10 French Philosophers You Ought To Know About

10 French Philosophers You Ought To Know About 10 Famous French Philosophers You Didn’t Learn About in French Class ChaptersFrench Philosophy in the Middle Ages: Peter AbelardMichel de Montaigne and the French Philosophy of the RenaissanceThe French Philosophers of the Enlightenment in the 18th centuryThe Age of Science and Industrialism in the Nineteenth century: French Philosopher Henri Poincaré1908: The Birth of Modern Philosophy in FranceModern French Philosophy: French Philosopher Jean-Paul SartreMichel Foucault: French PhilosopherAnyone interested in the history of philosophy knows that France was one of the main centres of intellectual thought during the Enlightenment. It has also produced some of the most famous modern philosophers, possibly because philosophy is a subject taught in school and is tested on the Baccalauréat, the French equivalent to A-levels (though admittedly that depends on your choice of main subject).Even if philosophers were not high on your list of famous French people, why not join us on a little tour of the most influential thinkers of Continental philosophy to co me from the land of the Franks.Socrates and Plutarch as well as Erasmus of Rotterdam. The essays cover subjects ranging from child psychology (centuries before Freud) and education to religion to justice and politics.The essays had a fundamental influence on the great minds of following centuries, from Francis Bacon to Pascal to Emerson.The French Philosophers of the Enlightenment in the 18th centuryRené DescartesBorn in France (La Haye) in 1596, Descartes spent many years in the Dutch Republic, where his writings would later influence a young Baruch Spinoza.A true polymath, Descartes is considered a founding father of Western philosophy and modern mathematics. The most famous phrase from his writings is “Cogito ergo sum” - I think therefore I am. In fact, the ontological theory of Cartesian dualism goes further and posits that the only indubitable reality is that of thought, and that the mind and body are separate and independent of each other. His moral philosophy sees ethics as a branch of science.René Descartes was a mathematician and philospher of the Enlightenment. Photo credit: Frans Hals - André Hatala [e.a.] (1997) De eeuw van Rembrandt, Bruxelles: Crédit communal de Belgique, ISBN 2-908388-32-4Descartes also ushered in an area of independent thought in philosophy, braking with tradition by refusing to base his reasoning exclusively on what others had written before him, extolling instead critical thinking.He heavily influenced the history of philosophy, inspiring other famous philosophers such as Spinoza, Leibniz and David Hume.Jean Jacques RousseauThough born in Geneva in 1712, Jean-Jacques Rousseau was mainly active in France and was part of the Jacobin club during the French Revolution. He greatly influenced both Robespierre and Saint-Just’s ideology; it is thought he was their inspiration for making Deism France’s official religion during the first French Republic.Against Thomas Hobbes’ school of thought, Rousseau did not believe th at man’s natural state was an immoral one. Instead, he believed the universal ideal state of Humanity would be to live in a primitive society, according to his nature but not without discipline. There was a lot of criticism of his moral principle in the eighteenth century. It bleeds into his political philosophy of a state self-governed by the people. Such a state needs be small, making certain there is a sense of community that would make a single person strive for the good of all.Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote about political philosophy and child education. Photo credit: Renaud Camus on Visual HuntMen are wicked, but Man is good.His theories on child education emphasize teaching through consequence rather than punishment. work is grounded in historical analysis, analyzing the shifts of perception throughout human history and its impact on various theoretical constructs.With these names, you will be well on your way to becoming a French citizen in your mind as well as in your heart! If you are intrigued by the above, then why not search 'french courses london' in your search bar and see what more you could learn!