中欧社会论坛 - China Europa ForumThe development of moral thought in France from the end of the 18th century to the 20th century
Authors: ZHOU Zhifeng
Published by Journal of Western Chongqing University, Social Sciences Edition
Abstract: From the end of the 18th century to the 20th century, French moral thought was strongly influenced by philosophy. This paper analyses the development of French moral thought during this period based on two axes and highlights the influence of Rousseau’s and Bergson’s theories on French moral thought at the time.
The phenomenon of morals being incorporated into politics mainly occurred during the relatively short period of the French Revolution, and therefore cannot be considered the driving force behind all moral development. As far as modern transformations in French morality are concerned, the author believes that it is essential that French morality develops to reinforce moral issues. The fundamental goal of reinforcing moral issues is to allow people to ultimately find their place in society. It may be said that the French Revolution’s role in politicising morals is in keeping with the theory that both the personal and ultimate objectives of moral thought can only be achieved by politicising morals, which confers a certain subjectivity on morality.
The French Revolution was a huge and unprecedented socio-political movement. For French society, it was the turning point between the old system and pre-modern capitalist society. To achieve this revolution and obtain the changes to the system was an arduous socio-political undertaking. It was not only necessary to introduce social and political changes but to create values that were in line with the revolutionary objectives. The “citizen” and the “patriot” were at the core of these values.
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- English: doc_472.pdf (93 KiB)
- French: doc_471.pdf (110 KiB)
- Chinese: doc_473.pdf (64 KiB)