Major Works

• On the Spirit of the Laws

  - Recommended edition: Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de. The Spirit of the Laws. Edited and translated by Anne M. Cohler, Basia C. Miller, and Harold Stone. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1989.
  Excerpt from the recommended edition: I began by examining men, and I believed that, amidst the infinite diversity of laws and mores, they were not led by their fancies alone. I have set down the principles, and I have seen particular cases conform to them as… More

Other Works

• A Defence of the Spirit of Laws. To which are added, Some Explanations

  - Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de. "A Defence of the Spirit of Laws. To which are added, Some Explanations." Vol. 4 of The Complete Works of M. de Montesquieu. London: T. Evans, 1777.
  Excerpt: Though the Spirit of Laws is intirely a work relating to politics and civil law, the Author has had frequent occasion, in the course of that work, to mention the Christian religion. He has done it in such a manner, as fully to shew its dignity; and… More

• The Temple of Gnidus

  - Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de. "The Temple of Gnidus." Vol. 4 of The Complete Works of M. de Montesquieu. London: T. Evans, 1777.
  Excerpt: An ambassador of France at the Ottoman Porte, known by his taste for literature, having purchased many Greek manuscripts, brought them to France; and, some of them falling into my hands, I found among them the work of which I here give a translation.… More

Commentary

• Religion & Liberalism in Montesquieu’s Persian Letters

  - Kessler, Sanford. “Religion & Liberalism in Montesquieu’s Persian Letters.” Polity 15, no. 3 (April 1, 1983): 380–396.
  Taking shelter behind a fictional account of happenings in an Iranian seraglio and in a presumably Islamic paradise, Montesquieu attacked the orthodoxy in Biblical religions. Professor Kessler examines Montesquieu’s treatment of religion in the Persian… More

• On the Politics of Faith and Reason: The Project of Enlightenment in Pierre Bayle and Montesquieu

  - Bartlett, Robert C. “On the Politics of Faith and Reason: The Project of Enlightenment in Pierre Bayle and Montesquieu.” The Journal of Politics 63, no. 1 (February 1, 2001): 1–28.
  This study seeks to contribute to our understanding of the original political goals of the Enlightenment, especially in its confrontation with the Bible as a source of political guidance. It consists primarily of an exegesis of two seminal works of the… More

• Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu

  - Carrithers, David W., ed. Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu. International Library of Essays in the History of Social and Political Thought Series. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Press, 2009.
  From the publisher: The French philosopher Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) was a political and social thinker of enormous depth, range, originality, and influence. The essays by eminent scholars reprinted in this volume explore… More

• Orientalism and Islam: European Thinkers on Oriental Despotism in the Middle East and India

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  Curtis, Michael. Orientalism and Islam: European Thinkers on Oriental Despotism in the Middle East and India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
  From the publisher: Through an historical analysis of the theme of Oriental despotism, Michael Curtis reveals the complex positive and negative interaction between Europe and the Orient. The book also criticizes the misconception that the Orient was the… More

• “For Which Human Nature Can Never Be Too Grateful”: Montesquieu as the Heir of Christianity

  -  Orwin, Clifford. "'For Which Human Nature Can Never Be Too Grateful': Montesquieu as the Heir of Christianity." In Recovering Reason: Essays in Honor of Thomas L. Pangle, edited by Timothy Burns. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2010.

• The Theological Basis of Liberal Modernity in Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws

  - Pangle, Thomas L. The Theological Basis of Liberal Modernity in Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws. Chicago: The Univ. of Chicago Press, 2010.
  From the publisher: The Spirit of the Laws—Montesquieu’s huge, complex, and enormously influential work—is considered one of the central texts of the Enlightenment, laying the foundation for the liberally democratic political regimes that were to… More

• The Idea of Enlightenment: A Postmortem Study

  - Bartlett, Robert C. The Idea of Enlightenment: A Postmortem Study. Toronto: Univ. Of Toronto Press, 2011.
  From the publisher: In “The Idea of Enlightenment”, Robert Bartlett explores the roots of the contemporary dissatisfaction with the modern Enlightenment, the momentous political-philosophical project that sought to liberate politics from religious… More