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W.D. Clarke's Reviews > The Spirit of the Laws
The Spirit of the Laws
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I was intermittently fascinated, often bored, always reminded that if I had a better (any) grounding in medieval history and a more sufficient (any) grasp on Rome, its empire and downfall, then I would be in a better position to award this never-ending tome the coveted star-rating that all books these days seem to be vying and/or pining for. For to award such an absolute ranking requires a felt sense**, regardless of what the GR system tries to convince one of, of a book's internal capacity for meeting of its own criteria for what Aquinas once memorably summed up as "wholeness, harmony, and radience" —its inherent worth, that is....
**or so goes my pet "theory" of the "Subjective Experience of Objectivity"
I think it may have been brother Ken who inadvertently put me up to reading this: if you so much as even mention an 18C book to me in passing, I will (alas) feel compelled to look it up, chase it down, then scrutinize it with a never-too-very-sufficient gaze....
For anyone other than graduate students in the history of jurisprudence, or something, you'll likely be better served by the VSI forerunner "Oxford Past Masters" Montesquieu (out of print, & which I still do need to finish), or his (much shorter, and therefore more complaisant) Persian Letters.
NR: No Rating? is that what the NR in Nathan "NR" Gaddis means? Though I am now informed of an Infinite Jest character named John NR (NoRelation) Wayne I had always previously assumed it was a William Gaddis in-joke (a variant on "JR") or something!
**or so goes my pet "theory" of the "Subjective Experience of Objectivity"
I think it may have been brother Ken who inadvertently put me up to reading this: if you so much as even mention an 18C book to me in passing, I will (alas) feel compelled to look it up, chase it down, then scrutinize it with a never-too-very-sufficient gaze....
For anyone other than graduate students in the history of jurisprudence, or something, you'll likely be better served by the VSI forerunner "Oxford Past Masters" Montesquieu (out of print, & which I still do need to finish), or his (much shorter, and therefore more complaisant) Persian Letters.
NR: No Rating? is that what the NR in Nathan "NR" Gaddis means? Though I am now informed of an Infinite Jest character named John NR (NoRelation) Wayne I had always previously assumed it was a William Gaddis in-joke (a variant on "JR") or something!
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Reading Progress
December 13, 2019
– Shelved
December 13, 2019
– Shelved as:
to-read
February 25, 2021
– Shelved as:
1727-1760
January 10, 2022
–
Started Reading
January 10, 2022
–
6.44%
"Then welcome to the new aristocracy, I guess...
page
52
This inequality will again be found if the conditions of citizens differ"
in relation to payments, which happens in four ways: when the nobles give themselves the privilege of not paying them; when they exempt themselves fraudulently; when they recover them for themselves on the pretext of remunerations or stipends for the tasks they do; finally, when...
January 12, 2022
–
11.88%
"18C inequality maths
page
96
Assuming physical necessities equal to a given sum, the luxury of those who have only the necessary will be equal to zero: he who has its double will have a luxury equal to one; he who has double the goods of the latter will have a luxury equal to three; [...etc...], luxury will increase by twice plus one, in this progression: 0,1,3,7,15,31,63,127(7.1 "On Luxury)"
January 13, 2022
–
13.24%
"
Mundeburdium
:
Early Germanic practice of "put[ting] women under perpetual guardianship" or "tutelage", "unless they were under the authority of a husband."
page
107
Early Germanic practice of "put[ting] women under perpetual guardianship" or "tutelage", "unless they were under the authority of a husband."
January 14, 2022
–
18.07%
"LOL
page
146
The French were driven out of Italy nine times because, say the historians, they were insolent to women and girls. It is too much for a nation to have to suffer not only the conqueror’s pride but also his incontinence; not only both these but also his indiscretion, probably the more trying because it multiplies outrages to infinity"
January 14, 2022
–
23.02%
"C H A P T E R 20
End of this book
[...] But one must not always so exhaust a subject that one leaves nothing for the reader to do. It is not a question of making him read but of making him think.
Pretty exhaust-ive, actually, man.
Not (albeit but 1/4th the way in) yet exhaust-ed, tho..."
page
186
End of this book
[...] But one must not always so exhaust a subject that one leaves nothing for the reader to do. It is not a question of making him read but of making him think.
Pretty exhaust-ive, actually, man.
Not (albeit but 1/4th the way in) yet exhaust-ed, tho..."
January 16, 2022
–
29.58%
"For those of who who live north of the snow line: cheers!
page
239
In cold countries, perspiration releases little of the watery part of the"
blood; it remains in abundance; therefore one can use spirits there without making the blood coagulate. One is full of humors there; alcoholic beverages, which give motion to the blood, are suitable.
