Montesquieu and the Uses of Nobility
Location:
John Hope Franklin Room
Social Sciences 224
1126 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637
Contact Name:
Paul Cheney
Contact E-mail:
cheney@uchicago.edu
Description:
During the century of Enlightenment Charles Louis de Montesquieu, author of the Lettres Persanes and De lâesprit des lois, enjoyed an intellectual preeminence that is difficult to overstate; in France, Europe and beyond, members of the Republic of Letters turned to Montesquieu as a source of ideas and of authority on such questions as the nature and history of moderate government; the evolving role of commerce; the causes of despotism; and the role of the nobility in states and societies progressing toward more egalitarian norms. Montesquieuâs perdurable authority on these subjects stemmed not only from the depth and originality of his thinking, but from his manner of expression, in which he studiously avoided pedantic, overly technical philosophical exposition in favor of the graceful allusion, epigram and bon ton that reigned Parisian salons of the eighteenth century. In this sense, style met substance: as a social thinker, Montesquieu sought reconciliation between a society of orders dominated by the nobility and the social structures and manners characteristic of a new commercial society. His writing displays the belletristic instincts of the nobility to which he belonged, tempering the seriousness of his inquiries with the sort of stylistic play, relativism and ironic detachment unthinkable at the extremes of critical and sentimental fervor we find, for instance, in Rousseau.
In this two-day international conference, we will gather a group of historians, literary scholars and political scientists in order to explore the role that Montesquieu envisioned for the nobility in the rapidly changing context of eighteenth-century Europe. At issue here will be Montesquieuâs ideas on commerce, monarchy and manners; more broadly, we will consider the problem of social change, assimilation and conflict. As historians of consumption, salon culture and literature have established, evolving practices of dressing, talking and writing provided models for the way the old court society could be reconciled with a more aggressive and dynamic but supposedly philistine commercial society. What did Montesquieu have to say about these issues and how did his own writing and lifeâ"so inflected by his noble tastes and habitsâ"embody these changes? Finally, we shall ask whether the intellectually and socially moderate Enlightenment that Montesquieu came to represent was a tenable alternative to more radical possibilities.
John Hope Franklin Room
Social Sciences 224
1126 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637
Contact Name:
Paul Cheney
Contact E-mail:
cheney@uchicago.edu
Description:
During the century of Enlightenment Charles Louis de Montesquieu, author of the Lettres Persanes and De lâesprit des lois, enjoyed an intellectual preeminence that is difficult to overstate; in France, Europe and beyond, members of the Republic of Letters turned to Montesquieu as a source of ideas and of authority on such questions as the nature and history of moderate government; the evolving role of commerce; the causes of despotism; and the role of the nobility in states and societies progressing toward more egalitarian norms. Montesquieuâs perdurable authority on these subjects stemmed not only from the depth and originality of his thinking, but from his manner of expression, in which he studiously avoided pedantic, overly technical philosophical exposition in favor of the graceful allusion, epigram and bon ton that reigned Parisian salons of the eighteenth century. In this sense, style met substance: as a social thinker, Montesquieu sought reconciliation between a society of orders dominated by the nobility and the social structures and manners characteristic of a new commercial society. His writing displays the belletristic instincts of the nobility to which he belonged, tempering the seriousness of his inquiries with the sort of stylistic play, relativism and ironic detachment unthinkable at the extremes of critical and sentimental fervor we find, for instance, in Rousseau.
In this two-day international conference, we will gather a group of historians, literary scholars and political scientists in order to explore the role that Montesquieu envisioned for the nobility in the rapidly changing context of eighteenth-century Europe. At issue here will be Montesquieuâs ideas on commerce, monarchy and manners; more broadly, we will consider the problem of social change, assimilation and conflict. As historians of consumption, salon culture and literature have established, evolving practices of dressing, talking and writing provided models for the way the old court society could be reconciled with a more aggressive and dynamic but supposedly philistine commercial society. What did Montesquieu have to say about these issues and how did his own writing and lifeâ"so inflected by his noble tastes and habitsâ"embody these changes? Finally, we shall ask whether the intellectually and socially moderate Enlightenment that Montesquieu came to represent was a tenable alternative to more radical possibilities.
