This document provides an overview of session 7 of the course "Justice & Power" which focuses on Montesquieu. It discusses the Enlightenment period following Newton's Principia and the Scientific Revolution. During this time, new attention was paid to applying scientific theories to increase wealth, comfort and happiness. The document also examines Montesquieu's education and career, and his influential work "De l'esprit des lois" published in 1748. It provides context on the spread of Enlightenment ideas in Europe and their influence on the founding of America. Key figures discussed include Montesquieu, Rousseau, Jefferson and Burke.

1. Montesquieu
Justice & Power, session vii

2. Montesquieu
Justice & Power, session vii

3. Topics in This Session
i. Introduction-The Age of the Democratic Revolution
ii.Ancien Regime
iii.Enlightenment
iv.Montesquieu’s Education
v.Montesquieu’s Career
vi.De l’esprit des lois, 1748
vii.Criticism

4. Introduction
The Age of the Democratic
Revolution

5. Introduction
The Age of the Democratic
Revolution

6. Newton’s Principia is commonly taken to divide the first and
second phases of the Scientific Revolution•.
Justice & Power, p. 29

7. Newton’s Principia is commonly taken to divide the first and
second phases of the Scientific Revolution•.
Justice & Power, p. 29

8. Newton’s Principia is commonly taken to divide the first and
second phases of the Scientific Revolution•. For a century and a
half before 1687 the “new learning” had spread and gained
momentum. Then, after giving birth to calculus and Newtonian
mechanics, the Revolution entered a period of consolidation
called the Enlightenment. The next century saw diverse and
widespread attempts to apply the new theories to increase
wealth, comfort, and happiness. New attention was focused on
the “soft” social sciences, whereas the focus had previously been
upon the “hard” physical sciences.
Justice & Power, p. 29

9. Newton’s Principia is commonly taken to divide the first and
second phases of the Scientific Revolution•. For a century and a
half before 1687 the “new learning” had spread and gained
momentum. Then, after giving birth to calculus and Newtonian
mechanics, the Revolution entered a period of consolidation
called the Enlightenment. The next century saw diverse and
widespread attempts to apply the new theories to increase
wealth, comfort, and happiness. New attention was focused on
the “soft” social sciences, whereas the focus had previously been
upon the “hard” physical sciences.
Justice & Power, p. 29

10. In this chapter we will consider together four disparate
representatives of Enlightenment thought. A major concern of
this part of the course will be to see America’s foundation in the
context of Western Civilization. The ideas which “[impelled us]
to the separation,” natural rights, government by consent,
sovereignty of the people, and separation of powers, all were
perfectly familiar in Europe during the Enlightenment. As
Robert Palmer• suggests...

11. In this chapter we will consider together four disparate
representatives of Enlightenment thought. A major concern of
this part of the course will be to see America’s foundation in the
context of Western Civilization. The ideas which “[impelled us]
to the separation,” natural rights, government by consent,
sovereignty of the people, and separation of powers, all were
perfectly familiar in Europe during the Enlightenment. As
Robert Palmer• suggests, “the most distinctive work of the
[American] Revolution was in finding a method, and furnishing
a model, for putting these ideas into practical effect.” (The Age
of the Democratic Revolution, vol. i, p. 214)

12. In this chapter we will consider together four disparate
representatives of Enlightenment thought. A major concern of
this part of the course will be to see America’s foundation in the
context of Western Civilization. The ideas which “[impelled us]
to the separation,” natural rights, government by consent,
sovereignty of the people, and separation of powers, all were
perfectly familiar in Europe during the Enlightenment. As
Robert Palmer• suggests, “the most distinctive work of the
[American] Revolution was in finding a method, and furnishing
a model, for putting these ideas into practical effect.” (The Age
of the Democratic Revolution, vol. i, p. 214)

13. Tendencies to attack traditional authorities like Aristotle and the
Church• were manifested as early as the sixteenth century.

14. Tendencies to attack traditional authorities like Aristotle and the
Church• were manifested as early as the sixteenth century. By
the eighteenth century the trickle of scepticism had become a
flood. Even Spain finally had to give up burning heretics.• In
one sense this “rise of modern paganism” was part of the
stalemate after two centuries of religious wars. Toleration and
freedom from dogmatism created deism as preferable to the type
of sectarian slaughter displayed today [1977] in Lebanon, Ulster,
and Uganda.• [Today, 2012, we may substitute jihad and
southern Sudan as examples] How widespread the new faith in
Reason was can be argued. Certainly ignorance and superstition
had their disciples. But there is no denying that scientific
progress did fire the imagination of many.

15. Tendencies to attack traditional authorities like Aristotle and the
Church• were manifested as early as the sixteenth century. By
the eighteenth century the trickle of scepticism had become a
flood. Even Spain finally had to give up burning heretics.• In
one sense this “rise of modern paganism” was part of the
stalemate after two centuries of religious wars. Toleration and
freedom from dogmatism created deism as preferable to the type
of sectarian slaughter displayed today [1977] in Lebanon...

16. Tendencies to attack traditional authorities like Aristotle and the
Church• were manifested as early as the sixteenth century. By
the eighteenth century the trickle of scepticism had become a
flood. Even Spain finally had to give up burning heretics.• In
one sense this “rise of modern paganism” was part of the
stalemate after two centuries of religious wars. Toleration and
freedom from dogmatism created deism as preferable to the type
of sectarian slaughter displayed today [1977] in Lebanon,
Ulster, ....

17. Tendencies to attack traditional authorities like Aristotle and the
Church• were manifested as early as the sixteenth century. By
the eighteenth century the trickle of scepticism had become a
flood. Even Spain finally had to give up burning heretics.• In
one sense this “rise of modern paganism” was part of the
stalemate after two centuries of religious wars. Toleration and
freedom from dogmatism created deism as preferable to the type
of sectarian slaughter displayed today [1977] in Lebanon,
Ulster, ...

