The Helvetic Society, founded in 1762, brought together thinkers from all over the country, both Reformed and Roman Catholic, to promote "Friendship and love, association and harmony among the confederates." The society reflected a strong sense of Swissness. Love of country was linked to the promotion of the common good, rather than to an abstract ideal or the interests of the ruling classes.

Debating clubs, reading circles and other societies also sprang up. They helped spread the subversive ideas of thinkers like Diderot ("No man has received from nature the right to give orders to others"), Voltaire and Rousseau ("Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains").