- French Liberal Tradition

Catalog description

Examines the unique strain in French political philosophy that confronts the origins and impact of liberal democratic theory. Students will engage thoughtfully and critically with an underappreciated tradition in French political philosophy and will gain an awareness of both the positive and negative potentialities of modern democratic life. Students will encounter the well-known triad of Montesquieu, Constant, and Tocqueville as well as contemporary French thinkers such as Bertrand de Jouvenel and Pierre Manent.