18. Tendencies to attack traditional authorities like Aristotle and the
Church• were manifested as early as the sixteenth century. By
the eighteenth century the trickle of scepticism had become a
flood. Even Spain finally had to give up burning heretics.• In
one sense this “rise of modern paganism” was part of the
stalemate after two centuries of religious wars. Toleration and
freedom from dogmatism created deism as preferable to the type
of sectarian slaughter displayed today [1977] in Lebanon, Ulster,
and Uganda.• [Today, 2012, we may substitute jihad and
southern Sudan as examples] How widespread the new faith in
Reason was can be argued. Certainly ignorance and superstition
had their disciples. But there is no denying that scientific
progress did fire the imagination of many.

19. Tendencies to attack traditional authorities like Aristotle and the
Church• were manifested as early as the sixteenth century. By
the eighteenth century the trickle of scepticism had become a
flood. Even Spain finally had to give up burning heretics.• In
one sense this “rise of modern paganism” was part of the
stalemate after two centuries of religious wars. Toleration and
freedom from dogmatism created deism as preferable to the type
of sectarian slaughter displayed today [1977] in Lebanon, Ulster,
and Uganda.• ...

20. Tendencies to attack traditional authorities like Aristotle and the
Church• were manifested as early as the sixteenth century. By
the eighteenth century the trickle of scepticism had become a
flood. Even Spain finally had to give up burning heretics.• In
one sense this “rise of modern paganism” was part of the
stalemate after two centuries of religious wars. Toleration and
freedom from dogmatism created deism as preferable to the type
of sectarian slaughter displayed today [1977] in Lebanon, Ulster,
and Uganda.• [Today, 2012, we may substitute jihad and
southern Sudan as examples] How widespread the new faith in
Reason was can be argued. Certainly ignorance and superstition
had their disciples. But there is no denying that scientific
progress did fire the imagination of many.

21. Tendencies to attack traditional authorities like Aristotle and the
Church• were manifested as early as the sixteenth century. By
the eighteenth century the trickle of scepticism had become a
flood. Even Spain finally had to give up burning heretics.• In
one sense this “rise of modern paganism” was part of the
stalemate after two centuries of religious wars. Toleration and
freedom from dogmatism created deism as preferable to the type
of sectarian slaughter displayed today [1977] in Lebanon, Ulster,
and Uganda.• [Today, 2012, we may substitute jihad and
southern Sudan as examples] How widespread the new faith in
Reason was can be argued. Certainly ignorance and superstition
had their disciples. But there is no denying that scientific
progress did fire the imagination of many.

22. The [famous] historian Georges Lefebvre [1874-1959] links
the Enlightenment to class.
The temper of the bourgeoisie...had differed since the beginning from
that of the warrior or the priest….Experimental rationalism had laid the
foundations of modern science and in the eighteenth century promised
to embrace all man’s activity. It armed the bourgeoisie with a new
philosophy which, especially in France, encouraged class
consciousness and a bold inventive spirit.
(The French Revolution, p. 54)
This should not blind us to the fact that some of the most
famous philosophes were aristocrats like Montesquieu, some
self-imposed exiles from society like Rousseau, natural
aristocrats like Jefferson, or gentry like Burke.

23. The [famous] historian Georges Lefebvre [1874-1959]• links
the Enlightenment to class.
The temper of the bourgeoisie...had differed since the beginning from
that of the warrior or the priest….Experimental rationalism had laid the
foundations of modern science and in the eighteenth century promised
to embrace all man’s activity. It armed the bourgeoisie with a new
philosophy which, especially in France, encouraged class
consciousness and a bold inventive spirit.
(The French Revolution, p. 54)•
This should not blind us to the fact that some of the most
famous philosophes were aristocrats like Montesquieu, ...

24. The [famous] historian Georges Lefebvre [1874-1959]• links
the Enlightenment to class.
The temper of the bourgeoisie...had differed since the beginning from
that of the warrior or the priest….Experimental rationalism had laid the
foundations of modern science and in the eighteenth century promised
to embrace all man’s activity. It armed the bourgeoisie with a new
philosophy which, especially in France, encouraged class
consciousness and a bold inventive spirit.
(The French Revolution, p. 54)•
This should not blind us to the fact that some of the most
famous philosophes were aristocrats like Montesquieu, some
self-imposed exiles from society like Rousseau, ...

25. The [famous] historian Georges Lefebvre [1874-1959]• links
the Enlightenment to class.
The temper of the bourgeoisie...had differed since the beginning from
that of the warrior or the priest….Experimental rationalism had laid the
foundations of modern science and in the eighteenth century promised
to embrace all man’s activity. It armed the bourgeoisie with a new
philosophy which, especially in France, encouraged class
consciousness and a bold inventive spirit.
(The French Revolution, p. 54)•
This should not blind us to the fact that some of the most
famous philosophes were aristocrats like Montesquieu, some
self-imposed exiles from society like Rousseau, natural
aristocrats like Jefferson, or gentry...

26. The [famous] historian Georges Lefebvre [1874-1959]• links
the Enlightenment to class.
The temper of the bourgeoisie...had differed since the beginning from
that of the warrior or the priest….Experimental rationalism had laid the
foundations of modern science and in the eighteenth century promised
to embrace all man’s activity. It armed the bourgeoisie with a new
philosophy which, especially in France, encouraged class
consciousness and a bold inventive spirit.
(The French Revolution, p. 54)•
This should not blind us to the fact that some of the most
famous philosophes were aristocrats like Montesquieu•,
some self-imposed exiles from society like Rousseau•,
natural aristocrats like Jefferson, or gentry like Burke.

27. Enlightenment thought on the nature of the state was broad
enough to include organic theorists like Montesquieu and
Burke ...

28. Enlightenment thought on the nature of the state was broad
enough to include organic theorists like Montesquieu and
Burke and also instrumentalists...

29. Enlightenment thought on the nature of the state was broad
enough to include organic theorists like Montesquieu and
Burke and also instrumentalists like Jefferson and Rousseau...

