Political power in Voltaire's thought

Abd, Bashar Farouk; Mosleh, Ammar Zahir

doi:10.33899/berj.2023.177087

	Political power in Voltaire's thought
College Of Basic Education Research Journal
Article 9, Volume 18, Issue 4.1, 2022, Pages 148-168 PDF (398.56 K)
Document Type: Research Paper
DOI: 10.33899/berj.2023.177087
Authors
Bashar Farouk Abd^* ; Ammar Zahir Mosleh^*
- University of Mosul - College of Basic Education - Department of History
Abstract
ر Voltaire was able to influence the political power, and his influence was clear and prominent. He was able, through his early criticism in the years of his life and direct to everyone who sits on the throne of France, to disrupt the system and culminate in all of this with the publication of his famous book (The Philosophical Letters) in 1734 AD, which It was rightly considered, as described by one of the historians, that it was the first bomb that Voltaire threw at the edifice of the old regime (the edifice of the Middle Ages with its teachings, systems, customs and traditions) In addition, the Philosophical Letters considered Voltaire's first public and direct rebuke to the political and religious authorities - and this in itself set a dangerous precedent in the history of France at the time, and through it, Voltaire paved the way for the French people to begin to think of free will and freedom of thought regarding the question of change, as He gave way and gave the green light to other critics or philosophers like Rousseau and others to follow the same approach. It should be noted that Voltaire was not an extremist in his ideas, as some might understand, especially with regard to the political aspect of his propositions. For example, he did not criticize political authority for a personal interest, such as dreaming of sitting on the throne of the king. Rather, his criticism of it was for the purpose of reforming it. This helps, so this change of hers on the one hand, and on the other hand, when Voltaire approached politicians or kings, it was not for material gain, for example, or in order to obtain some privileges, which were granted at the time to some nobles, but rather, he was approaching them in order to use them as an indirect weapon in order to achieve his goal of reform. (if this is in France) As for outside it, he may have wanted to try this method in another country, hoping to come up with something different from what he gained from France, and by virtue of travel and many moves, he was able to meet several kings and get acquainted with most of the regimes that ruled Europe, and then came his proposals and treatments regarding the political aspect and which he wrote At the end of his life, deep, original and well-studied proposals, and his political criticism came as a demand to reform the ruling political system in France in particular and Europe in general.

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