Starts
3/12/2010 @ 11:00
Ends
3/12/2010 @ 5:30
Location
The Division of the Humanities
1115 East 58th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
Location:
John Hope Franklin Room
Social Sciences 224
1126 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637
Contact Name:
Paul Cheney
Contact E-mail:
cheney@uchicago.edu
Description:
During the century of Enlightenment Charles Louis de Montesquieu, author of the Lettres Persanes and De lâesprit des lois, enjoyed an intellectual preeminence that is difficult to overstate; in France, Europe and beyond, members of the Republic of Letters turned to Montesquieu as a source of ideas and of authority on such questions as the nature and history of moderate government; the evolving role of commerce; the causes of despotism; and the role of the nobility in states and societies progressing toward more egalitarian norms. Montesquieuâs perdurable authority on these subjects stemmed not only from the depth and originality of his thinking, but from his manner of expression, in which he studiously avoided pedantic, overly technical philosophical exposition in favor of the graceful allusion, epigram and bon ton that reigned Parisian salons of the eighteenth century. In this sense, style met substance: as a social thinker, Montesquieu sought reconciliation between a society of orders dominated by the nobility and the social structures and manners characteristic of a new commercial society. His writing displays the belletristic instincts of the nobility to which he belonged, tempering the seriousness of his inquiries with the sort of stylistic play, relativism and ironic detachment unthinkable at the extremes of critical and sentimental fervor we find, for instance, in Rousseau.
In this two-day international conference, we will gather a group of historians, literary scholars and political scientists in order to explore the role that Montesquieu envisioned for the nobility in the rapidly changing context of eighteenth-century Europe. At issue here will be Montesquieuâs ideas on commerce, monarchy and manners; more broadly, we will consider the problem of social change, assimilation and conflict. As historians of consumption, salon culture and literature have established, evolving practices of dressing, talking and writing provided models for the way the old court society could be reconciled with a more aggressive and dynamic but supposedly philistine commercial society. What did Montesquieu have to say about these issues and how did his own writing and lifeâ"so inflected by his noble tastes and habitsâ"embody these changes? Finally, we shall ask whether the intellectually and socially moderate Enlightenment that Montesquieu came to represent was a tenable alternative to more radical possibilities.
1115 East 58th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
Location:
John Hope Franklin Room
Social Sciences 224
1126 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637
Contact Name:
Paul Cheney
Contact E-mail:
cheney@uchicago.edu
Description:
During the century of Enlightenment Charles Louis de Montesquieu, author of the Lettres Persanes and De lâesprit des lois, enjoyed an intellectual preeminence that is difficult to overstate; in France, Europe and beyond, members of the Republic of Letters turned to Montesquieu as a source of ideas and of authority on such questions as the nature and history of moderate government; the evolving role of commerce; the causes of despotism; and the role of the nobility in states and societies progressing toward more egalitarian norms. Montesquieuâs perdurable authority on these subjects stemmed not only from the depth and originality of his thinking, but from his manner of expression, in which he studiously avoided pedantic, overly technical philosophical exposition in favor of the graceful allusion, epigram and bon ton that reigned Parisian salons of the eighteenth century. In this sense, style met substance: as a social thinker, Montesquieu sought reconciliation between a society of orders dominated by the nobility and the social structures and manners characteristic of a new commercial society. His writing displays the belletristic instincts of the nobility to which he belonged, tempering the seriousness of his inquiries with the sort of stylistic play, relativism and ironic detachment unthinkable at the extremes of critical and sentimental fervor we find, for instance, in Rousseau.
In this two-day international conference, we will gather a group of historians, literary scholars and political scientists in order to explore the role that Montesquieu envisioned for the nobility in the rapidly changing context of eighteenth-century Europe. At issue here will be Montesquieuâs ideas on commerce, monarchy and manners; more broadly, we will consider the problem of social change, assimilation and conflict. As historians of consumption, salon culture and literature have established, evolving practices of dressing, talking and writing provided models for the way the old court society could be reconciled with a more aggressive and dynamic but supposedly philistine commercial society. What did Montesquieu have to say about these issues and how did his own writing and lifeâ"so inflected by his noble tastes and habitsâ"embody these changes? Finally, we shall ask whether the intellectually and socially moderate Enlightenment that Montesquieu came to represent was a tenable alternative to more radical possibilities.
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