French Liberalism from Montesquieu to the Present Day

There is an enduring assumption that the French have never been and will never be liberal. As with all cliches, this contains a grain of truth, but it also overlooks an important school of thought that has been a constant presence in French intellectual and political culture for nearly three centuries: French political liberalism. In this collaborative volume, a distinguished group of philosophers, political theorists and intellectual historians uncover this unjustly neglected tradition. The chapters examine the nature and distinctiveness of French liberalism, providing a comprehensive treatment of major themes including French liberalism's relationship with republicanism, Protestantism, utilitarianism and the human rights tradition. Individual chapters are devoted to Montesquieu, Tocqueville, Aron, Lefort and Gauchet, as well as to some lesser known, yet important thinkers, including several political economists and French-style 'neoliberals'. French Liberalism from Montesquieu to the Present Day is essential reading for all those interested in the history of political thought.

Raf Geenens is a postdoctoral researcher at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, where he also lectures on ethics and the history of natural law. His research, as a member of the Leuven-based research group RIPPLE, concerns contemporary models of democracy as well as the history of continental political philosophy. He is the co-editor of Reading Tocqueville: From Oracle to Actor (2007) and Does Truth Matter? Democracy and Public Space (2009) and is preparing a monograph on contemporary French philosopher Claude Lefort. Helena Rosenblatt is Professor of History at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where she teaches European Intellectual History. A specialist in French political thought, with a strong interest in religion, she is the author of Rousseau and Geneva: From the First Discourse to the Social Contract (1997) and Liberal Values: Benjamin Constant and the Politics of Religion (2008) and edited The Cambridge Companion to Constant (2009) and Rousseau's Second Discourse (2010). Her current research project is a history of liberalism. In 2010 Professor Rosenblatt won the Benjamin Constant prize offered by the Institut Benjamin Constant in Lausanne, Switzerland.