Montesquieu and the discovery of the social 2013

Montesquieu Has Often Been Considered The First Social Theorist. Today, When A Number Of Authors Have Pronounced 'the End Of The Social', It Is Time To Reconsider Its Beginnings. What Did It Mean To 'discover The Social'? What Did It Allow One To Say That Could Not Previously Be Said? What Sorts Of Epistemological Moves Were Required In Order For This Discovery To Become Possible? This Book Responds To These Questions With A Wide-ranging, Original Interpretation Of The Spirit Of The Laws. It Demonstrates That Montesquieu Provides Several Different Senses And Usages Of The Social, Each Of Which Builds On The Others. The Result Is A 'divided Concept' That Challenges Later, More Simplistic Understandings, And Allows Him To Illuminate A Number Of The Fractures Central To Our Modernity. The Last Chapter Brings The Discussion Forward, And Asks What Can Be Retrieved From Montesquieu In Order To Confront The Present Crisis Of The Social And Its Associated Disciplines. The Question Concerning Laws -- Power, Law And The Three Regimes : Political Bonds -- The Spirit Of The Three Regimes : Social Bonds -- The General Spirit, Moeurs, Manners And The English Regime -- Conclusion : Speaking Of The Social. Brian C.j. Singer, York University, Canada. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 283-290) And Index. Front Matter....Pages i-xxviii The Question Concerning Laws....Pages 1-40 Power, Law and the Three Regimes: Political Bonds....Pages 41-97 The Spirit of the Three Regimes: Social Bonds....Pages 98-155 The General Spirit, Moeurs, Manners and the English Regime....Pages 156-210 Conclusion: Speaking of the Social....Pages 211-282 Back Matter....Pages 283-296 Montesquieu is often considered the first social thinker. Today, when 'the end of the social' has been proclaimed, it is time to reconsider its beginnings. In a wide-ranging, original interpretation of The Spirit of the Laws, this book explores what did it mean to 'discover the social', and what can it mean to recover the social today?