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Chapter 5 - Moral and Physical Causes

Montesquieu’s History of Nations

from Part II

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2020

Matthew D'Auria
Affiliation:
University of East Anglia
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Summary

Chapter 5 examines the crucial role played by Montesquieu in defining national character as a narrative frame. The first section of the chapter focusses on his historical thought and the fundamental role he played in shaping the histoire philosophique – as Hugh Trevor-Roper and, more recently, J.A.G. Pocock have argued. The emphasis is on the importance that Montesquieu attributed to the social and anthropological reasons underlying legal and political changes. In the next part of the chapter the relationship between moral and physical causes in shaping a nation’s character, so central to many of his writings, is investigated. Building on and going beyond the interpretations of Georges Benrekassa and Jean Erhard, the chapter argues that moral and physical causes were both understood by the baron as historical processes – even though of a different nature. National character was at once a result of history and the thread with which the nation’s history could be woven. Through it, moreover, the legitimacy of political institutions could be assessed and their ‘rationality’, as Montesquieu would have said, verified. The final section considers the crucial role played by Montesquieu in the debate opposing the Germanists and the Romanists in the debate over the origins of the French nation.

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Chapter
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The Shaping of French National Identity
Narrating the Nation's Past, 1715–1830
, pp. 168 - 213
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Moral and Physical Causes
  • Matthew D'Auria, University of East Anglia
  • Book: The Shaping of French National Identity
  • Online publication: 05 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316423189.006
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  • Moral and Physical Causes
  • Matthew D'Auria, University of East Anglia
  • Book: The Shaping of French National Identity
  • Online publication: 05 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316423189.006
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Moral and Physical Causes
  • Matthew D'Auria, University of East Anglia
  • Book: The Shaping of French National Identity
  • Online publication: 05 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316423189.006
Available formats
×