30. Enlightenment thought on the nature of the state was broad
enough to include organic theorists like Montesquieu and
Burke and also instrumentalists like Jefferson and Rousseau.
The degree of bitterness with which critics denounced the
status quo varied widely also. Montesquieu and Burke were
basically enlightened aristocratic reformers who believed that
popular sovereignty was a dangerous seducement.

31. Enlightenment thought on the nature of the state was broad
enough to include organic theorists like Montesquieu and
Burke and also instrumentalists like Jefferson and Rousseau•.
The degree of bitterness with which critics denounced the
status quo varied widely also. Montesquieu and Burke• were
basically enlightened aristocratic reformers who believed that
popular sovereignty was a dangerous seducement. Rousseau
and Jefferson would not settle for half a revolutionary loaf..

32. Enlightenment thought on the nature of the state was broad
enough to include organic theorists like Montesquieu and
Burke and also instrumentalists like Jefferson and Rousseau.
The degree of bitterness with which critics denounced the
status quo varied widely also. Montesquieu and Burke were
basically enlightened aristocratic reformers who believed that
popular sovereignty was a dangerous seducement. Rousseau
and Jefferson would not settle for half a revolutionary loaf.
When we apply the criteria of optimism, faith in progress, and
the perfectibility of man, we find different pairs. Jefferson and
Montesquieu looked to the future with the greatest confidence.

33. Enlightenment thought on the nature of the state was broad
enough to include organic theorists like Montesquieu and
Burke and also instrumentalists like Jefferson and Rousseau.
The degree of bitterness with which critics denounced the
status quo varied widely also. Montesquieu and Burke were
basically enlightened aristocratic reformers who believed that
popular sovereignty was a dangerous seducement. Rousseau
and Jefferson would not settle for half a revolutionary loaf.
When we apply the criteria of optimism, faith in progress, and
the perfectibility of man, we find different pairs. Jefferson and
Montesquieu looked to the future with the greatest confidence.
Burke and Rousseau both suspected conventional notions of
progress.

34. By the end of the eighteenth century events forced men to
choose. Men either sided with Rousseau and Jefferson in
sharing “...a new feeling for a kind of equality, or at least a
discomfort with older forms of social stratification” in
Palmer’s succinct description of the Democratic Revolution’s
core. (Democratic Revolution, p. 4). Or, men recoiled from the
forces which events had called forth and sought conservative
checks on the power unleashed from the depths of society.

35. As you review the history and read the excerpts from this
decisive period, remember that the issues which these men argued
are not closed, not settled once and for all. When Franklin was
leaving the Philadelphia Convention in September, 1787...

37. As you review the history and read the excerpts from this
decisive period, remember that the issues which these men argued
are not closed, not settled once and for all. When Franklin was
leaving the Philadelphia Convention in September, 1787, a lady
asked him what form of government they had settled upon behind
closed doors. The answer was “A Republic, Madam, if you can
keep it.” As the Greeks knew only too well, democracy has a
habit of giving way to tyranny.

38. Ancien Regime

39. Ancien Regime

40. II. Ancien Regime
A. aristocracy
B. Huguenots
1. Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1695
2. anti-clericalism
3. ecrasez l’enfame- Voltaire

41. “...gilded butterflies…”--King Lear, v, 3

42. nobles vs aristocrats
In 18th century France both these terms were used for the Second Estate
But by this time many distinctions had developed within the group which
constituted perhaps the top 1.5- 2 % of the 24-28 million citizens of France. The
newer term, aristocrat, implied not only noble birth but also “liberal education,
refined manners, punctilious courtesy and the nicest sense of personal
honor” (John Paul Jones’ definition of a naval officer). T broad divisions
wo
existed: noblesse d’épée (...of the sword) and ...de robe (the lawyers ennobled as
judges). Montesquieu’s family qualified under both.The range of personal wealth
varied greatly. Some of the poorest, called hobireaux, were less well off than
some peasant proprietors!
It was said the the king could create a noble with the touch of his sword but that
it took three generations to create an aristocrat. Again, Montesquieu qualified
under both definitions.
jbp

43. II.B. Huguenots-French Protestants
1. Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1695. “Good King”Henri iv had granted the
Huguenots limited religious toleration in this edict in 1598•. Louis xiv felt strong
enough to revoke it. As late as the 1780s Protestant clergy were condemned to
row in the galleys of Toulon

44. II.B. Huguenots-French Protestants
The original edict of 1598 which had guaranteed limited religious freedom

45. II.B. Huguenots-French Protestants
1. Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1695. “Good King”Henri iv had granted the
Huguenots limited religious toleration in this edict in 1598•. Louis xiv felt strong
enough to revoke it. As late as the 1780s Protestant clergy were condemned to
row in the galleys of Toulon
2. As the Enlightenment began to sway the literate upper classes, a wave of
hostility towards the Church and its privileged position turned into anti-
clericalism

46. II.B. Huguenots-French Protestants
1. Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1695. “Good King”Henri iv had granted the
Huguenots limited religious toleration in this edict in 1598•. Louis xiv felt strong
enough to revoke it. As late as the 1780s Protestant clergy were condemned to
row in the galleys of Toulon
2. As the Enlightenment began to sway the literate upper classes, a wave of
hostility towards the Church and its privileged position turned into anti-
clericalism
3. most famous was Voltaire’s "écrasez l'infâme", or "crush the infamous". The
phrase refers to abuses of the people by royalty and the clergy that Voltaire
saw around him, and the superstition and intolerance that the clergy bred
within the people.”--Wikipedia

47. Enlightenment
A Philosopher giving a Lecture on the Orrery in which a lamp is put in place of the Sun
painting by Joseph Wright of Derby, ca 1766

48. A Philosopher giving a Lecture on the Orrery in which a lamp is put in place of the Sun
painting by Joseph Wright of Derby, ca 1766

49. III. Enlightenment - l’ eclairement
A. Pope’s couplet
B. applications
1. clocks
2. industrial revolution
3. social science
C. Denis Diderot’s Encyclopedie, 1751-72
1. contributors
2. themes
a. philosophy
b. theology
c. social theory
d. political theory

50. III.A.-Pope’s couplet
"Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night;
God said, Let Newton be! and all was light."

