French Political Philosopher Montesquieu (1689 -1755) was famous for his The Spirit of Laws – one of the great works in the history of political theory and in the history of jurisprudence. First published in 1748, was widely read around the world, translated into many languages, was read and studied by America’s founding fathers. Good source of information on how our laws were formed and are used today in our society. Among its many great quote, there is – “It is the universal experience that every man who holds power tends to abuse it. He will proceed until he finds the limits.” The work had such an huge impact that the work was placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1751 by Catholic Church. And Montesquieu responded to the virulent attack by Défense de l’Esprit des lois – a last publication during his life time.
Of the multiplicity of subjects treated by Montesquieu in The Spirit of Laws, none remained unadorned. Hist treatment of three was particularly memorable. The first of these is his classification of governments. Abandoning the classical divisions of his predecessors into monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, Montesquieu produced his own analysis and assigned to each form of government an animating principle: the republic, based on virtue; the monarchy, based on honor; and despotism, based on fear. The second of his most noted arguments, the theory of the separation of powers. He asserted that in the state that most effectively promotes liberty, th three powers of legislative, executive and judicial must be confided to different individuals or bodies, acting independently. The third and most celebrated doctrines is that of the political influence of climate. Basing himself on doctrines met in his reading, on the experience of his travels, and on experiments – admittedly somewhat naive – he stressed the effect of climate, primarily thinking of heat and cold, on the physical frame of the individual, and, as a consequence, on the intellectual outlook of society. (Note from blogger: this third doctrine of Montesquieu’s observation, can be explained today in Quantum physics, and the astrology studies. )
Renown lay lightly on Montesquieu’s shoulders. It was to be expected that the editors of the Encyclopedie should wish to have his collaboration and d’Alembert asked him to write on democracy and despotism. Montesquieu declined, saying that he had already had his say on those themes but would like to write on taste. The resultant Essay on Taste, on psychology of pleasure and the role of culture in shaping perception – is a philosophical reflection on the origins of aesthetic and moral judgment, arguing that taste is an internal faculty of the soul, shaped by both natural and acquired pleasures, and that understanding its causes can help cultivate refined judgment, first drafted about 25 years earlier, was his last work. In the words of Hume : “Thus, though the principles of taste be universal, and nearly, if not entirely, the same in all men; yet few are qualified to give judgement on any work of art, or establish their own sentiment as the standard of beauty. The organs of internal sensation are seldom so perfect as to allow the general principles full play, and produce a feeling correspondent to those principle.” Essay on Taste was Montesquieu’s effort on aesthetic theory seeking to negotiate the complexities of cultural and individual differences within a conception of shared human traits.
The article in the Encyclopedie is one of the most interesting examples of the central position and importance of the question of taste in 18th century france. Such a question could elicit a contribution from Voltaire, the foremost man of letters of his time, who later also wrote the Temple of Taste, and from a distinguished mathematicians like d’Alembert. Their essays differ in style and in approach, but all three authors agree that it is good taste, above all, that distinguishes the educated man and the civilized country. In time, Alexander Gerard, a Scottish philosophical writer and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland would further developed his comments on Taste With three dissertations on the same subject. By Mr. de Voltaire. Mr. d’Alembert, F.R.S. Mr. de Montesquieu. 1759. And there is a 2005 study by Downing A. Thomas on the same subject by Johns Hopkins University Publication, found connection between Montesquieu’s writings on aesthetics and his much more voluminous publications on politics and society.
I am no politicians, but certainly is inspired by the American founding fathers and want to share with you the discussions on related issues. The subject of aesthetic are correlated to Venus in astrology – symbolizes love, beauty, harmony, desire, and the divine feminine, reflecting both nurturing and transformative energies in human life. Our relationship with ourselves, with other people, with nature certainly is under the jurisdiction of Venus. Venus in our natal chart also correlated to how we perceive/interpret the meaning of the other person’s discussion/communication: favorable, evil, intention, etc. For example, the Chinese often ask people “Have you had your meal?” which has been a traditional Chinese way of greeting with people. Depend on different context, this greeting can be translated in different meaning, and that is what Venus conveys. And I thought that is what Carl Jung’s famous line — “We meet ourselves time and again in a thousand disguises on the path of life” means. That is, we interpret what is without by what is within.
There had been so many outstanding thinkers in the history of France, Britain and Germany, just to name a few. Reminds me also about Louisianan Purchase of a huge plot of land from France through Napoleon with minimal price. The current government of France since 1958, had bond-market mess is a warning for the world. I read some where that France had never been able to balance its budget since 1970s, partly because of the dollar dominance that raise the interest of borrowing money on the whole world. Not knowing much about bond market, it seems France, Britain and Japan are in some way helping buying U.S bonds. So dollar is certainly not just other countries problems. Maybe U.S need to sell its land back to France and other sovereignties who help buy U.S bonds ? It is no secret that U.S elections had been controlled by money and lobbies from foreign countries. America is not capable of holding this much public debt by ourselves, not to mention there exist huge amount of private debts that is further slow down the economy. And it is fair to have parties that shoulder our obligations to share our authorities and profits as well. Foreign countries should be allowed to publicly participate American elections, if we regard, even at least on temporarily basis, that U.S dollar had become international problem, and dollar has caused so much inflation in the world. So other countries, even Russia, Iran, for that matter deserve a saying in how we handle our finance and banks, maybe even a international agreement on how to regulate banks globally. United States is NO LONGER a superpower in the unipolar world, and it is only rational and wise to adjust accordingly to the situation. And the agreement should also including how to take care of problems of the world.