January 16, 2022
–
30.07%
"CHAPTER 13: Effects resulting from the climate of England [Brexit!]
page
243
Politics is a dull rasp which by slowly grinding away gains its end. Now the men of whom we have just spoken could not support the delays, the details and the coolness of negotiations; they would often succeed in them less well than any other nation, and they would lose by their treaties what they had gained by their weapons."
January 17, 2022
–
35.52%
"(Lack of) soil fertility is what made us do it
page
287
The barrenness of the land makes men industrious, sober, inured to work, courageous, and fit for war; they must procure for themselves what the terrain refuses them. The fertility of a country gives, along with ease, softness and a certain love for the preservation of life."
January 31, 2022
–
50.99%
"(What you get when Paris Hilton shacks up with Elon Musk)
If it happened that, in a state, one made a company having a very
considerable number of shares and made the value of the first purchase rise twenty or twenty-five times within a few months, and that this same state had established a bank whose notes were to serve the function of money, and that the numerical value of these notes was prodigiously high..."
page
412
If it happened that, in a state, one made a company having a very
considerable number of shares and made the value of the first purchase rise twenty or twenty-five times within a few months, and that this same state had established a bank whose notes were to serve the function of money, and that the numerical value of these notes was prodigiously high..."
February 4, 2022
–
54.33%
"Sir William Petty has assumed* in his calculations that a man in
England is worth what he would be sold for in Algiers**. This can be good only for England: there are countries in which a man is worth nothing; there are some in which he is worth less than nothing.
*Sir William Petty, Economic Writings, “An essay in Political Arithmetic� 512
**Sixty pounds sterling"
page
439
England is worth what he would be sold for in Algiers**. This can be good only for England: there are countries in which a man is worth nothing; there are some in which he is worth less than nothing.
*Sir William Petty, Economic Writings, “An essay in Political Arithmetic� 512
**Sixty pounds sterling"
February 11, 2022
–
73.39%
"Word of the Day: Decretal (Ecclesiastical). A papal decree or decretal epistle.
page
593
Chapter 40 How the judicial forms were taken from the decretalsI'm a-gonna-get-through this $#%@ book even if it kills me."
February 13, 2022
–
74.38%
"I could have elaborated even further at the end of this book and, by
going into greater detail, could have followed all the imperceptible changes that have formed the great body of our French jurisprudence [...] But I would have put a great work into another work. I am like the antiquarian who left his country, arrived in Egypt, glanced at the pyramids, and headed back
He sez, 600 pages in..."
page
601
going into greater detail, could have followed all the imperceptible changes that have formed the great body of our French jurisprudence [...] But I would have put a great work into another work. I am like the antiquarian who left his country, arrived in Egypt, glanced at the pyramids, and headed back
He sez, 600 pages in..."
February 14, 2022
–
79.08%
"I beg the reader’s pardon for the deadly boredom that so many
citations must give him; I would be briefer if I did not still find in front of me [yet another] book, [redacted] by [redacted]. Nothing pushes back the progress of knowledge like a bad work by a famous author, because before instructing, one must begin by correcting the mistakes.
If you've ever been on Twitter, you know which author he means..."
page
639
citations must give him; I would be briefer if I did not still find in front of me [yet another] book, [redacted] by [redacted]. Nothing pushes back the progress of knowledge like a bad work by a famous author, because before instructing, one must begin by correcting the mistakes.
If you've ever been on Twitter, you know which author he means..."
February 17, 2022
– Shelved as:
fat-bastards
February 17, 2022
–
Finished Reading
November 20, 2022
– Shelved as:
2022
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T
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Feb 17, 2022 01:55PM
Looks like I'll be reading the Persian Letters then. Thanks for the thoughtful review
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T wrote: "Looks like I'll be reading the Persian Letters then. Thanks for the thoughtful review"There's also a "Selected Political Writings" from Hackett. And the Past Masters exists on the interwebs, tho long out of print...good luck!
Oh-oh. I hope it is another Brother Ken of whom you speak. I am a great admirer of Montesquieu's contribution to the Enlightenment generally and the Founding Fathers' experiment in America specifically (i.e. the three equal branches of government, of so was the idea before tribalism and partisanship took root to the detriment of the country as a whole), but all I learned was from secondary sources.
Ken wrote: "Oh-oh. I hope it is another Brother Ken of whom you speak. I am a great admirer of Montesquieu's contribution to the Enlightenment generally and the Founding Fathers' experiment in America specific..."No it was you, sir! My familial brother-of-that-name denies it. I am still very glad I read it, but if ever there was a call for a Reader's Digest version, this was surely it!
OK, I take the blame. And Pleasantville, NY, home of Reader's Digest, thanks you for the shout-out.
