CHAP 7 (mar 16, 1775 – jul 16, 1781)

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Robespierre :::::::::::::::Both German reformers and French revolutionaries wanted to reduce central government control over religion. Germany had already fought for this, and the French Revolution tried to do the same by ending state‑controlled Catholicism. But Robespierre briefly tried to impose a new state religion, which failed when he was executed. In the end, France settled into a system similar to Germany’s, with limited religious freedom and no domination by distant authorities like the Pope.

Kant::::::::::::::Kant admired French Enlightenment thinkers, especially Rousseau, who believed humans are naturally good and society corrupts them. French revolutionaries tried to apply Rousseau’s ideas by tearing down old institutions, expecting virtue to emerge. Instead, the collapse of laws and order produced chaos and violence, showing that institutions restrain human impulses rather than corrupt them.

Hobbes:::::::;Without laws, rules, and social institutions, society would collapse into chaos. Hobbes argued that humans need structure to restrain their worst impulses, and without it, life would become violent and primitive — closer to brute‑force survival than a functioning community.

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