The group of social critics in Enlightenment France were called?

• A. Satirists
• B. Philosophes
• C. Stoics
• D. Revolutionaries

Answer: (B)

Philosophes were the public intellectuals of the French Enlightenment who used reason, science, and critical inquiry to examine religion, politics, and society. They championed liberty of thought, skepticism of absolute authority, and reform, often expressing their ideas in essays, books, and the Encyclopédie, and they gathered in salons to discuss ideas. This label specifically captures the group known for social critique in Enlightenment France, making it the best fit.

Satirists are writers who rely on humor and irony to critique society, but they aren’t the broader collective name for Enlightenment thinkers. Stoics refer to an ancient school of philosophy focused on virtue and inner discipline, not a contemporary French movement. Revolutionaries describe those who advocate drastic political change, which is too narrow a term for the general circle of Enlightenment critics.