The Generative Principle of Political Constitutions: Studies on Sovereignty, Religion and Enlightenment

Description

Joseph de Maistre had no doubt that the root causes of the French Revolution were intellectual and ideological. The degeneration of its first immense hopes into the Reign of Terror was not the result of a ruthless competition for power or of prospects of war. He echoed Voltaire's boast that "books did it all." The philosophers of the Enlightenment were the architects of the new regimes; and the shadow between revolutionary idea and social reality could be traced directly to a fatal flaw in their thought. De Maistre asserts that society is the product, not of men's conscious decision, but of their instinctive makeup. Both history and primitive societies illustrate men's gravitation toward some form of communal life. Since government is in this sense natural, it can not legitimately be denied, revoked, or even disobeyed by the people. Sovereignty is not the product of the deliberation or the will of the people; it is a divinely bestowed authority fitted not to man's wishes but to his needs. The French Revolution to de Maistre's mind was little more than the expansion, conversion, pride, and consequent moral corruption of the philosophers. It differs in essence from all previous political revolutions, finding a parallel only in the biblical revolt against heaven. These sentiments are the passionate and awe-inspired language of one who sees the political struggles of his time on a huge and cosmic scale, judges events sub specie aeternitatis (under the aspect of eternity), and looks on revolution and counter-revolution as a battle for the soul of humanity. The force of this classic volume still resonates in present-day ideological struggles. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Contents Preface Introduction Life Maistre and His Interpreters Maistre and the Enlightenment Human Nature The Human Condition The Divine Voice in History The Problem of Evil The Political System Revolutionary and Reactionary Thought Considerations on France On Revolutions Thoughts on the Ways of Providence in the French Revolution Of the Violent Destruction of Humanity Can the French Republic Last? On the French Revolution Considered in Its Antireligious Character—Digression on Christianity Of the Divine Influence in Political Constitutions Signs of Nullity in the French Government On the Old French Constitution—Digression on the King and the Declaration to the French of July, 1795 How Will the Counter-Revolution Come About If It Happens? Of the Pretended Dangers of a Counter-Revolution Study on Sovereignty On the Origins of Sovereignty The Sovereignty of the People Origins of Society Sovereignty in General Particular Sovereignties and Nations An Examination of Some Ideas of Rousseau on the Legislator The Founders and the Political Constitution of Nations The Weakness of Human Power Continuation of the Same Subject The National Soul Application of the Preceding Principles to a Particular Case—Continuation A Necessary Explanation On the Nature of Sovereignty The Nature of Sovereignty in General Monarchy On Aristocracy Democracy The Best Species of Government Continuation of the Same Subject Reflections on This Subject The Pope Of the Pope in His Relations with the Catholic Church Infallibility Councils Analogies Derived from Temporal Power Of the Pope in His Relations with Temporal Sovereignties A Few Words on Sovereignty Inconveniences of Sovereignty Ideas of Antiquity on the Great Problem Further Considerations on the Same Subject Distinguishing Characteristics of the Power Exercised by the Popes Justification of Papal Power Of the Pope in His Relations with the Civilization and Happiness of Peoples Civil Liberty of Mankind Essay on the Generative Principle of Political Constitutions The Saint Petersburg Dialogues First Dialogue Second Dialogue Third Dialogue Fourth Dialogue Fifth Dialogue Sixth Dialogue Seventh Dialogue Eighth Dialogue Ninth Dialogue Tenth Dialogue Eleventh Dialogue Enlightenment on Sacrifices Sacrifices in General Human Sacrifices The Christian Theory of Sacrifices Index