The whole history of the development of western philosophy from the 18th century to the 19th century is actually a very special historical stage in the history of the development of western philosophy. It had a vital impact on the development of western philosophy.

What is the enlightenment?

The enlightenment movement here is mainly based on the enlightenment movement in France. It may involve the enlightenment movement in other countries. For example, the Scottish Enlightenment in Britain, the enlightenment in Germany and so on. In the history of philosophy, the enlightenment movement in the West has shown different forms in various countries, and some concepts they advocated and advocated are also different.

In general, the enlightenment movement in the West has some common ideas, which guide the development of western politics, economy, society and philosophy. In this sense, we have a new perspective when we look at the enlightenment movement in the West.

The enlightenment actually understood the enlightenment in the sense of enlightenment philosophy. That is to say, we may pay more attention to the thinkers of the enlightenment. What valuable ideas did they provide us in the sense of philosophy? And what position do they occupy in the history of philosophy?

From ancient times to the present, from the enlightenment, the Renaissance, and then on, from the development history of modern philosophy and the whole modern philosophy, the western philosophy we have learned is actually a basic foundation and background for their ideological development, which takes the experience world as the main body, the change of ideas as the main research object, and the overall evolution of society.

And the philosophy based on this foundation is always concerned with the philosophy of some specific topics. In other words, philosophers always try to get a general understanding from the investigation and research of some specific materials, as well as the reasoning of knowledge.

In this sense, philosophers before the enlightenment movement, it is basically a kind of activity according to individual experience, which is characterized by replacing human overall experience with individual experience.

This is about this. In the fourth volume of his lectures on the history of philosophy, Hegel discussed French philosophy and the French Enlightenment.

He said that the enlightenment movement in France opened a precedent. What precedent?

That is, it does not simply classify the experience of a special concrete object as the representative of human overall experience; Instead, it tries to establish a philosophical concept that is completely abstract, has universal significance, and can separate the existence of various social forms.

In this regard, I believe Kant's understanding of enlightenment can help us better understand the profound impact of the French Enlightenment on the later development of philosophy. However, this understanding may be slightly different from our usual understanding of French Enlightenment philosophy. What is the difference?

It is generally believed that the enlightenment movement in France was based on empiricism, or completely British empirical philosophy, as its philosophical starting point. Moreover, materialism plays a leading role in the whole French philosophy, especially in the French Enlightenment philosophy.

Because we will think that since it is a kind of empiricism and materialism, how can it form a universal concept?

This is precisely a contrast in the deduction of a major concept that the French Enlightenment philosophy led to the development of later philosophy.

It can really be said that if there was no French Enlightenment philosophy, there would be no later German philosophy. Although the French philosophers did not make a direct contribution to later philosophy and could repeatedly discuss some philosophical topics for later philosophers, they took a special form and triggered some ways for later philosophy to re understand human rational power.

In this sense, the importance of French philosophy cannot be underestimated. We can not think that French philosophers are just some independent ideas with a leisurely attitude, romantic knowledge, a sense of resistance, and dissatisfaction with the society. These philosophers are just a little emotional, and even some sensationalist, such a way of expression, to convey a kind of thought that was incompatible with the society at that time.

Therefore, the concept of Enlightenment was actually understood as an anti social concept by the society at that time. However, we should not forget that a social change is often solidified in philosophy through a conceptual form, that is, any social change will eventually be presented to future generations in a conceptual way.

Therefore, the French Enlightenment philosophy we understand today, in fact, has deeply branded the mark of the society at that time. In the 18th century, when the enlightenment took place, French society was in a period of social unrest. In other words, that era belonged to almost all the new bourgeois forces, shaping the oppression of stubborn, old, religious and feudal hierarchies. Louis 14 or Philips, in fact, to a large extent, are continuing the previous feudal inheritance system, that is, the hereditary system.

The concept of hierarchy was an inherent concept in the society at that time, even a very stubborn concept. In almost the whole society, the social status of the person who creates great wealth for the society is negligible. In such a social environment, especially after accepting the British Industrial Revolution, some thinkers on social progress and the concept of democracy and freedom were formed. They were determined to transform the society at that time, and directly applied the ideas of British philosophers to their French society.

At that time, if there was no British Enlightenment, or if there was no British modern thought, we can hardly imagine where the French Enlightenment thinkers would get their ideological resources.

So today we say that Montesquieu accepted or directly benefited from Locke's thought.

Rousseau was deeply influenced by Hobbes, and almost every thinker of the French enlightenment at that time was shrouded in the tradition of British thought.

Therefore, Montesquieu's on the spirit of law was almost completed under the banner of Locke's on government. Both Voltaire and Diderot were deeply influenced by British thought. Montesquieu maintained a very close relationship with Britain. Even during his two years in Britain, Montesquieu was elected to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Britain.

The general signs show that the changes of the society at that time led to the requirements of thought, which reflects the overall evolution process of the society at that time. On this point, reading Hegel's "speech" can deeply feel that we read Marx's "French Revolution", which is 150 years after Montesquieu's era.

He said that if the bourgeoisie had been a lion 150 years ago, it would have become an obstacle to social development by this time. Because the formation of the Paris Commune is actually a revolution of the proletariat against the backward forces of a society dominated by the bourgeoisie.

Only 150 years later, from the publication of the spirit of law in 1788 to the French Revolution in 1870, we deeply feel how quickly the whole Western Europe has changed. 150 years may be a long time for everyone, because no one can live for such a long time, but it is very rapid for the evolution of a society.

Think about the history of China. We have experienced 5000 years. A feudal dynasty can last for nearly a hundred years, or even hundreds of years. Therefore, 150 years of history, from the rise of the bourgeoisie to the death knell of the proletariat, in fact, changes in this history are very rapid.

Therefore, we can imagine that Montesquieu's theory played a huge role in the social changes at that time, which can be said to be subversive. Even the thinkers of the entire enlightenment movement had a subversive impact on Western society.

In his lectures on the history of philosophy, Hegel compared the enlightenment in France with that in Germany. In his words, French. They are more active and willing to compete with society. They have a strong anti social complex; However, for Germans, on the contrary, Germans are more satisfied with the status quo. They are not willing to change the world they face. But once the world is changed, they are also willing to accept the results of such changes. Therefore, Germans will not take the initiative to change the world.

Of course, according to Montesquieu's understanding, the different personalities of these two peoples or people in these two countries also fully reflect the environment in which they live. In fact, what is more important is their cultural traditions.

When talking about the French Enlightenment philosophy, or the enlightenment movement, and the enlightenment movement in modern Europe, we should pay special attention to how to understand the enlightenment movement from the perspective of philosophy and the ideological heritage it has brought to us. We will not extensively discuss the impact of the enlightenment movement on all aspects of social life, political life, and people's personal life.

We will mainly focus on the philosophical understanding, that is to say, a very important historical stage of the development of western philosophy with special significance, what did French philosophers bring to future generations of philosophers? How can I understand the French philosophers' contributions to Philosophy?

Can we deny it completely today? As some scholars believe, French philosophy is not worth mentioning, because it does not bring us any problems for our subsequent philosophy to discuss. It also does not provide us with any ready-made answers. Even though they have some personal philosophical thinking, they do not constitute a starting point for the development of later philosophy.

In this sense, it seems that French philosophy is useless and useless, but what is the truth?

This is faced with the problem of how to understand French philosophy, and how to grasp the development of the subject in a historical stage, its impact on the philosophy of future generations, and how to treat and evaluate it from the height of philosophical metaphysics.