I lived during the period the history books called the Enlightenment. My life then extended into the French Revolution, a period of revolt and blood. The French Revolution was a time of accomplishment for the radicals and philosophers. The history books paint this revolution in such a gruesome light, yet it was merely what my comrades and I encouraged the people of France to do. More would probably know me if I had found time to document my beliefs before my execution. My friends and I were among other causes for the war. For instance, social antagonisms between the aristocracy and bourgeoisie and struggle for leadership or dominance grew along with the people’s hunger for a change, a revolt (Schwartz). Louis XVI was the king of France in
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The time when we expressed our thoughts came to be called the Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. This is because we shed light on the people and have them a passion for freedom. Radicals is the term used to describe us, and our literature based on politics and other works of the time stirred up rebellion. “Nowhere was the spirit of enlightenment, this climate of daring, more evident than in France, the most powerful country in Europe in the 1700s (Dersin 11).” Our time was developed on the margins of and in open hostility to the French state, and the economic growth and Enlightenment paved way for political revolution (Jones 175). In fact, we produced the American and French revolutions. What can I say? Our message was heard around the …show more content…
A textbook description of my friends and I pegs us as rational men, men of reason. We believed human reason could unleash a Golden Age or create a utopia (Mannion 88). However, we assaulted the Catholic Church, for our reasoning could not make sense of an all-powerful being. We paid a hefty price to enrich the world, and my head was on the receipt. My mentors in my philosophical journey were the noteworthy philosophes Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau. Montesquieu was an influential philosophe. He poked fun at the French society, and he spoke of relativism, the idea that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture and are not absolute. My companion believed in a political system where one branch could not become a tyranny (Mannion 89). He wrote The Spirit of Laws, which was a crucial novel in the revolution. Voltaire was an infamous philosophe. He was thought of as a deist, so he questioned Christianity because it was uninteresting and religion was supposed to excite intellect (Durant 715). He thought there were no miracles and condemned religion and the Catholic Church, yet he continually changed his views of God. Voltaire championed the human spirit and believed men should be restored to natural rights. He published Candide in 1759, but denied authorship of it because his satirical pieces landed him in the Bastille on occasion. Also, my ally Voltaire mocked Rousseau’s beliefs and became his enemy (Mannion 92). I became
The time when we expressed our thoughts came to be called the Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. This is because we shed light on the people and have them a passion for freedom. Radicals is the term used to describe us, and our literature based on politics and other works of the time stirred up rebellion. “Nowhere was the spirit of enlightenment, this climate of daring, more evident than in France, the most powerful country in Europe in the 1700s (Dersin 11).” Our time was developed on the margins of and in open hostility to the French state, and the economic growth and Enlightenment paved way for political revolution (Jones 175). In fact, we produced the American and French revolutions. What can I say? Our message was heard around the …show more content…
A textbook description of my friends and I pegs us as rational men, men of reason. We believed human reason could unleash a Golden Age or create a utopia (Mannion 88). However, we assaulted the Catholic Church, for our reasoning could not make sense of an all-powerful being. We paid a hefty price to enrich the world, and my head was on the receipt. My mentors in my philosophical journey were the noteworthy philosophes Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau. Montesquieu was an influential philosophe. He poked fun at the French society, and he spoke of relativism, the idea that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture and are not absolute. My companion believed in a political system where one branch could not become a tyranny (Mannion 89). He wrote The Spirit of Laws, which was a crucial novel in the revolution. Voltaire was an infamous philosophe. He was thought of as a deist, so he questioned Christianity because it was uninteresting and religion was supposed to excite intellect (Durant 715). He thought there were no miracles and condemned religion and the Catholic Church, yet he continually changed his views of God. Voltaire championed the human spirit and believed men should be restored to natural rights. He published Candide in 1759, but denied authorship of it because his satirical pieces landed him in the Bastille on occasion. Also, my ally Voltaire mocked Rousseau’s beliefs and became his enemy (Mannion 92). I became