25 episodes
Spirit of Laws (Volume 1), The by Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (1689 - 1755) LibriVox
-
- Arts
-
-
3.0 • 1 Rating
-
This audiobook covers Volume 1 (Books I to XIX) of "The Spirit of the Laws" (French: De "l'esprit des lois", also sometimes called "The Spirit of Laws"). Spirit of Laws is a treatise on political theory first published anonymously by Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu in 1748 with the help of Claudine Guérin de Tencin. Originally published anonymously partly because Montesquieu's works were subject to censorship, its influence outside of France was aided by its rapid translation into other languages. Montesquieu's political treatise had an enormous influence on the work of many others, most notably: Catherine the Great, who produced Nakaz (Instruction); the Founding Fathers of the United States Constitution; and Alexis de Tocqueville, who applied Montesquieu's methods to a study of American society, in Democracy in America.
In this political treatise Montesquieu pleaded in favor of a constitutional system of government and the separation of powers, the ending of slavery, the preservation of civil liberties and the law, and the idea that political institutions ought to reflect the social and geographical aspects of each community. (Introduction by Wikipedia)
-
-
-
-
05 - Book 2. Of Laws Directly Derived from the Nature of Government
-
06 - Book 3. Of the Principles of the Three Kinds of Government.
-
07 - Book 4. That the Laws of Education Ought to Be in Relation to the Principles of Government
Customer Reviews
Do it in brief sessions
This reader is pretty good — he can be a bit smug, especially when he reads the required lines for Librivox — I don’t know why but his attitude kind of bothers me. Otherwise, it is a good reading for which I am very grateful for this is another classic of political theory that one never seems to read beyond the fourth book or so. If you’re interested in the eighteenth century, or in the history of democratic republics, this is one to read for it was extremely influential in the founding of various modern states, including the USA in the late eighteenth century. The reader does ok at reading, though he can get monotonous, which is why I recommend the brief sessions approach. Truly, I think another reader could do better, but until then, this is preferable to the $27 audiobook version. I have a hard copy of the text and marl the passages of interest based on what I listen to in this podcast. It is by no means a short book, and here, presumably, is only the first volume. Despite my misgivings about the reader’s overall delivery, I am invested in this and hope he does complete the project, and not take my criticism too negatively, but, rather, as constructive feedback to hopefully animate this otherwise turgid work by a great and profound mind.
Top Podcasts In Arts
More by LibriVox