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A Virtue for Courageous Minds : Moderation in French Political Thought, 1748-1830 / Aurelian Craiutu.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2012]Copyright date: ©2012Edition: Course BookDescription: 1 online resource (336 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780691146768
  • 9781400842421
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 320.94409034 23
LOC classification:
  • JA84.F8 C72 2017
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Prologue. Why Moderation? -- Part I. Visions Of Moderate Government -- One. In Search Of A Lost Archipelago -- Two. The Architecture Of Moderate Government -- Three. The Radical Moderates Of 1789 -- Part II. Moderation And The Legacy Of The Revolution -- Four. Moderation And The "Intertwining Of Powers" -- Five. Moderation After The Terror -- Six. Moderation And "Neutral Power" -- Epilogue. Moderation, "The Silken String Running Through The Pearl-Chain Of All Virtues -- Notes -- Index
Summary: Political moderation is the touchstone of democracy, which could not function without compromise and bargaining, yet it is one of the most understudied concepts in political theory. How can we explain this striking paradox? Why do we often underestimate the virtue of moderation? Seeking to answer these questions, A Virtue for Courageous Minds examines moderation in modern French political thought and sheds light on the French Revolution and its legacy. Aurelian Craiutu begins with classical thinkers who extolled the virtues of a moderate approach to politics, such as Aristotle and Cicero. He then shows how Montesquieu inaugurated the modern rebirth of this tradition by laying the intellectual foundations for moderate government. Craiutu looks at important figures such as Jacques Necker, Madame de Staël, and Benjamin Constant, not only in the context of revolutionary France but throughout Europe. He traces how moderation evolves from an individual moral virtue into a set of institutional arrangements calculated to protect individual liberty, and he explores the deep affinity between political moderation and constitutional complexity. Craiutu demonstrates how moderation navigates between political extremes, and he challenges the common notion that moderation is an essentially conservative virtue, stressing instead its eclectic nature. Drawing on a broad range of writings in political theory, the history of political thought, philosophy, and law, A Virtue for Courageous Minds reveals how the virtue of political moderation can address the profound complexities of the world today.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9781400842421

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Prologue. Why Moderation? -- Part I. Visions Of Moderate Government -- One. In Search Of A Lost Archipelago -- Two. The Architecture Of Moderate Government -- Three. The Radical Moderates Of 1789 -- Part II. Moderation And The Legacy Of The Revolution -- Four. Moderation And The "Intertwining Of Powers" -- Five. Moderation After The Terror -- Six. Moderation And "Neutral Power" -- Epilogue. Moderation, "The Silken String Running Through The Pearl-Chain Of All Virtues -- Notes -- Index

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Political moderation is the touchstone of democracy, which could not function without compromise and bargaining, yet it is one of the most understudied concepts in political theory. How can we explain this striking paradox? Why do we often underestimate the virtue of moderation? Seeking to answer these questions, A Virtue for Courageous Minds examines moderation in modern French political thought and sheds light on the French Revolution and its legacy. Aurelian Craiutu begins with classical thinkers who extolled the virtues of a moderate approach to politics, such as Aristotle and Cicero. He then shows how Montesquieu inaugurated the modern rebirth of this tradition by laying the intellectual foundations for moderate government. Craiutu looks at important figures such as Jacques Necker, Madame de Staël, and Benjamin Constant, not only in the context of revolutionary France but throughout Europe. He traces how moderation evolves from an individual moral virtue into a set of institutional arrangements calculated to protect individual liberty, and he explores the deep affinity between political moderation and constitutional complexity. Craiutu demonstrates how moderation navigates between political extremes, and he challenges the common notion that moderation is an essentially conservative virtue, stressing instead its eclectic nature. Drawing on a broad range of writings in political theory, the history of political thought, philosophy, and law, A Virtue for Courageous Minds reveals how the virtue of political moderation can address the profound complexities of the world today.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Jul 2021)