Pakhsarian Natalia Tigranovna – DS in Philology, Professor, Leading re-searcher at the Department of Literary Studies, Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The article examines the philosophical, journalistic, and literary works of famous French Enlightenment thinkers, which present various interpretations of the concepts of “despotism”, “tyranny”, and the words “despot” and “tyrant”. The texts of Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau reveal the concepts characteristic of the Enlightenment era, including the concept of “enlightened despotism”, which was particularly developed by Voltaire. Some writers create images of various despotic rulers, contrasting them with utopian models of “enlightened monarchs”, while others, rejecting all forms of violence, deny the possibility of rational and just absolutist rule, noting that despotic rulers can be more than just the supreme authorities. Behind the image of “Oriental despotism”, the Enlightenment often conceals a broader understanding of the political, religious, and ethical-psychological lack of freedom associated with the fear and ignorance of European nations. Discussions of Enlightenment about the concepts of “despotism” and “tyranny” remain relevant today.
despotism; tyranny; Enlightenment; philosophy; literature; and the discussion of concepts; Diderot; Montesquieu; Voltaire; Rousseau