Charles-Louis de Secondat Montesquieu, Esprit des lois [The Spirit of Laws]

Nick Treuherz (University of Central Lancashire)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.04: French Writing and Culture: Eighteenth-Century and the Enlightenment, 1700-1800.
Vol. editors: Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Jenny Mander (University of Cambridge), Síofra Pierse (University College Dublin), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Domains

Political Theory

Dates

First circulation or publication 1748

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Treatise

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Montesquieu’s

De l’Esprit des Lois

is a monumental work of political theory which was one of the most influential texts of the French Enlightenment, and its impact spread well beyond France. It stands as Montesquieu’s

magnum opus

, and was more than twenty years in the making. The author’s immense breadth of reading and erudition matches the mammoth scope of its intention: to analyse the different types of political structures of all human societies throughout history and investigate the relationship between the types of regimes and all aspects of their societies. The book aimed to uncover the rationale of all laws of different human societies, considered from a socio-political perspective. Laws are understood as being shaped by, and shaping, all aspects of human life. This means…

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2312 words

Citation: Treuherz, Nick. "Esprit des lois". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 January 2015 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5333, accessed 27 November 2024.]

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