Voltaire's Affect on Modern Western Society

“I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to death your right to say it,” were the famous words of Fracois Marie Arouet, more commonly known under the pen name of Voltaire. He was known for being very outspoken and rebellious, which got him into trouble with the authorities for most of his life. Voltaire advocated the French bourgeoisie as being ineffective, the aristocracy as being corrupt, and the commoners as being too superstitious. Voltaire’s beliefs on freedom and reason is what ultimately led to the French Revolution, the United States Bill of Rights, and the decrease in the power of the Catholic Church, which have all affected modern western society.

The French Revolution was a period of upheaval in France, during which the French governmental structure and Catholic clergy underwent a large change due to Enlightenment ideas. The commoners of France began to revolt after hearing the ideas of famous philosophes like Voltaire. Voltaire was a deist who believed that the Catholic Church and its doctrines were not to be trusted since they used propoganda to get followers rather than the actual religion. He believed it was unfair that there wasn’t any religious freedom since you were expected to be a Catholic. He spoke openly about this, which of course got him into a lot of trouble. Nevertheless, the French commoners took his word into thought and decided to act upon what he said by revolting against the church. Voltaire’s ideas also critized royal absolutism because they had, in his opinion, too much power. He favored an elightened absolutist, which is an absolutist who adopts Enlightenment ideas. Once again, the French commoners took this to heart and agreed with Voltaire that the French government was too ...

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... to make you commit injustices.” Voltaire studied natural sciences and reason because he was against supestition. Although he advocated religious tolerance, he believed that any one church should not have absolute power. By the time he was executed, he had already brought about the end of the power and right of the church to torture France. People in France still are not as faithful to the Catholic Church as they had been before Voltaire had introduced them to the idea of “reasoning”.

The Enlightenment is held to be the source of many modern ideas, such as the primary values of freedom and reason. The views of philosophers such as Voltaire are considered to be the source of many essential changes in countries such as America and France. His views on religion, government, and freedom are what people remember most because they have not died out in today’s society.