The "old regime" was for old needs; did it satisfy new
requirements?
[Sidenote: Influence of Philosophy]
To this question the philosophers of the eighteenth century responded
unequivocally in the negative. Scientists, of whom the period was full,
had done much to exalt the notions that the universe is run in
accordance with immutable laws of nature and that man must forever
utilize his reasoning faculties. It was not long before the
philosophers were applying the scientists' notions to social
conditions. "Is this reasonable?" they asked, or, "Is that rational?"
Montesquieu insisted that divine-right monarchy is unreasonable.
Voltaire poked fun at the Church and the clergy for being irrational.
Rousseau claimed that class inequalities have no basis in reason.
Beccaria taught that arbitrary or cruel interference with personal
liberty is not in accordance with dictates of nature or reason.
Philosophy did not directly effect a change; it was merely an
expression of a growing belief in the advisability of change.
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