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Chapter 46 The Code of Reason and Liberty

Chapter 45 The Code of Reason and Liberty: On the Spirit of the Laws

The book "The Spirit of Law" is the result of Montesquieu's lifelong hard research, and it is the most important and influential book.

book.

Pursuit of freedom, advocacy of law proposed in "The Spirit of Law"
The theory of governance and separation of powers had a great impact on bourgeois revolutions worldwide, and was included in the French
"people
Declaration of Rights and the United States' Declaration of Independence. After being translated into Chinese in the early 20th century, it also had a profound impact on China's democratic revolution.
carve.

After the publication of "The Spirit of Laws", it immediately caused a sensation in European countries, and it was printed 22 times within two years.People excitedly commented, "Ah
, terrific, innumerable ideas, unparalleled enthusiasm, penetrating exposition, new and shining ideas. "Britain
American philosopher David Hume praised it as "probably the best political theory system ever seen in the world".Helvetia sighs

It is called "the greatest and most outstanding book in the world".

"The Spirit of the Law" published as a representative work of the Enlightenment Movement

Montesquieu was a pioneer of the French Enlightenment in the 18th century, an outstanding bourgeois political thinker and legal

scientist.Montesquieu was born Charles-Louis Testeda on January 1689, 1 in Bordeaux, Gironde, France.

of an aristocratic family.

In 1721, he published "Letters of the Persians" in Holland under the pseudonym of Pierre Mardo, which aroused strong repercussions.
In [-], he began to travel to various European countries, and he went to Austria, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom successively.

And other countries, in-depth investigation of the country's political system, customs, religious beliefs and other social conditions.In particular he in 1729

He lived in England for two years, where he made friends with many famous scholars.What Montesquieu saw and heard in England became his

后写
As the basic starting point and reference of "On the Spirit of Law". In 1748, his major work "On the Spirit of Laws" was completed, which

After the publication of this book, it was welcomed by the people of the third class, and also by the feudal ruling class and religious forces.
s attack. Montesquieu died in Paris in 1755.

Montesquieu lived in an era in which the decadent feudalism and feudal autocracy in France reached its apex and began to decline

The era of French capitalism was also markedly developed.At that time, the ruling class in France consisted of the first and second class
The two major social groups, the nobles and the senior monks, occupy all important positions in the government and church and control the army.

And including the bourgeoisie, peasants, craftsmen and handicraft factory workers, called the third class, they are completely excluded from the political
Outside the political arena, they cannot express and realize their wishes.Therefore, their common desire and requirement is to change the feudal autocracy
system, abolishing the privileges of the first and second ranks.Since the end of the 17th century, France has set off a campaign against feudalism and anti-God.
The Enlightenment movement that created public opinion for the bourgeois revolution. "The Spirit of the Law" is an early and middle period of the Enlightenment
Department representative.

The political model of the doctrine of separation of powers

Montesquieu's "The Spirit of Laws" has 6 volumes, 31 chapters, and 605 sections, divided into two volumes.Its content can be roughly divided into

Three parts: The first part mainly explains the provisions of general law, the relationship between legal principles and political system, and various
evolution of the regime.The second part focuses on explaining the relationship between the relevant legal principles and political factors, geography, climate, ethnic customs,

Relations of trade, soil, etc.The third part explains the origin and change of various legal and spiritual principles in slave society and feudal society.

etc.

All of Montesquieu's thoughts are based on the fundamental viewpoint of "law".At the beginning of the book, he wrote: "The law
, in the broadest sense, are necessary relations deriving from the nature of things: in this sense, all substances

All have their laws; gods have their laws, the material world has their laws, the angels above men have their laws, and the beasts have their laws.
There are laws for animals, and there are laws for humans. " Montesquieu did not place God but the law as supreme and dominating everything,

This stripped off the theological cloak of the feudal system and the feudal state, and helped to liberate the social and state issues from theological domination.
The struggle is very commendable.

Montesquieu carefully studied various regimes, gave high praise to democracies, and ruthlessly condemned despotism.
criticism.He first studied three different types of regimes in history, namely monarchy, republic and autocracy
.A monarchy is a form of government in which one person governs according to established laws, and a republic is a form of government in which all the people have supreme power
, a despotism is a regime that leads everything entirely according to its own will and capricious temperament.

