After Kant : The Romans, the Germans, and the Moderns in the History of Political Thought

Tracing the origins of modern political thought through three sets of arguments over history, morality, and freedom In this wide-ranging work, Michael Sonenscher traces the origins of modern political thought and ideologies to a question, raised by Immanuel Kant, about what is involved in comparing individual human lives to the whole of human history. How can we compare them, or understand the results of the comparison? Kant's question injected a new, future-oriented dimension into existing discussions of prevailing norms, challenging their orientation toward the past. This reversal made Kant's question a bridge between three successive sets of arguments: between the supporters of the ancients and moderns, the classics and romantics, and the Romans and the Germans. Sonenscher argues that the genealogy of modern political ideologies—from liberalism to nationalism to communism—can be connected to the resulting discussions of time, history, and values, mainly in France but also in Germany, Switzerland, and Britain, in the period straddling the French and Industrial revolutions. What is the genuinely human content of human history? Everything begins somewhere—democracy with the Greeks, or the idea of a res publica with the Romans—but these local arrangements have become vectors of values that are, apparently, universal. The intellectual upheaval that Sonenscher describes involved a struggle to close the gap, highlighted by Kant, between individual lives and human history. After Kant is an examination of that struggle's enduring impact on the history and the historiography of political thought. Cover Contents Preface 1. Introduction 2. Palingenesis, History, and Politics Paul Chenavard and the Panthéon The Troglodytes, the Hebrew Republic, and the Germanic Peoples Immanuel Kant and the Future as History Kant’s Critics Ballanche, Quinet, and the End of History Industry and Individuality 3. The Coppet Group and the Liberty of the Moderns The Ancients, the Moderns, and the Concept of Perfectibility The Division of Labour and the Origin of Ideology Positive and Negative Liberty Roman Law and Its Legacy The Federal Alternative 4. Germaine de Staël and Modern Politics Germaine de Staël and Wilhelm von Humboldt Enthusiasm, the Imagination, and the Nature of Modern Politics 5. From the Concept of Palingenesis to the Concept of Enlightenment Kant, Palingenesis, and Equality Constituent Power and the Politics of Reform Kant and Enlightenment 6. The Death of God and the Problem of Autonomy Germaine de Staël and the Death of God The Concept of Autonomy Rousseau, Mendelssohn, and Kant Autonomy and the Imagination Friedrich Schiller and the Idea of Aesthetic Education 7. The Idea of Autonomy and the Concept of Civil Society Disciplining the Uncontrolled Natural Will Fichte and the Problem of Autonomy Schelling and Subjectivity From Autonomy to Civic Humanism Hegel and Civil Society Hegelian Political Economy: Stein and Dietzel Rudolf von Jhering and the Rule of Law Georg Jellinek and the Concept of Sovereignty 8. From Romanticism to Classicism Humanitarianism, Hegelianism, and Saint-Simonianism Victor Cousin and the Impersonality of Reason François Guizot and the History of Civilization Hegelians and Saint-Simonians Fortoul, Sainte-Beuve, and Sieyès 9. The Return of Rome Symbols, Enthusiasm, and Culture The Limits of Rationality Cyprien Desmarais and the Dilemmas of the Modern Age Jules Michelet and Edgar Quinet The Romantic Renaissance 10. Civil Society and the State Towards a New Synthesis Heinrich Ahrens and Karl Christian Friedrich Krause Johann Kaspar Bluntschli and the Theory of the Modern State Heinrich von Treitschke and the Liberal Foundations of Realpolitik Ferdinand Lassalle and the Politics of Reform Otto von Gierke and the Concept of the Genossenschaft 11. From Autonomy to Democracy Felix Esquirou de Parieu and the Principles of Political Science The Origins of the Whig Interpretation of History James Reddie and the Adam Smith Problem Henry Sumner Maine and the Properties of Roman Law 12. The Politics of Unsocial Sociability History and Normativity Joseph-Marc Hornung and Roman History Henry Maine and The History of the Troglodytes Words That End in -ism Henry Michel and the Politics of Unsocial Sociability Appendix. Lord Acton on the Romans, the Germans, and the Moderns Bibliography Index

Tracing the origins of modern political thought throughthree sets of arguments over history, morality, andfreedom In this wide-ranging work, Michael Sonenschertraces the origins of modern political thought and ideologies to aquestion, raised by Immanuel Kant, about what is involved incomparing individual human lives to the whole of human history. Howcan we compare them, or understand the results of the comparison?Kant's question injected a new, future-oriented dimension intoexisting discussions of prevailing norms, challenging theirorientation toward the past. This reversal made Kant's question abridge between three successive sets of arguments: between thesupporters of the ancients and moderns, the classics and romantics,and the Romans and the Germans. Sonenscher argues that thegenealogy of modern political ideologies-from liberalism tonationalism to communism-can be connected to the resultingdiscussions of time, history, and values, mainly in France but alsoin Germany, Switzerland, and Britain, in the period straddling theFrench and Industrial revolutions. What is the genuinely humancontent of human history? Everything begins somewhere-democracywith the Greeks, or the idea of a res publica with theRomans-but these local arrangements have become vectors of valuesthat are, apparently, universal. The intellectual upheaval thatSonenscher describes involved a struggle to close the gap,highlighted by Kant, between individual lives and human history.After Kant is an examination of that struggle's enduringimpact on the history and the historiography of politicalthought.

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