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Political Principles of Sovereigns

出版	Marchen Press, 2024-05-09
主題	Philosophy / Metaphysics
ISBN	39898874329783989887435
URL	http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=6tHeEAAAQBAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api
EBook	SAMPLE

註釋A modern rendering of Denis Diderot's 1774 Political Principles of Sovereigns from the original French manuscript. This modern edition contains a new Epilogue by the translator, a glossary of Philosophical Terms used by Diderot, a chronology of his core life and works, and a summary index of all of Diderot's works. With a clean, modern translation of Diderot's Enlightenment-era French, this edition brings Diderot's thoughts directly into the modern intellectual sphere, tracing the intellectual forces which swept along Diderot and impacted today's secular world. In Political Principles of Sovereigns, Diderot examines the role of rulers and the principles of governance, offering a sharp critique of despotic and oppressive regimes. He argues that the primary duty of a sovereign is to prioritize the well-being and happiness of their subjects, advocating for just and benevolent governance. Diderot's treatise is a significant contribution to Enlightenment political philosophy, emphasizing the moral responsibility of rulers and the importance of ethical leadership. While there are no specific comments from other philosophers or intellectuals on this work, its importance lies in Diderot's unwavering commitment to the ideals of justice, equality, and the common good. Written at the cusp of the American revolution and in sight of Rousseau's more famous works, Political Principles of Sovereigns (Principes politiques des souverains, 1774) is a concise political treatise articulating Enlightenment ideals of governance, justice, and the moral responsibilities of rulers. Drawing from Enlightenment thought, the treatise promotes a vision of enlightened absolutism, where monarchs should use their power rationally and benevolently, guided by philosophical and moral insight rather than tradition or superstition. Written as a clandestine rebuttal to Catherine the Great’s absolutist pretensions, the text argues that a ruler’s legitimacy hinges on their service to collective welfare—justice, education, economic equity—not ceremonial pageantry or brute force. Diderot grafts Enlightenment materialism onto governance: laws should be mutable organisms adapting to societal needs, not holy writ. He strips sovereignty of mystique, likening kings to head gardeners entrusted with pruning a nation’s growth, their authority withering if they confuse cultivation with domination. The essay smuggles radical ideas into pragmatic prose, advocating for press freedom, judicial transparency, and the right to revolt—a blueprint for revolution disguised as administrative advice. The treatise’s quiet fury lies in its unmasking of power’s theater. Diderot dissects monarchy’s stagecraft—coronations, decrees, royal portraits—as propaganda to hypnotize subjects into surrendering autonomy. Yet he avoids utopianism, acknowledging that even enlightened rulers are prisoners of systemic rot: inherited privilege, bureaucratic inertia, the seduction of flattery. His sovereign is a tragic figure, torn between reform and the gravitational pull of despotism. The text’s genius is its duality—a manual for princes and a grenade rolled beneath their thrones. By demanding rulers act as “first servants” of the people, Diderot not only critiques autocracy but exposes the lie of benevolent paternalism. Power, he insists, cannot be sanitized; it stains even those who wield it with care. The essay’s afterlife as a banned text underscores its perilous truth: no crown rests easy once subjects stop believing in fairy tales.