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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691629612
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	03/21/2017
Series:	Princeton Legacy Library , #5199
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction 3

1 Absolutism and the Ideal Types of Sociability 9

The Well-Policed State 9

Sociability and Democracy 24

Five Ideal Types 33

2 The Language of Sociability 43

The Enlightenment as a Lexicon 43

Historical Semantics 48

The Rise of "Society" 51

The Concept of Latent Sociability in Natural Law 54

The Amalgamation of Natural Law and Politeness 61

Self-Centered Cosmopolitanism 73

The Religion of Society 76

3 The Civilizing Process Revisited 86

The Varieties of Civility 86

The Rules of Irrelevance 94

The Public Sphere in Apolitical Form 107

The Douceur of the Gentleman 116

Politeness and the Lineage of the Enlightenment 126

4 Sociability and Universal History: Jean-Baptiste Suard and the Scottish Enlightenment in France 129

Universal History 129

France and the Scottish Enlightenment 133

Storm over Suard 137

The Virtues of Being Lazy 141

Ossian: The Savage Poet 145

Robertson: The Progress of Refinement 150

Hume: The Elimination of Politics 160

5 Andre Morellet and the End of the Enlightenment 177

Form versus Substance 177

The Rules of Criticism 182

The Quest for Integration 189

Public Opinion and Civility 199

The Philosophy of Grain 208

Revolution and the New Liberalism 226

Conclusion 242

Select Bibliography 247

Index 267

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