Abstract:
The French philosophers of the 18th century paid great attention to political philosophy, social-political relations, state and law. The historical reats of social and ethical conceptions formulated by the French philosophers Diderot, Holbach, la Mettrie should be found in the philosophy of English materialism. Like John Locke, they didn't admit to the existence of innate ideas and considered that both consciousness and morality are determined by the social environment. In order to educate somebody, to provide a sound morality it is necessary to improve the social environment. The French thinkers asserted that the way of perfecting this environment depends on the correspondence between the social laws and the natural needs and laws.
The French philosophers ‘conceptions of man and society continue to be of great interest in our time.
