Baron de Montesquieu
Monday, 14. August 2006, 17:17:52
I. What I Already Know
I do not know a great deal about Baron de Montesquieu, but what I already know I learned in my world history class. What I do know is that he was from France and I assume that he lived sometime around the early to mid 1700’s. I also heard that Montesquieu mistakenly believed that the British were using checks and balances in their government at the time and he thought that it was a good idea. He then went on to write a book, which I am not sure of the name, about checks and balances and the separation of powers in government.
II. What I Want to Find Out
I am curious about Montesquieu due to me being in policy debate for the high school and checks and balances have come up in several of my rounds. I believe that by understanding Montesquieu’s philosophy on government will help me better understand how our government works, thereby making me a better debater.
I have a number of questions that I would like to have answered about Baron de Montesquieu. I have several simple questions about his life and doings that I need answered such as where and when he was born and lived, what his background was, and what the name of his book was. I have several major questions that I need to have answered also, such as what did the nobles in France think about Montesquieu’s works? What did people in power of other countries think of him and his writings? Why did he write his book in the first place? If commoners read his book, what did they think of it? And finally, how does Baron de Montesquieu affect my life and others presently?
III. The Search
According to World Book 2002 Baron de Montesquieu is actually just a title; his real name is Charles-Louis de Secondat. He was born on January 18, 1689 in the French town La Brède, which is near Bordeaux, and died on February 10, 1755. In the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy it talks about Montesquieu’s life in general. He was a part of a noble and prosperous family in France. So Montesquieu was able to go study at the University of Bordeaux where received his degree in law in 1708. After he left the University of Bordeaux he went to Paris to further study law until his father died in 1713 and he inherited all of his father’s estate. In 1715 he married a protestant woman named Jeanne de Lartigue which suggests that Montesquieu was either protestant in a heavily catholic country, or non-religious. Montesquieu gained the title Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu in 1716 which was previously held by his uncle (which shows why he is always referred to as Montesquieu and not Charles-Louis de Secondat). His main job once he received his title of baron was at Parliament of Bordeaux in the position of Président à Mortier. His job required him to hear legal proceedings, supervise prisons, and administer various punishments including torture on prisoners (It is unknown how Montesquieu felt about having to do this).
In 1721 Montesquieu wrote and published his first book, The Persian Letters, anonymously, although it was well-known that he was the author. The book was a satire in which a fictional Asian correspondent points out the ludicrousness of contemporary society. In 1724 and 1725 he writes Dialogue de Sylla et d'Eucrate, Reflexions sur la monarchie universelle, and Le temple de Gnide. After he wrote Le temple de Gnide he resigned from his position in Parliament after being a part of it for 9 years. Montesquieu traveled abroad for several years to places including Italy, Germany, Austria, and other European countries for short periods of time until he got to England where he lived for 2 years. He was very impressed with the British government and it heavily influenced his views on what a government should be. When Montesquieu returned to La Brède in 1731 he started his masterpiece, The Spirit of Laws and Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and of their Decline. The latter book was published anonymously in 1734. Baron de Montesquieu did not finish The Spirit of Laws until 1748 when it was published. The book was very successful, but was controversial enough to get placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by the Catholic Church in 1751.
Montesquieu wrote The Spirit of Laws to explain human laws and social institutions, but it turned out to be something much larger than that. In The Spirit of Laws Montesquieu said that laws underlined all things and were divided into 3 categories; human, natural, and divine. Baron de Montesquieu also pointed out that there are also 3 types of governments; monarchal, republican, and democratic. Montesquieu thought that a government should be divided up into 3 different branches, the legislative, executive, and judicial (each estate in France would be in charge of 1 branch). These 3 branches would check each other to make sure that one branch never became to powerful or did anything wrong and made so that “governments should be set up so that no man need be afraid of another."
The Encyclopedia of the American Constitution tells about Montesquieu and how he affected the United States Constitution. It says that Baron de Montesquieu was the most frequently referred to theoretical writer by the delegates of the Constitutional Convention of 1787. James Madison, the 4th president of the United States, called Montesquieu “the oracle who is always consulted and cited”, thus showing his influence on the United States government. Montesquieu believed that 1 big republic would be too hard to control, so he devised that a federal republic, or a republic made up of smaller republics, would be the best form of government, which is what influenced the way we do our state and federal governments separately, but together as well.
IV. What I Learned
I feel that I learned a great deal about how governments work around the world and just how greatly Montesquieu influenced in our government and governments throughout the world. Although. I was unable to get an interview with an expert on the subject since no professors emailed me back, and I was unable to locate any periodicals with information on Montesquieu, I learned a great deal about him from encyclopedias and websites. I learned that The Spirit of Laws was both accepted and fought against, mainly by the Catholic Church. I answered my question on where his ideas came from, which the answer is his traveling throughout Europe; especially England. My question on his background life was just what I assumed it would be; he came from a noble and wealthy family which enabled him to get a college education. The answer to my last question on why he wrote The Spirit of Laws appears to be that he was just writing from a theoretical point of view and just wanted to educate the people on how laws worked. At the end of this paper I would have to say that I went from knowing that Montesquieu wrote a book and was French to knowing all about his family and career, how others thought of him and his book, and gained a better understanding of how governments work in the United States and around the world.
Alex Fick
Bibliography
•1. "Montesquieu." World Book. 2002 ed. 2002.
•2. "Montesquieu." Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
•8. "Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu." Wikipedia. 15 Dec. 2005. Wikipedia. 15 Dec. 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Secondat,_Baron_de_Montesquieu>.
•8. "Montesquieu." University of Oregon State. University of Oregon State. 15 Dec. 2005 <http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/montesquieu.html>.
•7. "Baron de Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 18 July 2003. Stanford University. 15 Dec. 2005 <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/montesquieu/>.
