Cilj je rada izdvojiti i izložiti segmente filozofije politike kruga francuskih enciklopedista te prikazati i naglasiti njezin utjecaj na stvaranje uvjeta za Francusku revoluciju. Francuska revolucija nipošto nije jedinstvena u svojem određenju i ne može se svesti isključivo na 1789. godinu, već
je naprotiv, prema domašaju i raznolikosti političkih ideja trajala znatno dulje i bila sačinjena od mnoštva različitih i ambivalentnih zahtjeva koje su iznosile različite idejne i političke grupacije inspirirane djelima francuskih prosvjetiteljskih filozofa. Rad će se ograničiti na one koji su prema raznolikosti ideja i svojem međusobnom suprotstavljanju presudno utjecali na budući izgled francuske države (Voltaire,
Montesquieu, Rousseau). Voltaire s koncepcijom deizma i tolerancije te Montesquieu s teorijom podjele vlasti i parlamentarizmom ostali su u okvirima engleskoga političkog sustava. J.-J. Rousseau se, nasuprot
njima, razradom koncepcije opće volje (volonté générale) i teorijom demokratske republike (republikanizma) te kategorijama narodne suverenosti i domoljubnoga odgoja, koje su u potpunosti dovršile
revoluciju, po domašaju i utjecajnosti izdvojio, i u tome smislu otišao korak dalje od svojih suvremenika i enciklopedista te svojim utjecajem poveo stvarnu revoluciju.The intention of this article is to set apart and present segments of political philosophy of French Encyclopaedists and to show their influence on the French Revolution. The French Revolution cannot be easily defined and reduced only to the events which took place in 1789; rather, relative to its reach and plurality of political ideas, it lasted much longer and consisted of many different and ambivalent requests which had been proclaimed by different political groups inspired by the works of the philosophers of the French Enlightenment. This text is limited to the ones who, based on the diversity of ideas and their mutual disagreement, had a crucial influence on the future character of the French state (Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau). Voltaire with his concept of deism and tolerance, as well as Montesquieu with his theory of separation of powers and parliamentarism, remained in the framework of the English political system. Unlike them, J. J. Rousseau stood out in terms of his scope and predominance with his concept of General Will (volonté générale), the theory of democratic republic (republicanism), and by introducing the categories of popular sovereignty and patriotic education, which fully completed the revolution, in this sense he took a step further than his contemporaries and encyclopaedists and in fact he spearheaded the actual Revolution
