France s Old Regime Was Plagued With Problems - 1603 Words

France’s Old Regime was plagued with problems. During the Enlightenment, these problems were highlighted and highly criticized. Enlightenment thinkers called for people to start thinking for themselves, and to break off the chains of thought that oppressed them. They did not, however, call for revolution, nor were they necessarily pro-democracy. What they were interested in were practical reforms. In a system as broken as the Old Regime was, even the most practical of changes could seem revolutionary. Diderot and Turgot were two Enlightenment thinkers whose works exemplify this. Both men hid their more drastic thoughts behind seemingly less radical ideas and themes. Neither of the men, however, necessarily called for revolution, at least not the kind that France would get. Some of their ideas stemmed from previous writers, such as Loyseau and Bossuet, whether they agreed with them or not. Diderot and Turgot would find many areas of agreement with Loyseau, but they would largel y disagree with Bossuet. In terms of authority and nobility, Diderot and Turgot were radical critics of the Old Regime, and the areas of agreement between them and Loyseau demonstrate that the legitimacy of the Old Regime, though not entirely in question during Loyseau’s era, was suspect enough to inspire the seeds of thought that would bring about the Enlightenment. The nature of authority in the Old Regime was absolute. 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