A French aristocrat spent his life looking at the laws of various people, though mostly those of his native country, to develop political theories related to different governments that would influence the coming “Age of Revolution”. The Spirit of the Laws by Montesquieu is a treatise on political theory that covers a large range of topics including law, social life, and the study of anthropology that would change the way people would look at the development of government.

In a little over 700 pages Montesquieu covers a lot of material but three major themes throughout this treatise that influenced readers of his time and up to the modern day. Those three themes were the classification of political systems and the “principles” that motivate them and that the lack of means they don’t endure, the political liberty that is defined as personal security especially that provided by system of dependable and moderate laws, and the development of political sociology in which geography and climate interact with particular cultures to produce a spirit of the people that influences their politics and laws. Based on these themes Montesquieu pleads for a constitutional system of government with separation of powers, the preservation of legality and civil liberties, and the end of slavery. At times the material Montesquieu covers could be somewhat tedious especially close to the end of the treatise as he covered the transition of French institutions from the Frankish conquest of Gaul to the medieval French monarchy. Yet even with that tediousness the reader gets the thoroughness in which Montesquieu dedicated a lifetime of study to produce this treatise, which influenced the American Founding Fathers, French republicans, and others around the world.

The Spirit of the Laws is the life’s work of Montesquieu, a pioneering work on comparative law, but a treatise on political theory that would be influential almost immediately after it’s publication and be relevant to this day. ( )

Entrada

FBB-2

Coleção Os Pensadores

In this classic of Enlightenment Thought, Montesquieu, Charles Louis Secondat de la Brède discusses Laws and the thought behind them. Montesquieu divides governments into three primary categories; the Republic, the Monarchy, and the Despotic Government. Going through all of the governments, he discusses the pros and cons of each. It is quite informative in some ways, but looking back from now it really makes one think. While he talks about the dangers of each government it is difficult to avoid making comparisons of our current world situation. In that sense, Montesquieu was far ahead of his time in political thought.

Originally I took this out from the Library, but I found an old copy of it and was able to finally finish it. It seems that the bulk of the book is contained in other people discussing the book. ( )