Previously, the mechanism of human personality was explained by the human soul. In the opinion of some philosophers of enlightenment, Descartes himself used such an explanation only out of fear of the church. Theologizing philosophy, including Leibniz's monad, has appropriated to itself a monopoly of idealism and everything that is combined in the philosophical content of this term and that has such a charming effect on the moral consciousness of humanity. It is difficult for idealism to escape from the relimous soil, even in the forms of pantheism. Pantheism, rendering significant services to individualism, even in a strict deterministic form, led to a kind of “atog Pe pie PesaaN5.” And Spinoza’s philosopher could not remain alien to mysticism, which was zealously rejected by the materialists (18th column 2). They did not recognize the soul as a substance of personality that was dependent on the deity.
1) La Mettrie, Helveshchy. 2) See eg. P. Bayle's attitude towards Spinoza. (Ag. Zrtokha 4i P!syoppalge shame and at. Gay, Tveo@ae.
With this concept—the face of God—invariably associated ideas about things that are not amenable to clear and distinct cognizance, a higher will and revelation, and therefore, were offered to the individual of truth, to whom reason, in the end. I had to believe or, not being able to prove and verify, simply refuse them. The minds of many French writers preferred to remain free and therefore they chose the latter from this alternative, i.e. atheism. Thus, the individual's mind was left to its own devices: gamo shagyaash zu regiizziz.
This was the culminating point of individualism, supported on the one hand by rationalism, on the other, by materialism and sensationalism, which subordinated mankind only to the laws of his own nature. It is true that in understanding these laws, and most importantly, in deriving from them the postulates of morality and law, there was a significant amount of subjective metaphysics, despite all the striving for objectivity.
But here it was important to establish and recognize the principle from which sometimes contradictory corollaries could and actually were derived, but with greater or lesser force equally directed towards one goal: the overthrow of the authoritative, traditional normonym and the old order and the creation of a normative understanding of the “natural” and the order corresponding to it.
In relation to ethics (the system of natural morality) and in relation to law (the natural law doctrine), sensationalism and materialism, as noted earlier, are attempts to create “ethical physics”. Condillac, Helvetzi, D'Alembert, Holbach, Saint-Lambert, Volney in particular, became the conductors of French utilitarianism. It is based on the postulate of human nature about
[fragment unreadable in scan of first edition]
— 316 self-preservation, proclaimed back in the schools of Hobbes and
Spinoza. This is the principle of selfish interest. Theory is right
As a protected interest, the French philosophers did not develop, but their political views were subordinated to the ethical to the fundamental principle—personal interest, tempered by the idea common good. When applied to politics, this principle was individualistically revolutionary. So Holbach believes that we will found a state
Our union serves the sole benefit of its members. All sorts of things a government acting contrary to such a reason must be deprived of the powers given to him’). However, specific political reasoning of the author of the system of ‘nature is far from so radical 2).
If, after reviewing the dominant motives of enlightened philosophers, let us turn to the works of the French
And there are 18 SO many literary workers who have not dedicated themselves to | specifically the theory of law and state, we will not find in they were not the political radicalism to which their founders seemed to lead. In this regard! and, even tave
The famous leaders of enlightenment, like Holbach, Voltaire, Diderot, D'Alembert, figuratively speaking, only put barrels of gunpowder under the building of the old regime, but do not blow it up. Ideas illuminating their political views serve the same ideas of freedom and natural equality, which we saw in Locke, to which they give universal more significant. But Locke introduced his ideas into political
[fragment illegible in the scan of the first edition]
1) Buzoshe boe, P, 51-55.
2) The attacks on monarchio, not to mention despotism, are so strong, for example. in Holbach, that; according to some writers, his sympathies should lean towards the republic.
VAI