Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to Montesquieu
- Other Volumes in the Series of Cambridge Companions
- The Cambridge Companion to Montesquieu
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Chronology
- Abbreviations
- 1 Montesquieu
- 2 Persian Letters
- 3 Considerations on the Romans
- 4 The Spirit of the Laws
- 5 Montesquieu and the Classical World
- 6 Montesquieu’s Guiding Principles and Foundations
- 7 Montesquieu on Virtue
- 8 Internationalism, Cosmopolitanism, and Empires
- 9 Liberty in Montesquieu
- 10 Political Sovereignty in Montesquieu
- 11 Montesquieu on Slavery
- 12 Montesquieu and the Liberty of Women
- 13 Political Economy
- 14 Religion and Politics
- 15 Constitutional History
- 16 Montesquieu and the Enlightenment
- 17 Montesquieu’s Liberal Legacies
- Bibliography
- Index
- Other Volumes in the Series of Cambridge Companions
2 - Persian Letters
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 February 2023
- The Cambridge Companion to Montesquieu
- Other Volumes in the Series of Cambridge Companions
- The Cambridge Companion to Montesquieu
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Chronology
- Abbreviations
- 1 Montesquieu
- 2 Persian Letters
- 3 Considerations on the Romans
- 4 The Spirit of the Laws
- 5 Montesquieu and the Classical World
- 6 Montesquieu’s Guiding Principles and Foundations
- 7 Montesquieu on Virtue
- 8 Internationalism, Cosmopolitanism, and Empires
- 9 Liberty in Montesquieu
- 10 Political Sovereignty in Montesquieu
- 11 Montesquieu on Slavery
- 12 Montesquieu and the Liberty of Women
- 13 Political Economy
- 14 Religion and Politics
- 15 Constitutional History
- 16 Montesquieu and the Enlightenment
- 17 Montesquieu’s Liberal Legacies
- Bibliography
- Index
- Other Volumes in the Series of Cambridge Companions
Summary
With Persian Letters (1721) Montesquieu opens the Enlightenment era. In this fiction, more similar to the essay than to the novel but good-humored and ironic, the France as seen by Persian visitors satirizes the practices of an ossified society and desacralizes established values, in particular those related to religion and authority. Its key word is diversity: Ethics and metaphysics alternate with derision to affirm notions as fundamental as the primacy of reason or the unalienable right to happiness and freedom for all. For such daring touches the book was banned in France, but its success was as meteoric as it was durable and extended to all of Europe. A posthumous edition in 1758, enriched and corrected, shows that Montesquieu maintained his boldest positions as well as justifying his approach. A genuinely critical kind of thought was born that combined philosophy and fiction, amusement with reflection, and forthwith defined the field of Enlightenment.
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- The Cambridge Companion to Montesquieu , pp. 20 - 34Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023