french philosophy and connection with india

1. French Philosophers
Les Philosophes

2. Introduction
● French philosophy extremely diverse and influenced western philosophy
for centuries
● Ranging from the medieval scholasticism of Peter Abelard, through the
founding of modern philosophy by René Descartes, to 20th century
philosophy of science
● In this presentation we focus on the philosophers of the Enlightenment
Age, an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the
world of ideas in Europe during the 18th century
● Included a range of ideas centered on reason as the primary source of
authority as opposed to an absolute monarchy and the fixed dogmas of
the Roman Catholic Church

3. Historical Context
● Most apparent cause of the Enlightenment the Thirty Years’ War (1618-
1648) , compelled German writers to pen harsh criticisms and go against
tradition to propose better solutions.
● Preceded by scientific revolution especially in the fields of earth science
and astronomy by likes of Kepler and Galileo
● Through it emerged a system for observing the world and making
testable hypotheses
● Greater exploration of the world exposed Europe to other cultures and
philosophies and after centuries of mistreatment by monarchies and
church the most intelligent and vocal spoke out

4. The Age of Enlightenment (late 1600s-late 1800s)
● Development of the Scientific Method - Principia Mathematica published
in this era.
● The authority of Church and Monarchy questioned
● Major strides in political science, ethics, and epistemology
● Voltaire’s Philosophical Dictionary and Diderot’s Encyclopédie.
● Culminated in the French Revolution

6. A few famous French philosophers
and their ideas

7. ● René Descartes was a French
philosopher, mathematician, and scientist.
● “Father of modern philosophy”
● Influential mathematician. Cartesian system
named after him.
● Refused to accept previous philosophies.
● Famously known as cogito ergo sum, “I think
therefore I am - Je panse, donc je suis ” -
concludes that one can be certain that one exists
because one thinks.
● First thinker to emphasize the use of reason to
develop the natural sciences.
René Descartes

8. ● Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a French
philosopher and composer of the 18th century.
● Wrote The Social Contract, contract between
all members of society.
● “Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains.”
● Individuals should give up some privileges for
benefit of community.
● Despised inequality in society.
● Views inspired revolutionaries in years to come
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

9. Voltaire
● François-Marie Arouet known by his
nom de plume Voltaire was a French
Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher.
● Outspoken philosopher, wrote with biting wit.
● Attacked injustice among nobility, government,
Church, arrested twice.
● Believed in religious toleration and
separation of church and state.
● Lifelong struggle for justice, toleration, liberty.

10. Other notable philosophers
● Baron de Montesquieu
● Denis Diderot
● Jean le Rond d'Alembert
● Nicolas de Condorcet
● Pierre Bayle
● Baron d'Holbach

11. Influence in the world
● The ideas of Descartes motivated rational thinking in the West (cogito
ergo sum: I think, therefore I am)
● The philosophical work of Voltaire attacked orthodoxy, and advocated
freedom of religion, and speech
● The modern political and educational thoughts of Rousseau catalyzed
development of democratic societies and governments across Europe

12. ● Physical demonstrations were added to lectures
● This age also had a profound effect on the economy. Ideas of free trade
or laissez faire were first propagated in this period.
● The thinkers of Enlightenment also denounced slavery and slave trade.
● As the wave of enlightenment spread, the public started throwing out
the old authorities to remake societies based on reason and liberty

14. The Indian Connection
● Voltaire drew from the Vedas to contrast the morality of the East with the
“immorality” of the West at the time, as Voltaire saw it. He called the
Vedas “the most precious gift for which the West has been indebted
to the East.”
● Thoughts on Revolution for liberty were highly prevalent among our
Freedom Fighters and people reasoned with similar philosophies drawn
from the works of previously mentioned philosophers from the era of
enlightenment.
● The Principles of Secularism, Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of
Religion that are guaranteed in our Constitution were developed by these
thinkers

16. Interesting facts
from
the enlightenment thinkers’ life

17. René Descartes
René Descartes, was a famous enlightenment thinker and mathematician.
He is known for the fact that he seldom paid heed to previous writings of other philosophers, and tried
to build a philosophy of his own, one based on questioning and reason. He was the first of the
Continental Rationalists.
It is very interesting to note that Descartes could see a connection between philosophy and
mathematics, specifically analytic geometry. Today we know him as the person behind co-
ordinate geometry, the father of analytic geometry.

18. Voltaire
Voltaire’s views on religion are definitely a topic of interest.
Like other key Enlightenment thinkers, Voltaire was a deist, expressing the idea: "What is
faith? Is it to believe that which is evident? No. It is perfectly evident to my mind that
there exists a necessary, eternal, supreme, and intelligent being. This is no matter of
faith, but of reason.”Voltaire held mixed views of the Abrahamic religions but had a
favourable view of Hinduism.
A lot of his writings tell us about his views on religion.

19. Contd..
In a letter to Frederick II, King of Prussia, dated 5 January 1767, he wrote about Christianity:
La nôtre [religion] est sans contredit la plus ridicule, la plus absurde, et la plus
sanguinaire qui ait jamais infecté le monde.
In La bible enfin expliquée, he expressed the following attitude to lay reading of the Bible:
It is characteristic of fanatics who read the holy scriptures to tell themselves: God
killed, so I must kill; Abraham lied, Jacob deceived, Rachel stole: so I must steal,
deceive, lie. But, wretch, you are neither Rachel, nor Jacob, nor Abraham, nor God;
you are just a mad fool, and the popes who forbade the reading of the Bible were
extremely wise.

20. Jean Jacques Rousseau
Rousseau was a successful composer of music, who wrote seven operas as well as
music in other forms, and made contributions to music as a theorist. As a composer, his
music was a blend of the late Baroque style and the emergent Classical fashion, and he
belongs to the same generation of transitional composers as Christoph Willibald Gluck
and C. P. E. Bach. One of his more well-known works is the one-act opera Le devin du
village, containing the duet "Non, Colette n'est point trompeuse" which was later
rearranged as a standalone song by Beethoven. He also composed several noted
motets, some of which were sung at the Concert Spirituel in Paris.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsziDPtVT_w

21. What we liked best about this
● Getting to know about the radical and brilliant mindset of the French
philosophers and their influence on topics like politics.
● The effects of such thoughts is still visible in today’s world.
● It is truly inspirational and urges each and everyone of us to never stop
thinking. As Descartes said, “Je pense, donc je suis - I think, therefore I
am!”.

22. Merci Beaucoup!
Team members:
1. Sai Saketh Aluru - 16CS30030
2. Aditya Anand - 16CS10003
3. Keshav R Menon - 14PH20011
4. Rakshit Pathak - 14EC10041
5. Arvind Srivastav - 14EC32007
6. Soumyaranjan Jena - 14NA10026