"[A] spirited and stimulating book."--Michael Drolet, Perspectives on Politics
"Craiutu does a fine job of explaining how each thinker embraced and advocated political moderation in public debates in France. He also sets out an admirable case tying such a diverse group together."--Christian R. Donath, History of Political Thought
"[A] rich historical feast and fascinating interpretation of moderate French political thought . . . Craiutu provides us with in this wonderful book."--Benjamin Hill, Review of Metaphysics
"Aurelian Craiutu's book is a fine study of a neglected subject. Unlike so many studies that, in our age of academic specialization, restrict themselves to limited time frames such as the Old Regime or the Revolution or Napoleon or the Restoration, Craiutu's book covers all of these. . . . Aurelian Craiutu has produced a well-researched and clearly written study of an important subject."--Harvey Chisick, American Historical Review
"A cynic might say that moderation is too vague a concept to justify study. But Craiutu here has been able to use this concept, fluid as it is, to give a thought provoking treatment of a long chronological period, though with emphasis on the French ancien régime and the Revolution."--Christopher Guyver, European History Quarterly
"This book makes a significant contribution to the historiography of French political thought by filling an unfortunate and even somewhat bizarre gap in the scholarship. . . . This is a very useful and readable book, which provides a wealth of new and important information carefully and compellingly presented. Particularly interesting is Craiutu's focus on the moderates' constitutional thinking, and his underlining of both the complexity of their thought and the importance that this complexity held in their own views of politics. Professor Craiutu should be commend[ed] for not 'washing' away problems, ambivalences, and tensions in the thinkers he examines; he deals with them in a scholarly and balanced fashion, while also conveying his sympathy for them."--Helena Rosenblatt, French Politics, Culture & Society
"Aurelian Craiutu has written a superb book. The lost virtue of moderation--what Tacitus called 'the most difficult lesson of wisdom'--has at last been given voice. It would be a nice irony if it took a group of French thinkers to teach contemporary Americans something about the value of political moderation and constitutional government. I hope this book will be widely read, especially by our elected officials."--Steven Smith, Yale University
"Moderation was one of the principal ideological tendencies in and after the revolution in France and one of the least studied. This is an original and excellent study of a much neglected subject."--Jonathan Israel, Institute for Advanced Study
"A meticulous, thoughtful, and instructive study. Craiutu shows how, in an immoderate time and place, a coherent politics of moderation emerged. It will be of great interest to historians and students of political philosophy alike."--David Bell, Princeton University
"This is an impeccable piece of scholarship written by one of this generation's leading experts on French political thought. Craiutu makes a bold claim for the crucial importance of a tradition of political moderation that has too readily been overlooked in the history of Western political thought. This is one of the most exhaustively documented and richly detailed works of intellectual history I've read in years."--Richard Boyd, Georgetown University
"France is generally thought to be a country of revolutions and extremes. A Virtue for Courageous Minds tells us that this picture has been very much exaggerated. France had a moderate and liberal tradition that was alive and well during the French Revolution and thereafter. Craiutu rescues from oblivion a group of very nuanced thinkers who were influential during their times but have been forgotten by history."--Helena Rosenblatt, City University of New York
"Craiutu's splendid study joins recent books by Harry Clor and Peter Berkowitz that recover appreciation for the moral, political, and philosophical virtue of moderation. Clor and Berkowitz do not share Craiutu's emphasis on the indeterminacy of the political good, instead valuing the traditional ideals of the golden mean and the happy medium as indicating a higher path to justice. Such debate about moderation, and its import for a free politics, is a breath of fresh air in our public discourse."--Paul Carrese, Society (Springer)