51. III.A.-Pope’s couplet
"Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night;
God said, Let Newton be! and all was light."
"Let there be light" is an English translation of the Hebrew ‫( יְהִי אֹור‬yehiy 'or). Other translations of
the same phrase include the Latin phrase fiat lux, and the Greek phrase γενηθήτω φῶς (or
genēthētō phōs). The phrase is often used for its metaphorical meaning of dispelling ignorance.
The phrase comes from the third verse of the Book of Genesis. In the King James Bible, it reads, in
context:
1:1 - In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
1:2 - And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
1:3 - And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
1:4 - And God saw the light, and it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
Wikipedia

52. III.A.-Pope’s couplet
The phrase "Let there be light" used metaphorically over the door of a Carnegie library, in Edinburgh

53. hence, the Enlightenment
Aufklärung, Ger. = cf., clarification, clearing up
éclairement, Fr.
просвещение, (pros•vesh•CHENIE)Russ. = from
CBET, “light,” a “bringing to light”

54. III.B. Applications
1. clocks
1. A major stimulus to improving the accuracy and reliability of clocks was the importance of precise time-
keeping for navigation. The position of a ship at sea could be determined with reasonable accuracy if
a navigator could refer to a clock that lost or gained less than about 10 seconds per day. This clock
could not contain a pendulum, which would be virtually useless on a rocking ship. Many European
governments offered a large prize for anyone who could determine longitude accurately; for example,
Great Britain offered 20,000 pounds, equivalent to millions of dollars today. The reward was
eventually claimed in 1761 by John Harrison, who dedicated his life to improving the accuracy of his
clocks. His H5 clock was in error by less than 5 seconds over 10 weeks.

55. III.B. Applications

56. 18th century exploring the globe-greatly
aided by chronometers, better chart-making & navigation
Vitus Bering (1681-1741) Danish explorer who explored Siberia and Alaska for
Russia
Carl Linnaeus (1708-1778)- Swedish biologist. his six-month expedition to
Lapland in 1732 described about 100 previously unknown plants
Juan José Pérez Hernández (1725-1775) Spanish explorer, the first to chart the
American Pacific Northwest
James Cook (1728-1779) British naval commander. Explored much of the Pacific
including New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii
Alexander MacKenzie (1764-1820) Scottish-Canadian explorer who in 1789,
looking for the Northwest Passage, followed the river now named for him to the
Arctic Ocean and then in 1793 crossed the Rockies and reached the Pacific,
thus beating Lewis and Clark by 12 years

57. 18th century exploring the globe-greatly
aided by chronometers, better chart-making & navigation
Vitus Bering (1681-1741) Danish explorer who explored Siberia and Alaska for
Russia
Carl Linnaeus (1708-1778)- Swedish biologist. his six-month expedition to
Lapland in 1732 described about 100 previously unknown plants
Juan José Pérez Hernández (1725-1775) Spanish explorer, the first to chart the
American Pacific Northwest
James Cook (1728-1779) British naval commander. Explored much of the Pacific
including New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii
Alexander MacKenzie (1764-1820) Scottish-Canadian explorer who in 1789,
looking for the Northwest Passage, followed the river now named for him to the
Arctic Ocean and then in 1793 crossed the Rockies and reached the Pacific,
thus beating Lewis and Clark by 12 years
A general map of the world by Samuel Dunn, 1794

58. III.B. Applications
1. clocks
2.industrial revolution
1. not simply a story of machinery

59. III.B. Applications
1. clocks
2.industrial revolution
1. not simply a story of machinery
Watt’s steam engine, 1763-1775

60. III.B. Applications
1. clocks
2.industrial revolution
1. not simply a story of machinery
Watt’s steam engine, 1763-1775
2. an Agricultural Revolution freed up cheap urban labor
3. the revolution began in Britain, where there was a special case of
Enlightenment-based advantages:
1. peace, stability & no trade barriers after the 1708 unification of England & Scotland
2. rule of law permitting sanctity of contracts and joint-stock contracts
3. infrastructure of canals & coastal shipping
4. new energy sources (water & coal--> steam) replaced human and animal power
5. an established textile industry which satisfied “man’s second basic need”

61. III.B. Applications
1. clocks
2.industrial revolution
3. social science
1. Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) his reading of Montesquieu led him to
the field of penology
2. His “On Crimes and Punishments” (1764)

62. III.B. Applications
1. clocks
2.industrial revolution
3. social science
1. Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) his reading of Montesquieu led him to
the field of penology
2. His “On Crimes and Punishments” (1764)
1. punishment had a deterrent, as well as a retributive, function
2. punishment should be proportionate to the crime
3. the certainty of punishment, not its severity, would achieve the preventive effect
4. procedures should be public
5. in order to be effective, punishment must be prompt

63. Montesquieu’s
Education

64. Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu
1689 – 1755

65. IV. Montesquieu’s Education
A. classics
1. Stoicism
B. law - social determinism
1. parlement of Bordeaux, 1716-26
a. quasi-executive
b. quasi-judicial

66. IV.A.-classics 1. Stoicism
Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic Emperor, 121-180 A.D.

67. IV.A.-classics 1. Stoicism
Philosophy for a Stoic is not just a set of beliefs or ethical claims, it is a way of
life involving constant practice and training or askesis. Stoic philosophical and
spiritual practices included logic, Socratic dialog and self-dialog, contemplation
of death, training attention to remain in the present moment (similar to some
forms of Eastern meditation), daily reflection on everyday problems and
possible solutions, hypomnemata*, and so on. Philosophy for a Stoic is an
active process of constant practice and self-reminder.
In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius defines several such practices. For
example, in Book II, part 1:
Say to yourself in the early morning: I shall meet today ungrateful, violent,
treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All of these things have come upon
them through ignorance of real good and ill... I can neither be harmed by any of
them, for no man will involve me in wrong, nor can I be angry with my kinsman
or hate him; for we have come into the world to work together…
Wikipedia
* written notes to “remember” important thoughts

