Revolutionary Ideas: An Intellectual History of the French Revolution from the Rights of Man to Robespierre
'Revolutionary Ideas' by Jonathan I. Israel challenges conventional wisdom surrounding the French Revolution by presenting a radical theory that the Terror was not a deviation but rather an inherent outcome of the Radical Enlightenment philosophers' involvement in bringing about the Revolution. Israel argues that the French Revolution was driven by the ideas of the Radical Enlightenment, leading to a transformation marked by terror, violence, and intolerance. Through meticulous detail and analysis, Israel asserts that his thesis reshapes perspectives on the ideological progression of the French Revolution.
Israel's narrative delves into the distinctions between the Moderate and Radical Enlightenment, highlighting the latter's role in shaping the Revolution towards democracy, freedom, and human rights. By examining the philosophical underpinnings of the Revolution and the involvement of key thinkers like Spinoza, Diderot, and Rousseau, Israel presents a compelling argument that challenges traditional interpretations of the French Revolution's causes and outcomes.
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How the Radical Enlightenment inspired and shaped the French Revolution
Historians of the French Revolution used to take for granted what was also obvious to its contemporary observers-that the Revolution was shaped by the radical ideas of the Enlightenment. Yet in recent decades, scholars have argued that the Revolution was brought about by social forces, politics, economics, or culture-almost anything but abstract notions like liberty or equality. In Revolutionary Ideas, one of the world's leading historians of the Enlightenment restores the Revolution's intellectual history to its rightful central role. Drawing widely on primary sources, Jonathan Israel shows how the Revolution was set in motion by radical eighteenth-century doctrines, how these ideas divided revolutionary leaders into vehemently opposed ideological blocs, and how these clashes drove the turning points of the Revolution.
In this compelling account, the French Revolution stands once again as a culmination of the emancipatory and democratic ideals of the Enlightenment. That it ended in the Terror represented a betrayal of those ideas-not their fulfillment.
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