Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Political thought in eighteenth-century France: the invention of aristocratic liberalism
- 2 Liberty and inequality: the royalist discourse
- 3 A society of equals: the liberal response
- 4 Liberty in a levelled society: Charles Dunoyer, Benjamin Constant, and Prosper de Barante
- 5 The new aristocracy: a theme in Restoration liberalism
- 6 The danger of democracy: Orléanist liberalism and Alexis de Tocqueville
- 7 The French predicament: aristocratic liberalism in the Second Empire
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index
- IDEAS IN CONTEXT
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Political thought in eighteenth-century France: the invention of aristocratic liberalism
- 2 Liberty and inequality: the royalist discourse
- 3 A society of equals: the liberal response
- 4 Liberty in a levelled society: Charles Dunoyer, Benjamin Constant, and Prosper de Barante
- 5 The new aristocracy: a theme in Restoration liberalism
- 6 The danger of democracy: Orléanist liberalism and Alexis de Tocqueville
- 7 The French predicament: aristocratic liberalism in the Second Empire
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index
- IDEAS IN CONTEXT
Summary
Since the 1980s, many important books have been written on the history of nineteenth-century liberal thought. The writings of canonical liberal thinkers, such as Benjamin Constant and Alexis de Tocqueville have engendered new and intellectually stimulating interpretations. At the same time, scholars have recovered a number of lesser-known nineteenth-century liberal thinkers, such as François Guizot, or T. H. Green, from oblivion. But historical interest has not remained limited to individual liberal thinkers. Over the past few decades, several histories have appeared which analyse the discourse of nineteenth-century liberal movements in their various national contexts. The intellectual landscape of mid-Victorian liberalism, for instance, is now a familiar one. We have gained more insight into the ideological preoccupations of both English and Dutch progressive liberals of the late nineteenth century. Likewise, our knowledge of the French liberal movement in its manifold manifestations has increased considerably. In addition to these national histories, a number of scholars have attempted to capture the nature of nineteenth-century liberalism as a European phenomenon.
The increased attention for nineteenth-century liberalism in recent historiography can be attributed to different factors. Interest in the history of political thought has been stimulated over the past few decades, in particular in the Anglophone world, by the work of scholars such as Quentin Skinner and J. G. A. Pocock.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- French Political Thought from Montesquieu to TocquevilleLiberty in a Levelled Society?, pp. 1 - 10Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008