Republic of LettersThe Republic of Letters (Res Publica Litterarum or Res Publica Literaria) was the long-distance intellectual community in the late 17th and 18th centuries in Europe and the Americas. It fostered communication among the intellectuals of the Age of Enlightenment, or philosophes as they were called in France. These communities that transcended national boundaries formed the basis of a metaphysical republic.
Age of EnlightenmentEuropean cultural movementIn the Salon of Madame Geoffrin in 1755.
Denis DiderotDenis Diderot (; French:; 5 October 1713 – 31 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the Encyclopédie along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during the Age of Enlightenment. Diderot studied philosophy at a Jesuit college, then considered working in the church clergy before briefly studying law.
ReasonCapacity for consciously making sense of thingsReason is the capacity to consciously apply logic by drawing validconclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking truth. It is associated with activities considered characteristic of humans, including philosophy, religion, science, language, and mathematics, and is generally considered a distinguishing ability possessed by humans.
Organized religionOrganized religion, also known as institutional religion, is religion in which belief systems and rituals are systematically arranged and formally established, typically by an official doctrine (or dogma), a hierarchical or bureaucraticleadership structure, and a codification of proper and improper behavior. DefinitionOrganized religion is distinguished from the broader idea of religion especially in anthropology, sociology and philosophy.
Religious toleranceReligious tolerance or religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". Historically, most incidents and writings pertaining to toleration involve the status of minority and dissenting viewpoints in relation to a dominant state religion.
DeismBelief in a God who does not intervene in the universeIntellectualAn intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems.
French languageFrench (français or langue française) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, French and its closest relatives—the langues d'oïl, historically spoken in northern France and southern Belgium—descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. It was influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul and by the GermanicFrankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders.
FeudalismFeudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, religious, and political institutions and customs that flourished in medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.
PhilosophyStudy of general and fundamental questionsThe statue The Thinker by Auguste Rodin is a symbol of philosophical thought.
ProgressProgress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the increasing positive liberty of society; it views it as primarily achievable through direct societal action, as in social enterprise or through activism, but being also through natural sociocultural evolution – that progressivism holds all human societies should strive towards.
coxcombRelated word or term.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.