68. IV.B.-law-social determinism
1. Parlement of Bordeaux, 1716-1726
He was born [in 1689] at the Château de la Brède in the southwest of France.
Wikipedia

70. IV.B.-law-social determinism
1. Parlement of Bordeaux, 1716-1726
He was born [in 1689] at the Château de la Brède• in the southwest of France.
His father, Jacques de Secondat, was a soldier with a long noble ancestry. His
mother, Marie Françoise de Pesnel who died when Charles de Secondat was
seven, was a female inheritor of a large monetary inheritance who brought the
title of barony of La Brède to the Secondat family. After having studied at the
Catholic College of Juilly, Charles-Louis de Secondat married. His wife, Jeanne
de Lartigue, a Protestant, brought him a substantial dowry when he was 26.
The next year, he inherited a fortune upon the death of his uncle, as well as the
title Baron de Montesquieu and Président à Mortier in the Parliament of
Bordeaux•.
Wikipedia
La Brède

71. IV.B.-law-social determinism
1. Parlement of Bordeaux, 1716-1726
He was born [in 1689] at the Château de la Brède in the southwest of France.
His father, Jacques de Secondat, was a soldier with a long noble ancestry. His
mother, Marie Françoise de Pesnel who died when Charles de Secondat was
seven, was a female inheritor of a large monetary inheritance who brought the
title of barony of La Brède to the Secondat family. After having studied at the
Catholic College of Juilly, Charles-Louis de Secondat married. His wife, Jeanne
de Lartigue, a Protestant, brought him a substantial dowry when he was 26.
The next year, he inherited a fortune upon the death of his uncle, as well as the
title Baron de Montesquieu and Président à Mortier in the Parliament of
Bordeaux.
Wikipedia

72. IV.B.-law-social determinism
1. Parlement of Bordeaux, 1716-1726
a. quasi-executive
b. quasi-judicial
Bordeaux

73. IV.B.-law-social determinism
1. Parlement of Bordeaux, 1716-1726
a. quasi-executive
b. quasi-judicial
Parlement were a medieval body controlled by the French nobility which, by
the 18th century, were local arms of the royal power. They supervised the
king’s orders to the local regions of France and also served as courts in
certain cases.
jbp

74. Montesquieu’s
Career

75. Montesquieu’s
Career
A 19th century picture of the French Academy

76. V. Montesquieu’s Career
1. “man of letters”
2. salon society
3. Persian Letters, 1721
4. L'Académie française 1726-no, 1728-yes
5. travels in England, 1729-31
a. Lord Chesterfield
b. Royal Society
c. Voltaire’s experience
6. Considerations on the Greatness and Decline of Rome, 1734

77. V.1- “man of letters”
Men of letters
The term "Man of Letters" ("belletrist", from the French belles-lettres), has been
used in some Western cultures to denote contemporary intellectual men; the
term rarely denotes "scholars", and is not synonymous with "academic".
Originally the term implied a distinction between the literate and the illiterate,
which carried great weight when literacy was rare. It also denoted the literati
(Latin, plural of literatus), the "citizens of the Republic of Letters" in
seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France, where it evolved into the salon,
usually run by women.”
Wikipedia

78. V.2 -salon society

79. V.2 -salon society
Voltaire
Anciet Charles Gabriel Lemonnier (1743-1824): Madame Geo!in's salon in 1755, painted in 1812

80. V.3 - Persian Letters, 1721
at age 32, he became a European celebrity with this
bombshell, published anonymously in Geneva
“Through the letters of two imaginary Persian visitors
to Paris, he showed the reactions of unprejudiced
observers to the irrationalities and imperfections of
the western world
“...the device enabled him to comment on taboos that
would otherwise be too delicate to handle
[its sexual content added to its popularity]
“[he] satirized the Roman Catholic Church …
“...the pope is described as a magician who makes
believe ‘that three are one, that the bread one eats is
not bread…’
“the clergy…’a society of persons who always take,
and never give.’ “--Ebenstein, p. 415

81. V.4-L'Académie française
In 1726 Montesquieu was proposed--at an unusually early
age [37]--for membership in the French Academy, but
king Louis XV objected. In 1728 he was able to win entry
into the ranks of the “immortals” in French letters.
During that same year he set out on his travels, which
took him to Austria, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, Germany,
and Holland; from Holland, in the fall of 1729, he went to
England, where he stayed until the spring of 1731.
Ebenstein, p.p. 415-416

82. V.5 - Travels in England, 1729-1731
a. Montesquieu was the house guest of this
famous luminary of the British
Enlightenment. They had met in the
Netherlands where Lord Chesterfield had
been the British ambassador
Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of
Chesterfield, PC, KG
1694 – 1773
a British statesman and man of letters

83. V.5.a.- Lord Chesterfield
Among the quotations attributed to him are:
• "The world is a country which nobody ever yet knew by description; one must travel
through it one's self to be acquainted with it."
• "An able man shows his spirit by gentle words and resolute actions."
• "I recommend you to take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves."
• "Firmness of purpose is one of the most necessary sinews of character, and one of the
best instruments of success. Without it, genius wastes its efforts in a maze of
inconsistencies."
• "The scholar, without good breeding, is a pedant; the philosopher, a cynic; the soldier, a
brute; and every man disagreeable."
Wikipedia

84. V.5 - Travels in England, 1729-1731
a. Montesquieu was the house guest of this
famous luminary of the British
Enlightenment. They had met in the
Netherlands where Lord Chesterfield had
been the British ambassador
b. as Montesquieu visited the country
estates of his fellow aristocrats, he gained
backers who voted to make him a member
of the Royal Society
Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of
Chesterfield, PC, KG
1694 – 1773
a British statesman and man of letters

