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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 colourful 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.
"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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Adolphe (Paperback)
Benjamin Constant; Contributions by Mint Editions
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Adolphe is just past the his coming-of-age, but has a much more
room to grow. As the son of a government official, Adolphe has a
privilege of comfortable wealth and access to a good education,
however, he feels trapped in routine, boredom, and a bleak world.
Shaped by his childhood, Adolphe has a melancholy outlook on life,
turning him into an introverted young man. After he graduates from
college, Adolphe struggles to find fulfillment, so he travels to
Germany for an adventure. There, he feels overwhelmed and
displeased by the stupidity he perceives from society, earning him
a reputation for an unpleasant wit. While he is just looking for
fun, Adolphe meets Ellenore, a thirty-two-year-old polish refugee.
Though she has a husband and two kids, Adolphe is enamored by her.
As if it were a game, Adolphe is dedicated to seducing Ellenore,
but soon finds himself deeply in love with her. They engage in an
illicit affair, riddled with jealousy, secrets, and lust. Despite
these qualities, and that Ellenore is ten years older than Adolphe
and married, they share a significant love for each other. However,
they are quickly shunned from society when their affair is made
public, causing Adolphe to worry that their relationship could
affect his future endeavors. When Ellenore makes the sacrifice of
leaving her family behind to fully commit to him, Adolphe must
decide if he is willy to do the same for her. When Adolphe was
first released in 1816, it invited controversy due to the
resemblance to Benjamin Constant's own romantic affairs. Since
then, Benjamin Constant's Adolphe piques readers interests with its
passionate romance and complicated protagonist. Adolphe's
indecisive immaturity invokes strong emotions from audiences, both
sympathetic and critical. With elements of a coming-of-age story
and philosophical observations, this romantic novel appeals to a
wide range of audiences, engaging readers with its eclectic genre
and themes that prove to still be relatable to a contemporary
audience. This edition of Benjamin Constant's Adolphe is perfect
for a modern reader. With an eye-catching cover design and a
stylish font, Adolphe by Benjamin Constant has been restored for
the 21st century.
The volume of the "OEuvres ComplA]tes de Benjamin Constant," which
marks the starting point of this important publication, contains
all the material relating to "The Hundred Days," the most
controversial episode in the career of Benjamin Constant, the
politician. After having cricised Napoleon very severely in the
press during the march on Paris, Constant rallied to the support of
the Emperor on his return to power. He then agreed to work on the
publication of the "Acte Additionnel aux Constitutions de
l'Empire." Following the battle of Waterloo, Constant felt bound to
offer an explanation for his conduct and he prepared the volume
which appeared, between 1820 and 1822, under the title "MA(c)moires
sur les Cent-Jours." Volume 14 of the "OEuvres ComplA]tes de
Benjamin Constant," which has been carefully edited by Kurt Kloocke
of the University of TA1/4bingen and AndrA(c) Cabanis of the
University of Toulouse, includes all the texts which relate to the
"MA(c)moires," together with all the drafts left by Constant.
This first volume, published under the supervision of Jean-Daniel
Candaux and Lucia Omacini, assembles the texts produced between
1774 and 1799. The volume divides into three sections: Constant's
essays written when still a boy; texts stemming from his study
years in Scotland, France, Switzerland and Germany; and above all
his first political writings (pamphlets, speeches, articles), which
appeared during the Directoire and Consulat years. Other scholars
involved in the making of this volume are Simone BalayA(c), Mauro
Barberis, Claude Bruneel, Magda Campanini, Paul Delbouille, Edouard
Guitton, Kurt Kloocke, Roland Mortier and Claude Reymond.
This volume contains the definitive version of the second of the
five volumes of Benjamin Constant's major study entitled "De la
Religion, considA(c)rA(c)e dans sa source ...." Its unusually
extensive annexes assemble a selection of manuscripts illustrating
the working methods and strategies employed by the author. Further,
the volume contains a general introduction, a chronology and a
detailed critical apparatus comprising explanatory notes,
biographical details of the persons referred to, a bibliography,
and an index of proper names. As such it gives a graphic idea of
the astounding originality displayed by Constant in his approach to
research on religion.
Published simultaneously in London and Paris in 1816, Adolphe is the story of a tragic love affair between its narrator and his lover Ellenore, two characters locked into a fatal dance of self-destruction. In what is one of the earliest examples of autofiction, from a period when all creative endeavour was permeated by autobiography. Constant's aim was to create an exemplary fiction of high moral purpose which would also function as an act of intimate self-vindication and revenge on his former lover, the formidable Madame de Stael. The result is a tautly-strung Racinian tragedy in prose.
Soon after publication, Constant was defending himself from charges that he had written a novel based on real people, which he strenuously denied. The work was translated into English by Alexander Walker, and overseen by the author, resulting in what Richard Sieburth describes as 'an eccentrically bevelled jewel of Regency prose'.
This riverrun edition publishes Walker's translation and Constant's preface in a new edition here for the first time since 1817.
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