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1989
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Reading--Study and teaching Perception, Public Public perception Popular opinion Public perceptions Opinion, Public Birth Personal liberty Freedom Civil liberty Emancipation Liberation Birth Obstetric labor Justification Faith and justification Justification by faith Aufklärung Absolutism Tyranny Autocracy Appetency Longing Appraisal of books Evaluation of literature Literary criticism Books--Appraisal Criticism--Technique Literature--Evaluation Birth Birthing Live birth Child birth Opinion, Public Date of birth Biography--BirthCiter ce document
Georges Benrekassa, « De Montesquieu à Benjamin Constant : la fin des Lumières ? », Dix-Huitième Siècle, ID : 10.3406/dhs.1989.1691
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Georges Benrekassa : From Montesquieu to Benjamin Constant : the end of the Enlightenment ? This study attempts to analyze the supposedly liberal tradition linking the Esprit des lois to the Principes de politique dating from 1802-6, after the revolutionary upheaval and at the birth of a new despotism. Constant works out, through a profound criticism of the notion of «social authority », a liberal position based both on contemporary experience and an unusual reading of Montesquieu and Rousseau taken together. But this position can be seen as a betrayal of the original form of Montesquieu's enlightened ideal and its underlying attempt at liberation. The pacificying and elitist desire to guide and manipulate public opinion in fact leads to a justification of a deep but hidden split in society which is probably in contradiction with the teachings and aims of the Esprit des lois.