I do not know a great deal about Baron de Montesquieu, but what I already know I learned in my world history class. What I do know is that he was from France and I assume that he lived sometime around the early to mid 1700’s. I also heard that Montesquieu mistakenly believed that the British were using checks and balances in their government at the time and he thought that it was a good idea. He then went on to write a book, which I am not sure of the name, about checks and balances and the separation of powers in government.
II. What I Want to Find Out
I am curious about Montesquieu due to me being in policy debate for the high school and checks and balances have come up in several of my rounds. I believe that by understanding Montesquieu’s philosophy on government will help me better understand how our government works, thereby making me a better debater.
I have a number of questions that I would like to have answered about Baron de Montesquieu. I have several simple questions about his life and doings that I need answered such as where and when he was born and lived, what his background was, and what the name of his book was. I have several major questions that I need to have answered also, such as what did the nobles in France think about Montesquieu’s works? What did people in power of other countries think of him and his writings? Why did he write his book in the first place? If commoners read his book, what did they think of it? And finally, how does Baron de Montesquieu affect my life and others presently?
III. The Search
According to World Book 2002 Baron de Montesquieu is actually just a title; his real name is Charles-Louis de Secondat. He was born on January 18, 1689 in the French town La Brède, which is near Bordeaux, and died on February 10, 1755. In the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy it talks about Montesquieu’s life in general. He was a part of a noble and prosperous family in France. So Montesquieu was able to go study at the University of Bordeaux where received his degree in law in 1708. After he left the University of Bordeaux he went to Paris to further study law until his father died in 1713 and he inherited all of his father’s estate. In 1715 he married a protestant woman named Jeanne de Lartigue which suggests that Montesquieu was either protestant in a heavily catholic country, or non-religious. Montesquieu gained the title Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu in 1716 which was previously held by his uncle (which shows why he is always referred to as Montesquieu and not Charles-Louis de Secondat). His main job once he received his title of baron was at Parliament of Bordeaux in the position of Président à Mortier. His job required him to hear legal proceedings, supervise prisons, and administer various punishments including torture on prisoners (It is unknown how Montesquieu felt about having to do this).
In 1721 Montesquieu wrote and published his first book, The Persian Letters, anonymously, although it was well-known that he was the author. The book was a satire in which a fictional Asian correspondent points out the ludicrousness of contemporary society. In 1724 and 1725 he writes Dialogue de Sylla et d'Eucrate, Reflexions sur la monarchie universelle, and Le temple de Gnide. After he wrote Le temple de Gnide he resigned from his position in Parliament after being a part of it for 9 years. Montesquieu traveled abroad for several years to places including Italy, Germany, Austria, and other European countries for short periods of time until he got to England where he lived for 2 years. He was very impressed with the British government and it heavily influenced his views on what a government should be. When Montesquieu returned to La Brède in 1731 he started his masterpiece, The Spirit of Laws and Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and of their Decline. The latter book was published anonymously in 1734. Baron de Montesquieu did not finish The Spirit of Laws until 1748 when it was published. The book was very successful, but was controversial enough to get placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by the Catholic Church in 1751.
Montesquieu wrote The Spirit of Laws to explain human laws and social institutions, but it turned out to be something much larger than that. In The Spirit of Laws Montesquieu said that laws underlined all things and were divided into 3 categories; human, natural, and divine. Baron de Montesquieu also pointed out that there are also 3 types of governments; monarchal, republican, and democratic. Montesquieu thought that a government should be divided up into 3 different branches, the legislative, executive, and judicial (each estate in France would be in charge of 1 branch). These 3 branches would check each other to make sure that one branch never became to powerful or did anything wrong and made so that “governments should be set up so that no man need be afraid of another."
The Encyclopedia of the American Constitution tells about Montesquieu and how he affected the United States Constitution. It says that Baron de Montesquieu was the most frequently referred to theoretical writer by the delegates of the Constitutional Convention of 1787. James Madison, the 4th president of the United States, called Montesquieu “the oracle who is always consulted and cited”, thus showing his influence on the United States government. Montesquieu believed that 1 big republic would be too hard to control, so he devised that a federal republic, or a republic made up of smaller republics, would be the best form of government, which is what influenced the way we do our state and federal governments separately, but together as well.
IV. What I Learned
I feel that I learned a great deal about how governments work around the world and just how greatly Montesquieu influenced in our government and governments throughout the world. Although. I was unable to get an interview with an expert on the subject since no professors emailed me back, and I was unable to locate any periodicals with information on Montesquieu, I learned a great deal about him from encyclopedias and websites. I learned that The Spirit of Laws was both accepted and fought against, mainly by the Catholic Church. I answered my question on where his ideas came from, which the answer is his traveling throughout Europe; especially England. My question on his background life was just what I assumed it would be; he came from a noble and wealthy family which enabled him to get a college education. The answer to my last question on why he wrote The Spirit of Laws appears to be that he was just writing from a theoretical point of view and just wanted to educate the people on how laws worked. At the end of this paper I would have to say that I went from knowing that Montesquieu wrote a book and was French to knowing all about his family and career, how others thought of him and his book, and gained a better understanding of how governments work in the United States and around the world.
Alex Fick
Bibliography
•1. "Montesquieu." World Book. 2002 ed. 2002.
•2. "Montesquieu." Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
•8. "Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu." Wikipedia. 15 Dec. 2005. Wikipedia. 15 Dec. 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Secondat,_Baron_de_Montesquieu>.
•8. "Montesquieu." University of Oregon State. University of Oregon State. 15 Dec. 2005 <http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/montesquieu.html>.
•7. "Baron de Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 18 July 2003. Stanford University. 15 Dec. 2005 <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/montesquieu/>.
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