The Philosophers

Voltaire & Rousseau

Thought of  the day…

Philosophers

Voltaire and Rousseau

(1694-1778) The Age of Reason

Voltaire said that, “One must live before his philosophy.”

The Age of Enlightenment

This was a period of time in which the intellectual and philosophical movement was at its height in “The world of ideas” and was at its intellectual peak.

This period of enlightenment took place in Europe during the 17th through the 19th centuries.

The Age of Reason Philosophers

Voltaire believed that once a man gives up his independence he would no longer be happy. Some philosophers of the eighteenth century including Voltaire were atheists or even suppressed the idea of God, they none the less maintained the notion that man possessed certain what they called “human nature” or a nature that is found in every man. That each man had in him the universal characteristic of what it is to be a man.

Rousseau the philosopher of that period says In his book The Social Contract he wrote, “ In the state of nature, man is motivated by natural sentiment [amour de soi] which inclines every animal to watch over his own preservation, and which, directed in man by reason of pity, produces humanity and virtue.”

In the state of nature, man was motivated and happy not because he was an angel, but because he lived entirely for himself, and therefore possessed an absolute independence.

Well we may be wise to study the intelligent writings of these philosophers once again. And think if it isn’t high time that we consider if those making decisions for us are doing so from a view that we are happiest when we are free, or are they doing so out of pity for humanity?

The teachings of all those brilliant thinkers in the past, along with their lessons for us may have been forgotten by many today.

What we might be doing today!

It seems that men today seem to be relying on the agendas of others, to make decisions rather than close consideration of what may or may not be in their best interest.

Examples can be seen in all forms of media today. It’s easy to see that they are not just giving you just the unbiased news, but are in effect giving you a point of view which they themselves support.

Because of this phenomenon we as a race may have become much more venerable to the whims of those who control us through the information they are allowing us to see.

Don’t you think it’s high time that we at least examine each of these views, before accepting a solution created by those that may have their own agenda?

What I would like to say is that men used to read books now they just read what is put on the Internet. Maybe we should get back to reading books and learning to think for ourselves.

Think’

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