Montesquieu Baron de La Brède et de, title of Charles-Louis de Secondat (1689–1755), French political philosopher, the political philosophe of the Enlightenment. He was born at La Brède, educated at the Oratorian Collège de Juilly (1700–05), and received law degrees from the University of Bordeaux (1708). From his uncle he inherited the barony of Montesquieu (1716) and the office of Président à Mortier at the Parliament of Guyenne at Bordeaux. Fame, national and international, came suddenly (1721) with the Lettres persanes (‘The Persian Letters’), published in Holland and France, a landmark of the Enlightenment. His Réflexions sur la monarchie universelle en Europe, written and printed (1734) to remind the authorities of his qualifications and availability, delivered the wrong message at the wrong time (anti-militarism, pacifism, free trade, while France supported Poland’s King Stanislas, dethroned by Russia and Austria). Montesquieu withdrew the Réflexions before publication and substituted the Considerations on the Romans: the same thesis is expounded here, but in the exclusively classical context of ancient history. The stratagem succeeded: the Amsterdam edition was freely imported; the Paris edition appeared with a royal privilège (1734).
A few months after the appearance of the Considerations, he undertook L’Esprit des lois, the outline of a modern political science, conceived as the foundation of an effective governmental policy. His optimism was shaken by the disasters of the War of Austrian Succession (1740–48); the Esprit des lois underwent hurried changes that upset its original plan. During the very printing process, the author was discovering the true essence of his philosophie pratique: it would never culminate in a final, invariable program, but in an orientation, continuously, intelligently adapting to the unpredictable circumstances of historical time in the light of permanent values.
According to L’Esprit des lois, governments are either republics, monarchies, or despotisms. The principles, or motivational forces, of these types of government are, respectively, political virtue, honor, and fear. The type of government a people has depends on its character, history, and geographical situation. Only a constitutional government that separates its executive, legislative, and judicial powers preserves political liberty, taken as the power to do what one ought to will. A constitutional monarchy with separation of powers is the best form of government. Montesquieu influenced the authors of the U.S. Constitution and the political philosophers Burke and Rousseau.
See also BURKE, ENCYCLOPEDIA , POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY , ROUSSEA. C.J.B.
