subject: The Origins Of Public Opinion, Freedom Of Thought And Freedom Of Expression [print this page] The concepts public opinion, freedom of speech, freedom of thought and freedom of expression really begun in the 18th century in Europe with the emergence of the word utility. In the 18th century utility for the individual was whatever increases someone"s happiness or wellbeing. But for the society utility was translated to mean the measure of whether a government policy was right or wrong, whether a policy causes the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
The promoters of revolution in America were utilitarian. Man like Benjamin Franklin was utilitarian and so were the founders of liberal economics like the Scotsman Adam Smith.
During the 18th century utilitarian took the form of what the French philosopher Voltaire (One of the towering geniuses in literary and intellectual history) called common sense. It was in the name of common sense that the enlightened thinkers during the 18th century proposed reforms. They asserted to the monarchies to abolish the death penalty, make court trials public, moderate punishment - make the punishments fit the crime. And have one law for all with no exception of class. Above all, they asserted that "let us be able to argue about these matters. Let us have freedom of thought. Let us have freedom of expression".
It was on these grounds that Voltaire clashed with the church which would not allow freedom of expression. Voltaire concluded that the church and its priests were the greatest enemies of progress of human kind. Voltaire was not against God, in principle but like most philosophers Voltaire thought there was some great divine power, a divine clock maker who tuned the world up and then set back and watched humanity make a mess of it.
Voltaire was against organized religion or what you might call denominations. He thought organized religion or denominations were stock of superstition and fanaticism. He was precisely against priests who he said they were misleading people. Voltaire said you have to have a religion but you must not belief in priests. That was anti-cleric. This was a powerful fighting creed that preached intolerance against intolerance but preaching understanding and tolerance for those who did not conform to the tenets of organized established religion. Voltaire spent the most important of his life defending people who were mistreated because of fanaticism, prejudice and injustice.
As Voltaire struggled against fanaticism. In doing this Voltaire practically created something new which we now describe as public opinion. It was in his great political anti-clerical and anti-organized religion campaigns that public opinion became a serious factor in literate societies. And the intellectuals "" the men of letters were recognized as the dynamic force behind public opinion immensely effective in spreading the message of enlightenment which was not only rationalistic but also utilitarian and materialistic "" a belief in technical and economic progress.
The Dictionnaire philosophique (Philosophical Dictionary) is an encyclopedic dictionary published by Voltaire in 1764. The encyclopedia contained 17 volumes all arranged in alphabetical order, which was an innovation because it abandoned traditional categories and hierarchies for more equalization arrangement, which put theology after production, princes after locksmiths because of the letter with which the word began.
The encyclopedia was one long hymn to technical and economic progress. The mechanical arts and their inventors got the degree of attention they never got before. Practical men were regarded as benefactors of human kind. They were articles on trades, dying cloths, of making logs, of making stockings on everything that is human.