85. V.5 - Travels in England, 1729-1731
a. Montesquieu was the house guest of this
famous luminary of the English
Enlightenment. They had met in the
Netherlands where Lord Chesterfield had
been the British ambassador
b. as Montesquieu visited the country estates
of his fellow aristocrats, he gained backers
who made him a member of the Royal
Society
c. 1726-28-Voltaire had been charged by the
noble Rohan family in a lettre de cachet. He
asked to have his imprisonment in the François-Marie Arouet
Bastille commuted to exile in England. Thus 1694 – 1778
began his attempts to reform the French known by his nom de plume
judicial system. His experience of England, Voltaire
albeit from a less exalted station, also
convinced him that France had a great deal
to learn from their ancient foe

86. V.6- Considerations on the Greatness and Decline of Rome, 1734
Montesquieu returned to France in 1731, full of ideas and projects for future
books. In 1734 he published his Considerations on the Greatness and Decline of
Rome. Roman history was a convenient starting point for his favorite theories,
soon to be developed more fully. Speaking of the capacity of a state to correct
its own mistakes and abuses, Montesquieu mentions Rome, Carthage, Athens,
and the Italian city-republics; lamenting their shortcomings in self-analysis and
self-correction, he says: “ The government of England is wiser, because there is
a body [Parliament] which examines it continuously and continuously examines
itself; its errors never last long, and are often useful because of the spirit of
attention they give to the people. In a word, a free government, that is, one that
is always agitated, cannot be maintained if it is not capable of correction
through its own laws.”
Ebenstein, p. 416

87. In both Persian Letters and Considerations…, Montesquieu was
able to evade the pervasive government censorship of his time.
Voltaire and many other of the philosophes would be jailed for their
publications. But Montesquieu took swipes at the oppressive régime
of French absolutism in “coded” ways which his audience
understood but which could be denied if challenged by the censors.
The “Persians” often lamented the absolutism of Persia. The
criticism of the Roman emperors was easily seen as an indictment of
similar French royal abuses.
jbp

88. De l’esprit des lois
1748

89. De l’esprit des lois A first edition
offered recently
1748 at $11,000

90. MONTESQUIEU
De l’esprit des lois, 1748
Thomas Nugent, trans., 1752. Cincinnati: Robert. Clarke & Co., 1873.
BOOK I
OF LAWS IN GENERAL
CHAP. II - Of the Laws of Nature
Antecedent to the [man-made] laws are those of nature, so called, because they derive
their force entirely from our frame and existence. In order to have a perfect knowledge
of these laws, we must consider man before the establishment of society: the laws
received in such a state would be those of nature.
….Such a man would feel nothing in himself at first but impotency and weakness; his
fears and apprehensions would be excessive; as appears from instances 9were there any
necessity of proving it) of savages found in forests, trembling at the motion of a leaf,
and flying at every shadow.
In this state every man, instead of being sensible of his equality, would fancy himself
inferior. There would therefore be no danger of their attacking one another; peace would
be the first law of nature. (cont.)

91. In this state every man, instead of being sensible of his equality, would fancy himself
inferior. There would therefore be no danger of their attacking one another; peace would
be the first law of nature. (cont.)
The natural impulse or desire which Hobbes attributes to mankind of subduing one
another, is far from being well-founded. The idea of empire and dominion is so
complex, and depends on so many other notions, that it could never be the first which
occurred to human understanding.
Hobbes inquires, “For what reason men go armed, and have locks and keys to fasten
their doors, if they be not naturally in a state of war?” But is it not obvious, that he
attributes to mankind before the establishment of society, what can happen but in
consequence of this establishment, which furnishes them with motives for hostile
attacks and self defense.
Next to a sense of his weakness man would soon find that of his wants. Hence
another law of nature would prompt him to seek for nourishment.
Fear, I have observed, would induce men to shun one another; but the marks of this
fear being reciprocal, would soon engage them to associate. Besides, this association
would quickly follow from the very pleasure one animal feels at the approach of another
of the same species Again, the attraction arising from the difference of sexes would
enhance this pleasure; and the natural inclination they have for each other, would form a
third law.
….and a fourth law of nature results from the desire of living in society.

92. VI. De l’esprit des lois, 1748
1.monarchy, republic, and despotism
2. separation of powers
3. role of the aristocracy
4. geopolitics and social sciences

93. remember Aristotle’s taxonomy?

94. Montesquieu’s is similar, yet simpler:
despotism
republic

95. What happened to government by the few?
Montesquieu sees the aristocracy, his own class, as having a
significant part to play in both the “good” kinds of
governments: monarchy and republics. This role will be
described below.

96. VI. 1. monarchy, republic, and despotism
BOOK II
OF LAWS IN DIRECTLY DERIVED FROM
THE NATURE OF GOVERNMENT
CHAP. I - Of the Nature of the three different
Governments
THERE are three species of government: republican, monarchial, and despotic. In
order to discover their nature, it is sufficient to recollect the common notion, which
supposes three definitions, or rather three facts: that a republican government is that in
which the body, or only a part of the people, is possessed of the supreme power:
monarchy, that in which a single person governs by fixed and established laws: a
despotic government, that in which a single person directs every thing by his own will
and caprice.
This is what I call the nature of each government; we must now enquire into those
laws which directly conform to this nature, and consequently are the fundamental
institutions.

97. VI. 1. monarchy, republic, and despotism (cont.)
CHAP. II - Of the Republican Government, and the
Laws relative to Democracy
When the body of the people is possessed of the supreme power, this is called
democracy. When the supreme power is lodged in the hands of a part of the people, it is
then an aristocracy.
In a democracy the people are in some respects the sovereign, in others the subject.
There can be no exercise of sovereignty but by their suffrages, which are their own
will; now the sovereign’s will is the sovereign himself….
The people, in whom the supreme power resides, ought to have the management of
every thing within their reach: what exceeds their abilities, must be conducted by their
ministers….
The people are extremely well qualified for choosing those whom they are to entrust
with part of their authority….But are they capable of conducting an intricate affair, of
seizing and improving the opportunity and critical moment of action? No; this surpasses
their abilities.

