Citizens without Sovereignty: Equality and Sociability in French Thought, 1670-1789

by Daniel Gordon

Overview

In a wide-ranging interpretation of French thought in the years 1670-1789, Daniel Gordon takes us through the literature of manners and moral philosophy, theology and political theory, universal history and economics to show how French thinkers sustained a sense of liberty and dignity within an authoritarian regime. A penetrating critique of those who exaggerate either the radicalism of the Enlightenment or the hegemony of the absolutist state, his book documents the invention of an ethos that was neither democratic nor absolutist, an ethos that idealized communication and private life. The key to this ethos was "sociability," and Gordon offers the first detailed study of the language and ideas that gave this concept its meaning in the Old Regime. Citizens without Sovereignty provides a wealth of information about the origins and usage of key words, such as société and sociabilité, in French thought. From semantic fields of meaning, Gordon goes on to consider institutional fields of action. Focusing on the ubiquitous idea of "society" as a depoliticized sphere of equality, virtue, and aesthetic cultivation, he marks out the philosophical space that lies between the idea of democracy and the idea of the royal police state. Within this space, Gordon reveals the channels of creative action that are open to citizens without sovereignty—citizens who have no right to self-government. His work is thus a contribution to general historical sociology as well as French intellectual history.

Originally published in 1994.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691607733
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	03/21/2017
Series:	Princeton Legacy Library , #5199
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 Absolutism and the Ideal Types of Sociability

2 The Language of Sociability

3 The Civilizing Process Revisited

4 Sociability and Universal History: Jean-Baptiste Suard and the Scottish Enlightenment in 5 Conclusion

Select Bibliography

Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A major reinterpretation of the social foundations for the French Revolution . . . . It powerfully makes the case for sociability as the locus of public opinion formation in the eigtheenth century."—Orest Ranum, The Johns Hopkins University

Editorial Reviews

"Gordon has written a sophisticated and original interpretation of how the idea of sociability evolved in French culture from the reign of Louis XIV to the French Revolution. . . . a work of impressive erudition."

Choice

"Gordon has written a sophisticated and original interpretation of how the idea of sociability evolved in French culture from the reign of Louis XIV to the French Revolution. . . . a work of impressive erudition."-- "Choice"

From the Publisher