Different regimes have a great relationship with education, law, morality and so on.Montesquieu believed that the law of education is the first thing we accept
accepted law, but it differs under various regimes.In a monarchy the legal purpose of education should be honour;
In a country, it should be morality; in an autocratic country, it should be terror.He advocated that the laws of education should be compatible with the principles of government
.Montesquieu believed that legislation should be compatible with the principles of the regime.The relation of law to the principles of the regime strengthens all actions of government.
force; reverse
The principles of the regime thus acquired new strength.In a monarchy, the law should preserve the monarchy's right of inheritance,

Trade rights, tax rights, etc.In a republic, the republic must first of all provide people with equality, and must guarantee it with laws, otherwise
Inequality would have set in, and the republic would be over.In despotism, whose principle is terror, the "cowardly, the foolish"
A people who are ignorant and depressed do not need many laws. Montesquieu proposed civil, penal, sentencing, and
the form of execution and the principles of sentencing.Generally speaking, the monarchy must have a court, and there must be a certain procedure, and the judgment takes
Arbitratively, it cares more to prevent crime than to punish it; republics are much the same; despotisms are indifferent

legal.In Relation of Principles of Government to Thrift, Law, Luxury, and Womanhood.Montesquieu believed that in a monarchy

Since wealth is unevenly distributed, luxury is necessary, otherwise the poor will starve;

Evenly distributed, there is no luxury; in despotism, luxury is when people abuse the benefits they get from slavery, so

Therefore, luxury is also necessary.Regarding the status of women in various regimes, Montesquieu believed that in monarchies, there are titles

Women are free, because they are seldom restrained in going to court; in republics, although women are legally free,
But be slaves to custom; and in despotic countries women should be absolute slaves.

In terms of using law to defend civil liberties, Montesquieu put forward the famous theory of separation of powers.

The theory of separation of powers is an important topic in "The Spirit of Law", and its main purpose is to oppose the concentration of all state-owned powers in an autocratic monarch.

Among them, it is proposed and developed according to John Locke's theory of separation of powers.It believes that every country has three powers, namely,

legal, judicial and executive powers of the state.These three powers should belong to different state organs.If the legislative power and

When executive power is concentrated in the hands of the same person or institution, liberty ceases to exist, because the people are afraid of the king or parliament
Make tyrannical laws and tyrannically enforce them.If the judicial power is separated from the legislative power, there will be no liberty
.If the judicial and legislative powers were united, an arbitrary power would be exercised over the life and liberty of the citizens, for the judges are
legislators.If the judicial and executive powers were united, the judge would have the power of the oppressor.If the same person or by heavy
If men, nobles or commoners, form the same body to exercise all three powers, all is lost.

In a free state, the legislative power should be exercised collectively by the people, who must form legislation through representatives they elect

An agency makes laws or supervises the enforcement of laws it makes.The nobility shall form a body and the common people shall enjoy the legislative power at the same time,

Both have their own parliaments.But the aristocratic association is hereditary, and has only the right to object in legislation, and should not have the right to create.legislation

The three powers of government, justice and administration must be separated and mutually restricted.Executive power should rest in the hands of the king, since the various
Departments need to take quick action from time to time, and it is better to be managed by one person than by several.The executive has the power to stop the legislature
Otherwise, the legislature will become despotism.The executive should also participate in legislation through its "right of objection".manage
Legal power shall be exercised by a court composed of persons selected from the people's class in the manner prescribed by law, not for a particular class

level or specific to a particular class.The model of separation of powers and checks and balances proposed by Montesquieu at that time was the British constitutional monarchy.

body.

Montesquieu also discusses the manner in which laws are made.Montesquieu emphasized how the way laws are made will directly
It is related to the fate of state affairs and civil affairs, as well as the freedom and security of citizens.

Montesquieu's book "On the Spirit of Law" provides people with an important theory that has not been systematically discussed by other contemporaries
and practical issues, it is known as the lament of the feudal autocracy, the morning song of the emerging bourgeois political system, and has a long history in the history of human thought.

It has far-reaching influence and important historical position.

The theory of separation of powers discussed in the book had a huge impact on the legislation during the French bourgeois revolution and became the

The political system pursued by the vast majority of post-bourgeois countries and the fundamental principles for formulating constitutional regulations.But objectively speaking, three
The theory of separation of powers was first put forward in Locke's "Treatise of Government", and Montesquieu just developed and perfected this theory.

The principle of separation of powers was first implemented in some constitutions of the North American colonies, such as Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, New Hampshire, etc.
the constitution of the land. The 1787 Constitution of the United States of America and the 1791 French Constitution both adopted the principle of separation of powers.America and France

The Constitution of the United States later became a model for the constitutions of many other bourgeois countries.To this day, the constitutions of most bourgeois states
This separation of powers is maintained in both political and political institutions.The distinct revolutionary tendency in the book represents the young and weak

The "rational" requirements of the emerging classes in France, so Voltaire praised it as "the code of reason and freedom".it and Montesquieu

Together with his other two masterpieces "Letters from the Persians" and "On the Causes of the Rise and Fall of Rome", they provided a good introduction to the upcoming French bourgeois revolution.

Life provides an important theoretical weapon.

"The Spirit of Law" has the limitations of the times and classes, and believes that a nation's moral outlook, legal nature and political form,
It is determined by the size of the area where they live, the local climate, soil and other geographical conditions.

This theory undoubtedly exaggerated the influence of geographical environment on social life, but under the conditions at that time, it was a
It is an attempt to explain the social and historical process by natural causes instead of God's will, so it has anti-religious superstition and anti-feudalism.

The progressive significance of building.

(End of this chapter)