"A Virtue for Courageous Minds offers a rare opportunity for contemplating on the breadth and depth of the political centre that was born into the modernity at the foundational turning point of European history at the end of the long eighteenth century. . . .This book will inspire scholars to enter a field that has insufficiently treated the many aspects of moderation to date."--Minchul Kim, History of European Ideas
"For those looking for a spirited argument for the emergence of moderation as a formal body of thought in mid-eighteenth century France and a vigorous defense of moderation as a valid and sophisticated form of political thinking relevant even for the politics of contemporary America, this is your book."--William Olejniczak, H-France Review
"Craiutu's . . . book will be read with interest, particularly as a contribution to the constitutional history of the period."--C. P. Courtney, French Studies
"Craiutu's splendid study joins recent books by Harry Clor and Peter Berkowitz that recover appreciation for the moral, political, and philosophical venue of moderation. Clor and Berkowitz do not share Craiutu's emphasis on the indeterminacy of the political good, instead valuing the traditional ideals of the golden mean and the happy medium as indicating a higher path to justice. Such debate about moderation, and its import for a free politics, is a breath of fresh air in our public discourse."--Paul Carrese, Springer Science+Business Media Part I: Visions of Moderate Government Chapter One: In Search of a Lost Archipelago 13 Chapter Two: The Architecture of Moderate Government: Montesquieu?s Science of the Legislator 33 Chapter Three: The Radical Moderates of 1789: The Tragic Middle Part II: Moderation and the Legacy of the Revolution Chapter Four: Moderation and the "Intertwining of Powers": Jacques Necker?s Constitutionalism 113 Chapter Five: Moderation after the Terror: Madame de Staël?s Elusive Center 158 Chapter Six: Moderation and "Neutral Power": Benjamin Constant?s pouvoir modérateur 198 Epilogue: Moderation, "the silken string running through the pearl-chain of all virtues" 238
Abbreviations xvii
Prologue: Why Moderation? 1
Moderation in France? 1
The Main Questions 3
How Should We Study Moderation? 6
Outline of the Book 8
The Many Faces of Moderation 13
The Skepticism toward Moderation 15
Moderation in the Classical and Christian Traditions 19
Early Modern Faces of Moderation 26
The Highest Virtue 33
The Complex Nature of Moderation 35
Moderation and Mixed Government 36
Moderation and Political Liberty 40
Penal Moderation and Montesquieu?s Theory of Jurisprudence 43
Fiscal Moderation 46
The Constitutional Framework of Moderate Government 48
The Good Legislator and the Spirit of Moderation 54
How Can Democratic and Aristocratic Regimes Be Moderated? 60
Moderation, Pluralism, and Commerce 62
Helvetius? Warning 66
of the French Monarchiens 69
Who Were the Monarchiens? 69
Mounier, Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Sieyes 72
"Le marasme du modérantisme" 76
"Fixing" the French Constitution 79
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen 85
The Elusive Balance of Powers: The Debates on Bicameralism and the Royal Veto 91
The Dialogue between the Monarchiens and Burke 98
The Limits of Moderation in Revolutionary Times 103
A Modern Cato? 113
The Impossible Reform of the Old Regime 116
Necker?s Trimming Agenda 119
The Consequences of Immoderation 126
A Missed Opportunity: The Constitution of 1791 131
Necker?s Critique of the Constitutions of 1795 and 1799 136
Overcoming Rousseau?s Spell: "Complex Sovereignty" and Necker?s Critique of Equality 146
Beyond the Separation of Powers: L?entrelacement des pouvoirs 150
The Failure of Virtuous Moderation? 154
Was the Revolution of 1789 Inevitable? 160
The Constituent Assembly and the Constitution of 1791 163
The Anatomy of Political Fanaticism 166
The Elusive Center 169
Rebuilding Representative Government: The Constitution of 1795 176
The Failure of Moderation and the Rise of Napoleon 183
The Charter of 1814 and England?s "Happy Constitution" 189
An Enthusiastic Moderate 194
An Enigmatic Character 198
Constant?s Middle Way during the Directory 200
Moderation and the Republic of the "Extreme Center" 208
Limited Sovereignty and Individual Liberty 215
The Architecture of Representative Government 220
Neutral Power as pouvoir modérateur 227
Benjamin "nconstant" and the Paradoxes of Moderation 234
"Animated Moderation" 239
The "Decalogue" of Moderation 240
Notes 251
Index 319
Personitas
Superior
Maiwai 08
Calendario 2013. Monster High