98. VI. 1. monarchy, republic, and despotism (cont.)
BOOK III
OF THE PRINCIPLES OF THE THREE
KINDS OF GOVERNMENT
CHAP. I - Difference between the Nature and
Principle of Government.
After having examined the laws relative to the nature of each government, we must
investigate those which relate to its principle.
There is this difference between the nature and principle of government: that the
former is that by which it is constituted, the latter that by which it is made to act. One is
its particular structure, the other the human passions which set it in motion.
Now, laws ought to be no less relative to the principle than to the nature of each
government. We must, therefore, inquire into the principle, which shall be the subject of
this third book.

99. VI. 1. monarchy, republic, and despotism (cont.)
CHAP. II -Of the Principle of different Governments.
I have already observed, that it is the nature of a republican government, that either
the collective body of the people, or particular families, should be possessed of the
supreme power; of a monarchy, that the prince…of a despotic government….This
enables me to discover their three principles; which are naturally derived from thence. I
shall begin with republican government; and in particular with that of democracy.
CHAP. III -Of the Principle of Democracy.
There is no great share of probity necessary to support a monarchial or despotic
government. The force of laws in one, and the prince’s arm in the other, are sufficient to
direct and maintain the whole. But in a popular state, one spring more is necessary,
namely virtue….

100. VI. 1. monarchy, republic, and despotism (cont.)
CHAP. IX -Of the Principle of despotic Government.
As virtue is necessary in a republic, and in a monarchy honour, so fear is necessary
in a despotic government: with regard to virtue, there is no occasion for it, and honour
would be extremely dangerous.
Here the immense power of the prince is devolved entirely upon those whom he is
pleased to entrust with the administration. Persons capable of setting a value upon
themselves, would likely create disturbances. Fear must therefore depress their spirits,
and extinguish the least sense of ambition.
A moderate government may, whenever it pleases, and without the least danger,
relax its springs. It supports itself by the laws, and by its own internal strength. But
when a despotic prince ceases one single moment to lift up his arm...all is over: for, as
fear, the spring of this government, no longer subsists, the people are left without a
protector.

101. VI. 2. separation of powers
BOOK XI
OF LAWS WHICH ESTABLISH POLITICAL
LIBERTY, WITH REGARD TO THE
CONSTITUTION
CHAP. III - In what Liberty consists
It is true, that in democracies the people seem to act as they please; but political
liberty does not consist in an unlimited freedom. In governments, that is, in societies
directed by laws, liberty can consist only in the power of doing what we ought to will,
and in not being constrained to do what we ought not to will.
We must have continually present to our minds the difference between
independence and liberty. Liberty is the right od doing whatever the laws permit; and
if a citizen could do what they forbid, he would no longer possess liberty, because all
his fellow-citizens would have the same power.
CHAP. IV - The same Subject continued
Democratic and aristocratic states are not in their own nature free. Political liberty is
to be found only in moderate governments; and even in these, it is not always found. It
is there only when there is no abuse of power; but constant experience shews us...(cont).

102. VI. 2. separation of powers (cont.)
CHAP. IV - The same Subject continued
Democratic and aristocratic states are not in their own nature free. Political liberty is
to be found only in moderate governments; and even in these, it is not always found. It
is there only when there is no abuse of power; but constant experience shews us...(cont.)
that every man invested in power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it
will go. Is it not strange, though true, to say, that virtue itself has need of limits?
To prevent this abuse, it is necessary from the very nature of things, power should be a
check to power. A government may be so constituted, as no man shall be compelled to
do things to which the law does not oblige him,nor forced to abstain from things which
the law permits.
CHAP. V - Of the End or View of Different Governments
Though all governments have the same general end, which is that of preservation, yet
each has another particular object. Increase of dominion was the object of Rome; war,
that of Sparta; religion, that of the Jewish laws; commerce, that of Marseilles; public
tranquility, that of the laws of China; navigation, that of the laws of Rhodes; natural
liberty, that of the policy of the Savages; in general, the pleasures of the prince, that of
despotic states; that of monarchies, the prince’s and the kingdom’s glory…. (cont.)

103. VI. 2. separation of powers (cont.)
CHAP. V - Of the End or View of Different Governments (cont.)
despotic states; that of monarchies, the prince’s and the kingdom’s glory…. (cont.)
One nation there is also in the world [Britain-jbp], that has for the direct end of its
constitution, political liberty. We shall presently examine the principles on which this
liberty is founded; if they are sound, liberty will appear in its highest perfection.
To discover political liberty in a constitution, no great labour is requisite. If we are
capable of seeing it where it exists, it is soon found, and we need not go far in search of
it.
CHAP. VI - Of the Constitution of England
In every government there are three sorts of power: the legislative; the executive, in
respect to things dependent on the law of nations [foreign policy-jbp]; and the
executive, in regard to matters that depend on civil law.
By virtue of the first, the prince or magistrate enacts temporary or perpetual
laws….By the second, he makes peace or war….By the third, he punishes criminals, or
determines the disputes that arise between individuals. The latter we shall call the
judiciary power, and the other simply the executive power of the state….

104. VI. 2. separation of powers (cont.)
CHAP. VI - Of the Constitution of England (cont.)
When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or
in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions
may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to
execute them in a tyrannical manner.
Again, there is no liberty if the judiciary power be not separated from the
legislative and executive. Were it joined with the legislative, the life and liberty
of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control; for the judge would then
be legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave
with violence and oppression.
There would be an end of every thing, were the same man, or the same
body, whether of the nobles or of the people, to exercise those three powers,
that of enacting laws, that of executing the public resolutions, and of trying the
causes of individuals….

