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5 - Montesquieu and the Classical World

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2023

By
Catherine Larrère  and
Wan Ning Seah
Edited by
Keegan Francis Callanan  and
Sharon Ruth Krause
Keegan Francis Callanan
Affiliation:
Middlebury College, Vermont
Sharon Ruth Krause
Affiliation:
Brown University, Rhode Island
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Summary

Chapter 5 locates Montesquieu in an intellectual context he fashioned through his own choice of interlocutors in The Spirit of the Laws – his world of ancient political writers and lawgivers. Montesquieu turns to the classical world in search not of models for imitation but knowledge of the science of politics. This chapter considers the relationship between Montesquieu’s critique of the substantive ideals of classical politics and his significant debts to the Aristotelian mode of regime analysis.

Keywords

MontesquieuEnlightenmentliberalismpolitical thoughtlibertyreligionslaverysovereigntycosmopolitanismvirtueconstitutionalism
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Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Montesquieu , pp. 76 - 93
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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