French materialists of the 18th century believed that there is no spiritual dimension to life. They believed that there is only the physical. They also believed that humans are just fleshy robots and should not be held up to morality. They thought criminals should not be punished because they are just doing what their genes tell them to do. They also wanted to maximize sense pleasers.
Not all trains of thought from the 18th century were weird. Some are both good and likely true.The invisible hand of the free market is the idea of how the free market balances itself out. If one industry is making a lot of profit, it will eventually balance out. If businesses in another industry are making very little profit, it will balance out. People will move out of the unprofitable industry until those remaining do profit. They will move toward the profitable industries, increasing their competition. The invisible hand is the thing that makes sure the market is always balanced. It controls all.
We can also learn something from the wars happening at this time.The War of the Austrian Succession was ultimately the fault of Prussia. Prussia wanted a piece of territory, so they made up a reason to dispute the queen of Austria's claim to the throne and declared war. The war had a few phases, but Prussia ultimately won.
