MONTESQUIEU

It seems unusual for someone, who lived and died prior to the American and French revolutions to write, "the strength of individuals can not be united without a conjunction of all their wills." (p. 162) He seems to be leaning toward a phenomenon that was simply not available during his lifetime- a classless society. The very word "democracy" was unused by modern governments of his time, and only provided a reference back to the days of Athens. And yet, as we surely must known Athens was no more a democracy (except in Plato's ideal Republic), since there was both a class of intelle3ctuals and one of politicians, and one of all the rest of the population.

In essence, Montesquieu sees a monarchy as a practical form of government. Practical in the sense that one man, an absolute monarch, has the power to "repair the evilaor to shake off this indolence" (p 163) Yet, in the same chapter he discusses the potential of corruption of a popular government. We almost need to look ahead to the writings of John Stuart Mill and his invention of the term "tyranny of the majority" to come to grips with this idea of corruption. One has to wonder whether the very idea of "corruption" is a human failing. Given too much power, whether as absolute monarch or the head of a majority "democracy" corruption is that carrot at the end of a very short stick. It is a lure as surely ass a purse of gold to a beggar.

The use of the word "virtue" is, of course, a direct reference

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eir government is ever odious to the conquered states." (p. 168) We are seen, as Montesquieu has foreseen, despised for imposing our way of life and government on others. If there is one thing of which democracies, in fact, all states that serve the will of the people, need to understand it is, as he points out, the difference between independence and liberty. "Liberty is a right of doing whatever the law permits" (p. 169). Laws, it would seem if one reads Montesquieu correctly, restrict independence. Conformity in order to achieve liberty would be more like it. It goes without saying, therefore, that political liberty can only be found in moderate government, where a system of laws prevents individual independence outside, and unencumbered, by the law. CITATION: Montesquieu, Baron de (1748): "The Spirit of Laws" The Great Legal Philosophers Chapter 7 HANNAH ARENDT Some six million people were murdered by the Nazis considering themselves a "superior" race, and killing people merely because they were Jews, or homosexuals, gypsies, or physically handicapped. Is it any wonder then that Ms. Arendt, a German Jew who left her homeland before the Holocaust, considers that one of the gr

Category: Philosophy - M