French Enlightenment

The French Enlightenment (, ) was the intellectual and cultural movement that flourished in 18th-century France, forming a central part of the Age of Enlightenment (historically known in French as les Lumières, ).

The movement drew heavily on the ideas of English thinkers such as John Locke and Isaac Newton, while in turn profoundly shaping other national Enlightenments. It also played a major role in inspiring the French Revolution (1789–1799). According to Sharon A. Stanley, the French Enlightenment was distinctive for its "unrelenting assault on church leadership and theology." Many works critical of the monarchy or the Church were printed in the Dutch Republic, where more liberal press laws allowed them to be smuggled into the Kingdom of France.

Major French Enlightenment figures included Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Denis Diderot. Although Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva, he is often considered a central figure of the French Enlightenment because of his extensive work in France, his use of the French language, and his significant influence on French political and philosophical thought.

History

Political thought was relatively scarce in the French Enlightenment prior to the publication of Montesquieu's The Spirit of Law in 1748.

The Encyclopédie, edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert and published in 28 volumes between 1751 and 1772, was one of the most important projects of the French Enlightenment.

The Calas affair was a pivotal case in the French Enlightenment. In 1762, Jean Calas, a Protestant merchant from Toulouse, was wrongfully executed after being accused of murdering his son to prevent his conversion to Catholicism. This case drew the attention of Voltaire, who launched a campaign to clear Calas' name. In 1763, Voltaire wrote Treatise on Tolerance, highlighting the danger of religious fanaticism. In 1765, after sustained pressure, Calas was officially exonerated.