Antiquity as the Source of Modernity: Freedom and Balance in the Thought of Montesquieu and Burke

152 Pages·2008·1.6 MB·English

by  Thomas Chaimowicz

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Introduction iii
Introduction i
Copyright © 2008 by Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conven-
tions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
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from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Transaction Publishers,
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New Jersey 08854-8042. www.transactionpub.com
This book is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Stan-
dard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2008006894
ISBN: 978-1-4128-1213-9 (E-Book)
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chaimowicz, Thomas.
[Freiheit und Gleichgewicht im Denken Montesquieus und Burkes.
English]
Antiquity as the source of modernity : freedom and balance in the thought
of Montesquieu and Burke / Thomas Chaimowicz ; with a foreword by Rus-
sell Kirk.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4128-0771-5
1. Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de, 1689-1755.
2. Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797. 3. State, The. 4. Liberty.
5. Balance of power. I. Title.
JC179.M753C4515 2008
320.01—dc22
2008006894
DEDICATORY NOTE
In memory of my son
Raphael
(1974-1994)
a young poet, who died while traveling through California.
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Contents
Preface ix
Foreword xi
Introduction 1
I. Montesquieu’s Spiritual Outlook and His 9
Evaluation of Forms of Government
II. Monarchy as Opposed to Despotism 35
III. The Concept of the Mixed Constitution and 51
the Separation of Powers
IV. Montesquieu’s Considérations sur les Causes 61
de la Grandeur des Romains et de Leur Décadence
V. Heredity and Freedom in Burke’s Mixed Constitution 79
VI. Ideal and Reality 103
Conclusion 129
Index 135
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Preface
This book, Antiquity as the Source of Modernity, is a translation of
my Freiheit und Gleichgewicht im Denken Montesquieus und Burkes,
fi rst published in Vienna in 1985 (Forschungen aus Staat und Recht No.
68, Springer-Verlag, Vienna/New York) under the benevolent auspices
of Professor Gunther Winkler, who not only encouraged me to write
it, but was always at hand with advice such as only a great jurist could
give on so subtle a theme. I owe much to the experience of Dr. Dorothea
Mayer-Maly, a scholar in the fi eld of legal philosophy, without whose
help neither the German nor the English edition could have appeared. I
also wish to thank the translator, Dr. Reinhard Andress, of Colby Col-
lege, Maine. Upon the advice of my friend of many decades, Dr. Russell
Kirk, the Wilbur Foundation provided the funds for the translation, which
Dr. Peter M. Simons of the University of Salzburg reviewed as far as
the technical terminology is concerned. Completing the translation was
by no means an easy task, since several fi elds of study, classics, ancient
history, constitutional history and political philosophy, were blended into
one, comprehensive and partly new fi eld of comparative studies. In this
connection, I want to thank a former student of mine, Miss Ulrike Novy,
MA, who helped me in the reading of the English translation.
This edition deviates from the German original only in minor ways.
Wherever the context does not fully explain the meaning of the quotations
from the French, I have provided the English translation in parentheses.
As readers will notice in due course, the language of Montesquieu, like
the sublime style of his ancient models of inspiration, especially Livy
and Tacitus, cannot be translated properly without sacrifi cing the unity
of thought and the literary quality of the original. So, I have also quoted
Livy and Tacitus extensively, in order to preserve not only the beauty
of the text, but also to accentuate the intricacies of the authors’ thought.
An English translation has been added wherever necessary to assist the
reader who might have diffi culties with the Latin.
ix