Philosophes, public opinion and popular opinion in 18th century France

Abstract

In 18th century France, the presence of both public opinion and philosophes is becoming increasingly significant. To a large extent both go hand in hand, since men of letters are claiming the decisive role they play in consolidating that new “court” from which no one can escape. To this end, they put forward an essential differentiation between public opinion and popular opinion, which is the opinion of “that blind and noisy crowd” –according to d’Alembert– opposed to which the arrogant philosophe defines himself. He boasts about his autonomy and his capacity for reflection unthinkable for ordinary people, whose alleged humanity is questioned by the philosophes, who, in turn, depict themselves as new messiahs whose truth will end up imposing itself.