Search results
- DictionaryMon·tes·quieu, Charles/ˌmäntiˈskyo͞o/
- 1. Baron de La Brède et de (1689–1755), French political philosopher; born Charles Louis de Secondat. He is best known for L'Esprit des lois (1748), a comparative study of political systems in which he championed the separation of judicial, legislative, and executive powers as being most conducive to individual liberty.
Powered by Oxford Languages
Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl lwi də səɡɔ̃da baʁɔ̃ də la bʁɛd e də mɔ̃tɛskjø]; 18 January 1689 – 10 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu (US: / ˈ m ɒ n t ə s k j uː /, UK also / ˌ m ɒ n t ɛ ˈ s k j ɜː /, French: [mɔ̃tɛskjø ...
Mar 27, 2024 · Montesquieu, French political philosopher whose principal work, The Spirit of Laws, was a major contribution to political theory. It inspired the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Constitution of the United States. Learn more about Montesquieu’s life and work.
- Robert Shackleton
- Where was Montesquieu educated?Montesquieu was sent in 1700 to the Collège de Juilly, close to Paris, which provided a sound education on enlightened and modern lines. He left Ju...
- Who were Montesquieu’s parents?Montesquieu’s father, Jacques de Secondat, belonged to an old military family of modest wealth that had been ennobled in the 16th century for servi...
- What was Montesquieu best known for?French political philosopher Montesquieu was best known for The Spirit of Laws (1748), one of the great works in the history of political theory an...
- How did Montesquieu get famous?In 1721 Montesquieu published Lettres persanes (Persian Letters, 1722), a brilliant satirical portrait of French, particularly Parisian, civilizati...
Nov 17, 2023 · Definition. Montesquieu (1689-1757) was a French philosopher whose ideas in works like The Spirit of the Laws helped launch the Enlightenment movement in Europe. His ideas on the separation of powers, that is, between the executive, legislative, and judiciary, were influential on other Enlightenment thinkers and on the 13 colonies that became ...
- Mark Cartwright
Jul 18, 2003 · Montesquieu was one of the great political philosophers of the Enlightenment. Insatiably curious and mordantly funny, he constructed a naturalistic account of the various forms of government, and of the causes that made them what they were and that advanced or constrained their development.
Montesquieu took care (as his critics have not always realized) to insist that climate is but one of many factors in an assembly of secondary causes that he called the “general spirit.” The other factors (laws, religion , and maxims of government being the most important) are of a nonphysical nature, and their influence, compared with that ...
Montesquieu’s masterpiece is one of the most influential studies in the history of political theory and jurisprudence. Montesquieu envisioned The Spirit of Laws as a major work of law and politics, and he applied himself accordingly to its composition .
May 23, 2018 · Learn about the life and work of Montesquieu, a pioneer of social and political theory and a precursor of sociology. Explore his concepts of the general spirit of a society, the types of government, and the determinants of historical causation.
