ABSTRACT
With the reign of Peter the Great Russia entered the eighteenth century, but in his reign, too, 'Europe' moved into Muscovy. From the social and economic points of view, Russia was closer to most German states than to the more advanced trading and manufacturing Holland and England or the immensely wealthy France. The dominant conceptual framework of the foreigners who came to work and teach in Russia was provided by Cartesian rationalism and the philosophies of natural law as expounded and popularized by Samuel Pufendorf, John Locke, and especially Christian Wolff. The chapter examines what at first glance may seem paradoxical within the context of French cultural influence, usually identified with that of the Enlightenment. It discusses the problem of influences and interconnections between West European culture and Russia in the eighteenth century.
