Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-swr86 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-25T00:55:12.338Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Rousseau and the Illustrious Montesquieu

from Part I - Politics and Economics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2013

Eve Grace
Affiliation:
Colorado College
Christopher Kelly
Affiliation:
Boston College, Massachusetts
Get access

Summary

A dramatic illustration of the perceived incommensurability of Montesquieu and Jean-Jacques Rousseau can be seen in the characterization of each given by Edmund Burke in the midst of the revolution. The most significant scholarly editions of Rousseau's First Discourse make no mention of the Spirit of the Laws and little mention of Montesquieu's other works. If Rousseau and Montesquieu agree about the purity of contemporary morals, the question remains as to whether they disagree about whether these morals should be examined in relation to commerce or to the sciences and arts. Because of the explicit question posed by the Academy, in Rousseau's account of the corruption of morals, the role of commerce must be less conspicuous than it is in Montesquieu's, but it is present nonetheless. In part one of the Discourse Rousseau uses the word commerce in the extended sense of communication or social interaction.
Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×