How did philosophers influence the thinking of the people of France?

The Philosophers influenced the thinking of the people of France in various ways which were:

• When the middle class decided to transfer the idea that every person in the society should be acknowledged based on their merits. They brought the social and the economic changes in France by putting forth the idea of freedom, equal laws and opportunities should be given to everyone. This idea was put forward by philosophers like John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau. John Locke In his book Two Treatises of Government disapproved with the doctrine of Divine and Absolute rights of the Monarch.

• Through the book Social Contract, Jean Jacques Rousseau put forth the idea that such form of government should be formed which should be based on a social contract between people and representatives.

• Montesquieu, in the book called The Spirit of the Laws, tried to propose that power should be divided between - the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary. After the thirteen colonies declared their independence from Britain, this idea was adopted by the USA.

These thoughts of the philosophers influenced people in such a way that this became the topic of debate and discussion in coffee-houses and salons.