‘majority rule’ can differ quite significantly to the concept of the ‘Rule of Law’.
Highlights
Introduction and Scope of the ResearchEven at present, at the beginning of the 21st century and after innumerable corresponding academic papers, very different interpretations on the origins, development and results of the French revolution can be found
We concluded the following: 1. The revolution was inspired by the Enlightenment movement, as the texts written by Montesquieu and other great minds gave a ‘theoretic backbone’ to the initial aim of the revolution
Prior to its official start in 1789, demands for social and political change had already been formulated by the proponents of the Enlightenment movement
Summary
At the beginning of the 21st century and after innumerable corresponding academic papers, very different interpretations on the origins, development and results of the French revolution can be found. We will start with the detection of ideological differences between the major proponents of the Enlightenment movement, comparing some of the main ideas of the French writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) with the convictions of other French thinkers such as Montesquieu, Lafayette, and Turgot. Rousseau is often seen as one of the most admirable figures within the enlightenment movement, in particular by politicians, philosophers or generally by citizens who would possibly define themselves as ‘the progressive ecologic left’. The evaluated literature shall help us to properly distinguish between the different politico-economic and philosophical concepts of the main thinkers within the Enlightenment movement. We will analyze the significant socio-political events of the 18th century French Enlightenment with literature focusing on human rights, monarchies and democracies in general, as well as on the French Revolution in particular. By mainly using deduction within a causal study, we want to provide a descriptive analysis supported by secondary literature
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
