The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word DIDEROT
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More clues leading to the result DIDEROT
- French philosopher thrived on European corruption
- Old philosopher turns to very left-wing papers
- French man of letters charged and executed on retirement
- Enlightened philosopher managed European corruption
- French philosopher produced European nonsense
- Philosopher rushed, performed the wrong way
- Queen held by another has time for French philosopher
- Philosopher’s daughter stupidly rioted
- Philosopher performed, having rushed up
- Philosopher rushed up after theologian, hugging one
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "French philosopher" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case french philosopher = diderot.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.