The Political Thought of Joseph De Maistre

With the restoration of the Bourbons to the throne of France, there began one of the most intellectually fruitful periods in French history. The French suddenly had a greater freedom than had been enjoyed for some time, and as Lamartine tells us, “scarcely was the Empire overturned, when people began to think, to write, and to sing again in France. ... All that had been hitherto silent now began to speak.” In politics, all sides had powerful spokesmen. But the old regime, suddenly given a new lease on life, seldom before had been favored with such brilliant apologists as Chateaubriand, Bonald, Lamen-nais, and Joseph de Maistre, the prophète du passé. One thing should be made clear. That Maistre's political thought was superior to that of the others of this school, there can be little doubt. But that Maistre was the chief exponent of the reaction during the Restoration is a fact rather falsely assumed of at least open to exceeding doubt

Art · Political science · Politics · Throne · French Literature and Criticism · Historical and Literary Analyses · Law · Philosophy · Political Theory and Influence

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