THE THOUGHT ON THE RIGHT TO EQUALITY IN 18TH CENTURY FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT PHILOSOPHY – CONTENT, VALUE, AND HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Abstract

Eighteenth-century French Enlightenment intellectuals condemned the existence of injustice, revealed its social foundations, and advocated for the defense of human sacred rights. They assert that equality is an inherent natural right of individuals, linked to liberty. The article elucidates the content and historical significance of the concept of equal rights within the philosophy of the French Enlightenment, utilizing a systematic study of classics alongside analytical, synthetic, and historical materialist methodologies, in the context of the evolution of human thought and the global human liberation movement.