Asked by Callie
How was the French revolution a response to Enlightenment philosophy ideas?
Responses
The French Revolution was inspired by Thomas Hobbes’s ideas on natural rights.
The French Revolution was inspired by Thomas Hobbes’s ideas on natural rights. - no response given
The French revolution was a result of people questioning the authority of governments.
The French revolution was a result of people questioning the authority of governments. - no response given
The French Revolution was a result of popular support for the divine right of kings.
The French Revolution was a result of popular support for the divine right of kings. - no response given
The French Revolution was a result of the belief that a country should control the economy.
All Answers 1
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Best answer: The French Revolution was a result of people questioning the authority of governments (statement 2).
Why:
- Enlightenment thinkers promoted reason, individual rights, and the idea that government legitimacy comes from the people (social contract, popular sovereignty). These ideas encouraged people to challenge absolute monarchy and the old regime.
Why the others are wrong:
- Thomas Hobbes (statement 1): Hobbes argued in Leviathan that a strong sovereign was needed to prevent chaos; he did not promote the kind of natural-rights, pro‑revolutionary doctrine associated with Locke and Rousseau. So Hobbes’s theory did not inspire the Revolution in the way the statement suggests.
- Divine right of kings (statement 3): The Revolution opposed the divine right of kings; popular support for that doctrine would have worked against revolutionary aims.
- State control of the economy (statement 4): Enlightenment economic thought (e.g., physiocrats, Adam Smith) generally favored freer markets and criticized mercantilism; the Revolution was driven by fiscal crisis, inequality, and demands for fairer taxation, not by a widespread Enlightenment call for state control of the economy.
Why:
- Enlightenment thinkers promoted reason, individual rights, and the idea that government legitimacy comes from the people (social contract, popular sovereignty). These ideas encouraged people to challenge absolute monarchy and the old regime.
Why the others are wrong:
- Thomas Hobbes (statement 1): Hobbes argued in Leviathan that a strong sovereign was needed to prevent chaos; he did not promote the kind of natural-rights, pro‑revolutionary doctrine associated with Locke and Rousseau. So Hobbes’s theory did not inspire the Revolution in the way the statement suggests.
- Divine right of kings (statement 3): The Revolution opposed the divine right of kings; popular support for that doctrine would have worked against revolutionary aims.
- State control of the economy (statement 4): Enlightenment economic thought (e.g., physiocrats, Adam Smith) generally favored freer markets and criticized mercantilism; the Revolution was driven by fiscal crisis, inequality, and demands for fairer taxation, not by a widespread Enlightenment call for state control of the economy.
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