VOLTAIRE AND ROUSSEAU All

men are born with a nose and ten fingers, but no one was born with a knowledge
of God. Voltaire
A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but couldnt find one big
enough for her family. She asked the stock boy Do these turkeys get any bigger? !he stock
boy replied, "o maam, theyre dead. Do you know that person, the guy #or girl$, that always
has the %uick answer that no one e&pects? !hat witty indi'idual that can make you laugh and
dri'e you nuts all at the same time? "ow imagine that you ha'e the power to banish that
person to foreign country the ne&t time they (ab you ) lo'e them or hate them, people listen
to those sharp*tongued indi'iduals.
+a'e you e'er heard of someone being described as eccentric or a loner? ,any of the
most intelligent artist, scientists and philosophers in the world ha'e been described this way.
-hat makes these people so intelligent and yet struggle handling the most basic social
situations? -e many ne'er figure these people out, but the fact is they do see things
differently and many of them ha'e changed the direction of human history.
Morning Notes
.. -ho is the smartest person you know? -hat are the %ualities you most admire
about them? -hat is it that makes them smart?
... /'eryone has fired off that one*liner that no one e&pected. -hat was the best
one liner you ha'e e'er heard? +a'e you a'er, zinged someone with a witty
remark?
Preparation
..
Key Terms
.. Social 0ontract
... Solon
.... 0ommon 1ood
Focs !estions
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.. 0ompare 9oltaire and :ousseau. +ow are they similar? Different? Do the ideas
of one appeal to you more than the ideas of the other?
... ;nderlying much of the work of /nlightenment, philosophers belie'ed in the
perfectibility of society. 0an we still learn from these ideas or were they (ust na<'e
assumptions destined to fail?
T"e Enlig"tenment
i. !hrough the 7=
th
century, there was a steady increase in the population of /urope due to
better sanitation in cities, impro'ed methods of farming and the introduction of new crops. .n
7>66 the population of /urope was 766 million people, by 7=66 there would be 7?6 million
people and by 7=@6 there would be 356 million people in /urope. 2eople migrated more and
more to cities to seek new opportunities, as farming was not an option for e'eryone.
+owe'er, with the growth of urban populations there would be a widening gap between rich
and poor and new social issues. #AB Discuss the impact of growing cities, the new crops
#potatoes$, the concept of crop rotation, the demand for modern go'ernment C the
go'ernment remained a generation behind$
i. !hese new social conditions would create a new group of social philosophers that would
ha'e a 'ariety of theories on how to deal with these e'ol'ing issues. !he big difference
between the /nlightened thinker of the 7=
th
century and the thinkers of the past was that now
the focus was looking forward rather than to the past. 2re'iously there had been a sense that
things had been done better in the past. !he focus was to redisco'er knowledge that had
been lost during the dark ages and to get back to where we had been generations ago. Dy
the time of the /nlightenment there was finally a sense of looking forward again C that we
had surpassed the knowledge of the 1reeks and :omans and had to start to look forward to
sol'e societies problems. #AB Discuss the ideas that needed to be brought to the forefrontB
public education, welfare, humane treatment of criminals, an e%uitable share of societies
resources, a change in go'ernment, the responsibility of go'ernment, ending sla'ery and
translating documents into the 'ernacular$
Voltaire
i. Erancois*,arie Arouet de 9oltaire #75?8 C 7>>=$ was born in 2aris,
Erance. +e was not an aristocrat but he was a hit at parties. +e was
outspoken and witty. +e was imprisoned as a young man for satirical
'erses about the Duke of Frleans, the regent for king Gouis H9. #AB
2age I 4une 35, 3678
discuss the oppressi'e nature of the state, where do you think this is going to lead Erance C
foreshadow the re'olution$
ii. +e would tra'el to Dritain where he was e&posed to constitutional monarchy and began to
publish scandalous criticisms of the 0hurch in Erance while praising /nglish law, science,
philosophy and religious tolerance. +e also spent time in the court of 2russian Jing Eredrick
the 1reat until his wit again landed him in trouble and he was forced to lea'e.
iii. +e championed court cases that were more about religious persecution than
(ustice.
i'. 7>53 C 4ean 0alas was a 2rotestant merchant li'ing in 2aris. +e would become
the symbol for religious intolerance in Erance during the 7=
th
century. +e was
accused of murdering his son and sentenced to death on the wheel. 0alas, despite
proclaiming his innocence, and with no proof against him was found guilty. #+is son
had actually committed suicide$. 9oltaire would take up 0alas cause and e'entually
he was found innocent of the crime in 7>5@. ;nfortunately he had been e&ecuted in
7>53 shortly after the trial. #AB -hat was the -heel? !he guilty party was strapped to
a large spoke wheel and then struck with clubs or hammers, which would pass right
through the body and break bones, but many times the person could li'e for days.
