Encyclopaedists
The contributors to the French Encyclopédie (28 vols., 1751–72), edited by D. Diderot and (initially) J. Le R. D'Alembert. The Encyclopédie sets out to review the full extent of human achievement in ...
Montesquieu
Charles, Second Baron of Brede and Montesquieu (1689–1755), French philosopher and jurist. Montesquieu studied Locke while in England and returned to France to write about the British Constitution, ...
progress
The idea of progress, conceived as the increasing sophistication of knowledge and the improving quality of life, has been the driving force of Western civilization for at least three hundred years. ...
