Screen LibraryA virtue for courageous minds : moderation in french political thought, 1748-1830 /
Political moderation is the touchstone of democracy, which could not function without compromise and bargaining, yet it is one of the most understudied concepts in political theory. How can we explain this striking paradox? Why do we often underestimate the virtue of moderation? Seeking to answer th...
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| Main Authors: | |
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| Corporate Authors: | |
| Published: |
Princeton University Press,
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| Publisher Address: | Princeton, N.J. : |
| Publication Dates: |
[2012] ©2012 |
| Literature type: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Edition: | Course Book. |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781400842421 http://www.degruyter.com/doc/cover/9781400842421.jpg |
| Summary: |
Political moderation is the touchstone of democracy, which could not function without compromise and bargaining, yet it is one of the most understudied concepts in political theory. How can we explain this striking paradox? Why do we often underestimate the virtue of moderation? Seeking to answer these questions, A Virtue for Courageous Minds examines moderation in modern French political thought and sheds light on the French Revolution and its legacy. Aurelian Craiutu begins with classical thinkers who extolled the virtues of a moderate approach to politics, such as Aristotle and Cicero. He then shows how Montesquieu inaugurated the modern rebirth of this tradition by laying the intellectual foundations for moderate government. Craiutu looks at important figures such as Jacques Necker, Madame de Sta l, and Benjamin Constant, not only in the context of revolutionary France but throughout Europe. He traces how moderation evolves from an individual moral virtue into a set of institutional arrangements calculated to protect individual liberty, and he explores the deep affinity between political moderation and constitutional complexity. Craiutu demonstrates how moderation navigates between political extremes, and he challenges the common notion that moderation is an essentially conservative virtue, stressing instead its eclectic nature. Drawing on a broad range of writings in political theory, the history of political thought, philosophy, and law, A Virtue for Courageous Minds reveals how the virtue of political moderation can address the profound complexities of the world today. |
| Carrier Form: | 1 online resource (336 pages) : illustrations |
| ISBN: | 9781400842421 |
| Index Number: | JA84 |
| CLC: | D095.65 |
| Contents: |
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Prologue. Why Moderation? -- One. In Search Of A Lost Archipelago -- Two. The Architecture Of Moderate Government -- Three. The Radical Moderates Of 1789 -- Four. Moderation And The "Intertwining Of Powers" -- Five. Moderation After The Terror -- Six. Moderation And "Neutral Power" -- Epilogue. Moderation, "The Silken String Running Through The Pearl-Chain Of All Virtues -- Notes -- Index. |