/'entually there would be a mercy blow that would strike the chest or stomach. !his
was a punishment reser'ed for murderers and afterwards the body was displayed on
the wheelK$
2age 8 4une 35, 3678
'. 2hilosophically, 9oltaire ad'ocated looking forward rather into the past to societies
problems. +e belie'ed society could be made better by seeking out new solutions to
current problems. !hese ideas would be fundamental during the Erench :e'olution.
'i. Dy the end of his life, 9oltaire had become an important public figure. +e was a
symbol of criticism of the Ancient :egime. During the :e'olution his body was taken
from its tomb and dragged through the streets.
Rossea
i. 4ean*4ac%ues :ousseau #7>73 C 7>>=$ was born in 1ene'a, Switzerland #it was not yet
Switzerland at that time$. +e was a loner that detested the solons that were so popular with
the social elite. #AB what were the solons? /&plain$
ii. +e belie'ed that humans were good in a Lstate of natureL. ;rbanization has
corrupted us and made us cold to our natural instinctsM we ha'e become
strangers who ignore each otherLs plights. +e idealizes Lprimiti'eL societies
because he considers them closer to the state of nature #hence his term Lthe
"oble Sa'ageL$.
iii. +e despised the high society of Erance as artificial and fri'olous. .n 7>53
:ousseau wrote the Social Contract, a work that called for public authority based on general
will and the common good. !he ideas in the Social Contract would become immediately
popular with the peasantry. Decause of these ideas :ousseau is forced to flee Erance. #AB
/&plain the concept of the common good C does this always work? +ow ha'e modern
democracies departed from this idea?$
i'. Although the Erench peasantry was the most liberated in /urope, it remained under
increasing economic and social pressure in the late eighteenth century. !he peasants owed a
tithe to the 0hurch and rents #dues$ to manorial lords, some of who were aristocrats but
others of whom were wealthy bourgeois. !his obligation was particularly resented. !he
peasantry was angered by the persistence of aristocratic rights o'er such things as hunting
and the appropriation of common lands. !hese problems were e&acerbated by population
growth on the land. !he resulting subdi'ision of land reduced the size of indi'idual holdings.
Einally, the peasantry had no political 'oice, which would make the concept of the common
good all that more appealing.
Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains. Rossea
2age @ 4une 35, 3678
AB :ousseau C 2ersonal Gife .nteresting Eacts
* +e was abandoned by his father at age 76, would apprentice as an engra'er until he
was 75, starting tra'eling with a wealthy baroness who helped complete his
education
* +ad @ children with a chamber maid and abandoned them all to the orphanage
!he 1reat Delly !heory of society
A. -hat does the Jing 0ra'e
7. 2ower and control * the number one seat
...
D. -hat does the aristocracy desire?
7. !he Aristocracy was disenchanted with the monarchyLs efforts to
re'ise the ta& code*and with its own position in the state and society.
3. !he economic base of the aristocracy was in relati'e decline, and
tradition pre'ented it from tapping the new commercial sources of wealth.
I. .t resented the rise of wealthy merchant families, many of whom had
purchased lands from the aristocrats. !he bourgeoisie both disdained and
aped aristocratic pretensions.
8. .n order to maintain their economic base, the aristocrats reaffirmed
old feudal dues and obligations that had fallen into disuse, angering the
peasants without sol'ing the problem.
@. !he aristocrats renewed their demands for a monopoly of top
positions in the military and bureaucracy.
5. !hey increasingly called for the con'ening of the /states*1eneral and
the reestablishment of a dualistic state.
>. Dy the late eighteenth century, the aristocracy had become alienated
from the Dourbon monarchy.
7. !he fi'e*fold increase in commerce created great fortunes, but
upward mobility was increasingly difficult because the sale of offices and titles
had slowed.
2age 5 4une 35, 3678
3. !he middle strata were liable for ta&es, but the wealthiest a'oided
payment and sought ways to e&tract re'enue from the peasants on estates,
which they had bought.
I. !heir political power did not match their economic strength, and the
gap between them widened during the eighteenth century.
8. !he educated middle strata were angered by the Nfeudal reaction,N
under which the nobility sought to reassert old traditional aristocratic rights
and distinctions.
@. Eor the lower middle classes, the latter half of the eighteenth century
brought rising prices and a growing gap between them and the upper middle
class.