105. VI. 3. role of the aristocracy
was that of the “makeweight.”

106. If the people became too powerful...
ARISTOCRACY
KING
PEOPLE
they would ally with the king to bring “balance”

107. If the people became too powerful...
KING
& ARISTOCRACY
PEOPLE
they would ally with the king to bring “balance”

108. If the king became too powerful...
PEOPLE
& ARISTOCRACY
KING
they would ally with the people to bring “balance”

109. VI. 3. role of the aristocracy (cont.)
CHAP. VI - Of the Constitution of England (cont.)
...there are always persons distinguished by their birth, riches, or honours:
but were they to be confounded with the common people, and to have only the
weight of a single vote like the rest, the common liberty would be their slavery,
and they would have no interest in supporting it, as most of the popular
resolutions would be against them. The share they have, therefore, in the
legislature ought to be proportioned to their other advantages in the state;
which only happens when they form a body [House of Lords-jbp] that has a
right to check the licentiousness of the people, as the people have a right to
oppose any encroachment of theirs
The legislative power is therefore to the body of the nobles, and to that
which represents the people [House of Commons-jbp], each having their
assemblies and deliberations apart, each their separate views and interests.

110. VI. 3. role of the aristocracy (cont.)
Because Montesquieu was living in a censorious monarchy, he didn’t
make the second case (the aristocracy siding with the people) explicit.
But people in those days were used to “reading between the lines.”
And so, the second case was there for all to see it.
jbp

111. VI. 4. geopolitics and social sciences
BOOK XIV
OF LAWS AS RELATIVE TO
THE NATURE OF THE
CLIMATE
CHAP. I - General Idea.
If it be true that the temper of the mind, and the passions of the heart are extremely
different in different climates, the laws ought to be relative both to the variety of those
passions, and to the variety of those tempers.
CHAP. II - Of the Difference of Men in different Climates
A cold air constringes the extremities of the external fibers of the body; this
increases their elasticity, and favours the return of the blood from the extreme parts of
the heart. It contracts those very fibers; consequently it increases also their force. On
the contrary a warm air relaxes and lengthens the extremes of the fibers; of course it
diminishes their force and elasticity. (cont.)

112. VI. 4. geopolitics and social sciences
CHAP. II - Of the Difference of Men in different Climates (cont.)
the contrary a warm air relaxes and lengthens the extremes of the fibers; of course it
diminishes their force and elasticity. (cont.)
People are therefore more vigorous in cold climates. Here the action of the heart and
the reaction of the extremities of the fibers are better performed, the temperature of the
humours is greater, the blood moves freer towards the heart, and reciprocally the heart
has more power. This superiority of strength must produce various effects; for instance,
a greater boldness, that is, more courage; a greater sense of superiority, that is, less
desire of revenge; a greater opinion of security, that is, more frankness, less suspicion,
policy, and cunning. In short, this must be productive of very different tempers. Put a
man into a close warm place, and for the reasons given, he will feel a great faintness. If
under this circumstance you propose a bold enterprise to him, I believe you will find
him very little disposed towards it; his present weakness will throw him into a
despondency; he will be afraid of every thing, being in a state of total incapacity.
(cont.)

113. VI. 4. geopolitics and social sciences
CHAP. II - Of the Difference of Men in different Climates (cont.)
despondency; he will be afraid of every thing, being in a state of total incapacity.
(cont.) The inhabitants of warm countries are, like old men, timorous; the people in
cold countries are, like young men, brave. If we reflect on the late wars, which are
more recent in our memory, and in which we can better distinguish some particular
effects that escape us at a greater distance of time; we shall find that the northern
people transplanted into southern regions, did not perform such exploits as their
countrymen, who, fighting in their own climate, possessed their full vigour and
courage….
In cold countries, they have very little sensibility for pleasure; in temperate countries
they have more; in warm countries, their sensibility is exquisite. As climates are
distinguished by degrees of latitude, we might distinguish them also in some measure,
by those of sensibility. I have been at the opera in England and in Italy, where I have
seen the same pieces and the same performers; and yet the same music produces such
different effects on the two nations: one is so cold and phlegmatic, and the other so
lively and enraptured, that it seems almost inconceivable.

114. Criticism

115. “...The peculiar mixture of history and reason, of awareness of the past
and concern for the future, of objective observation and desire for
reform, has made Montesquieu one of the most influential political
writers of the modern age, constantly reinterpreted, constantly
rediscovered.”
Ebenstein, Great Political Thinkers, p. 419

116. Nevertheless, he was limited by the reliability of his sources. Like
many of his Enlightenment contemporaries, Montesquieu
regarded information about the Indians of the Americas as
evidence about man “in the state of nature.”
The problem was that the observations were often based on
hearsay and were prejudiced by the European colonials who
often had little sympathy for their indignant and dangerous
“neighbors.”
Take this absurd anecdote:
BOOK V, CHAP. XIII - An Idea of despotic Power
When the savages of Louisiana are desirous of fruit, they cut the tree to the
root, and gather the fruit. This is an emblem of despotic power.
jbp

117. “...The Spirit of the Laws is surely the foundation work of
modern political sociology.”
…[the ideas] migrated across the Atlantic to the colleges of
America, where Scots moral philosophers were much in demand,
among them the Reverend John Witherspoon, the president of the
College of New Jersey [today, Princeton University-jbp] and the
teacher of James Madison.”
Alan Ryan, On Politics, p. 518

118. “In the final analysis it is not easy to classify Montesquieu’s
political philosophy. In his explicit beliefs there is a curious
mixture of hatred of clericalism and despotism, profound concern
for individual liberty, and a strong sense of aristocratic privilege,
property, and class. Similarly, the implicit hypotheses of his
political theory are complex: his faith in reason, humanity, and
progress mark him out as a typical representative of the Age of
Enlightenment. At the same time, Montesquieu was institution-
minded to the point of venerating the past, and he therefore
became suspect with many of the philosophes.”
Ebenstein, Great Political Thinkers, p. 419

119. Rousseau, a near-contemporary French-speaking Genevan, like
Montesquieu, was drawn northward to Paris, the “city of lights,”
the center of 18th century enlightenment.
But his social origins and his sense of the need for a radical break
with the past marked him as profoundly different from the baron
de la Brede et de Montesquieu.
But that’s another story...
jbp