Voltaire

Preceding the French revolution, there were two main historical periods which I believe had a major impact on the development of French Identity, one positive, the other negative: the Hundred Years War (1337 -1453) and the Wars of Religion (1562-1598), representing respectively periods of external threat to and internal conflict in France. Examination of both periods reveals the driving force in each period of threat and conflict and the instinct of peoples, as Thiesse observes, to become more…

Thaqif Kamaruszaman Enlightenment and the French Revolution Marques The fires of the revolution that swept the nation of France during the 18th century were fueled by Enlightenment ideas brought in by thinkers, coming from the recent Scientific Revolution, to France composed of various backgrounds. From the execution of a monarchy, to the creation of a monumental empire, the French Revolution was ravaged and fought on the ideas of freedom and justice for all. The people of France were…

Summary of Lavoisier’s Memoir on Combustion in General Antoine Laurent Lavoisier was an 18th century French chemist who worked as a member of the the French Academy of Sciences. In the excerpts of Lavoisier’s Memoir on Combustion in General, he introduces to the other members of the Academy his idea of oxygen and its role in how combustion and calcination occurs. He also explains why the original theory of phlogiston, proposed by Georg Ernst Stahl, is not adequate to explain the two phenomenas.…

The 18th century Enlightenment can be defined as the beginning of modern sciences where reason started to trump faith, the previously solid theories and sciences of the past were proven wrong and replaced with new information. This lead to the western part of Europe thinking more towards the future as opposed to the traditional way of thinking: looking into the past for answers in the present. People began to look to the present for answers in the future. Although these mindsets and ideas were…

Through Brook’ Vermeer’s Hat: the Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World, Brook claims that the “dawn of globalization” took place during the 17th century, and was the beginning of the start of the modern world due to the growing alliances, trade and production of goods. Brook backs up his claim by using the several pieces of art included in his book, that were created during the seventeenth century. He focuses on specific parts of each work, and uses it as a door to the past and…

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 3 SARTRE’S LIFE AND WORK 4 METAPHYSICS: CONCIOUSNESS AND OBJECTIVES, ATHEISM 5 THEORY OF HUMAN NATURE: EXISTENCE AND ESSENCE, NEGATION AND FREEDOM 6 DIAGNOSIS: ANGUISH AND BAD FAITH, CONFLICT WITH OTHERS 7 PRESCRIPTION: REFLECTIVE CHOICE 7 THE “FIRST ETHICS”: AUTHENTICITY AND FREEDOM FOR EVERYONE 8 THE “SECOND ETHICS”: SOCIETY AND HUMAN NEEDS 8 CONCLUSION 9 REFERENCE LIST 10 INTRODUCTION This assignment focuses on Jean-Paul Sartre who was a philosopher…

Victor Hugo says in Les Miserables, "Machiavelli is not an evil genius, nor a demon, nor a cowardly and miserable writer; he is nothing but the fact…" making it clear that contrary to the dominant belief he sees Machiavelli to just be the narrator of thing around him. Machiavelli’s, book the prince has been the centre of debate since the time it was written owing to its insight in the matters involving virtu, morality, fortuna, freewill, authority to exercise power and power itself. It is…

Since the introduction of cuneiform in acient Mesopotamia, writing has been used to spread information, document events, and to keep a history of important events within civilazations. However, text has also served the purpose of entertaining the imaginations of the masses with artistic compositions such as elaborate stories, thoughtful poems, and wimsical plays. The Romantic literary period of American literature is an example of a time in which innovation and originality aided in producing…

Over thousands of years, intellectuals have presented their viewpoints on the guidelines of human existence. The Age of Enlightenment, hence the name, was a time of new thoughts, ingenuity, and a stronger understanding of the universe. In his The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790), author William Blake attempts to defy the teachings of an Anglican Church—which he believes has become far too corrupt to impose its authority on the laity of England. One of Blake’s aphorisms states that: “What is…

The Rococo artistic style of the 18th century greatly reflected the leisure and extravagance of the reigning aristocracy of France, so much as to where many Rococo paintings exhibited the excess of such wealthy lifestyles. The advent of the Enlightenment, however, challenged the existence of the ruling class through its focus on the sovereignty of the individual. The philosophy of the Enlightenment eventually led to the French Revolution, which ousted the ruling aristocracy and in return created…