philosophes

Cultural  

1. A group of radical thinkers and writers in France in the eighteenth century, including Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The philosophes stressed the use of human reason and were especially critical of established religious and political practices in France.

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Example Sentences

Roland had grown up reading the philosophes and was influenced by Diderot and Rousseau, among others.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026

In contrast, philosophes were quick to point out that many members of the middle classes were far more intelligent and competent than was the average nobleman.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020

The brainchild of two major French philosophes, the Encyclopedia was a full-scale attempt to catalog, categorize, and explain all of human knowledge.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020

They came to believe in many cases in the essential justice of the arguments of the philosophes and did not see anything contradictory between the exercise of their power and enlightenment ideas.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020

As Adams explained it, the French philosophes had invented the word, which became a central part of their utopian style of thinking and a major tenet in their school of folly.”

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis