"Principles of Politics," first published in 1815, is a "microcosm
of Constant's] whole political philosophy and an expression of his
political experience," says Nicholas Capaldi in his Introduction.
In "Principles," Constant "explores many subjects: law,
sovereignty, and representation; power and accountability;
government, property and taxation; wealth and poverty; war, peace,
and the maintenance of public order; and above all freedom, of the
individual, of the press, and of religion. . . . Constant saw
freedom as an organic phenomenon: to attack it in any particular
way was to attack it generally."Benjamin Constant (1767-1830) was
born in Switzerland and became one of France's leading writers, as
well as a journalist, philosopher, and politician. His colorful
life included a formative stay at the University of Edinburgh;
service at the court of Brunswick, Germany; election to the French
Tribunate; and initial opposition and subsequent support for
Napoleon, even the drafting of a constitution for the Hundred Days.
Constant wrote many books, essays, and pamphlets. His deepest
conviction was that reform is hugely superior to revolution, both
morally and politically. While Constant's fluid, dynamic style and
lofty eloquence do not always make for easy reading, his text forms
a coherent whole, and in his translation Dennis O'Keeffe has
focused on retaining the "general elegance and subtle rhetoric" of
the original.Sir Isaiah Berlin called Constant "the most eloquent
of all defenders of freedom and privacy" and believed to him we owe
the notion of "negative liberty," that is, what Biancamaria Fontana
describes as "the protection of individual experience and choices
from external interferences and constraints." To Constant it was
relatively unimportant whether liberty was ultimately grounded in
religion or metaphysics--what mattered were the practical
guarantees of practical freedom--"autonomy in all those aspects of
life that could cause no harm to others or to society as a
whole."This translation is based on Etienne Hofmann's critical
edition of "Principes de politique" (1980), complete with
Constant's additions to the original work.Dennis O'Keeffe is
Professor of Social Science at the University of Buckingham and
Senior Research Fellow in Education at the Institute of Economic
Affairs. He has published widely in the area of education and the
social sciences. His books include "The Wayward Elite" (1990) and
"Political Correctness and Public Finance" (1999). His previous
translations include Alain Finkielkraut's "The Undoing of Thought"
("La Defaite de la Pensee") (1988).Etienne Hofmann is Assistant
Professor in the Faculty of Social and Political Science at the
University of Lausanne and also teaches in the Faculty of Arts
where he directs L'Institut Benjamin Constant. He specializes in
critical editions of texts and correspondence and is working on the
edition of Constant's complete works.Nicholas Capaldi is the
Legendre-Soule Distinguished Chair in Business Ethics at Loyola
University, New Orleans, and was Professor at the University of
Tulsa and Queens College, City University of New York. Among his
books are "Out of Order: Affirmative Action and the Crisis of
Doctrinaire Liberalism"; "Affirmative Action: Social Justice or
Unfair Preference?"; and "Immigration: Debating the Issues."
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