PH215 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Negative Liberty, Positive Liberty, Collectivism
31 Oct 2018
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Document Summary
Benjamin constant- on the liberty of the ancients compared to that of the moderns . In order to combine ancients and moderns, representative government. Individualism vs. collectivism, war vs commerce presence of sacri ce vs. individualism. Written in 1819 france as a political intervention . Divine right of the kings > overthrow of the monarchy > turmoil > napoleon > exile of napoleon. Unthinkable to kill the king because he was connected to god. Ancient conception of liberty enforced by jacobins using rousseau"s philosophies, causing death/terror. Napoleon represents ancients because he preferred war over commerce > constant wrote. Napoleon"s constitution, so many labeled him a hypocrite. Constant- any return to an ancient conception of liberty will be destructive . In the modern world, return to prior conditions is impossible. Constant"s goal is to conceptualize what is distinctly modern is contemporary society and design a form of government that adequately fosters these conditions.
