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Constant, Benjamin

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Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy

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A founding father of modern liberalism, Benjamin Constant (1767–1830) was one of France’s leading politicians, political theorists, and publicists. An indefatigable campaigner for parliamentary government and individual rights, he wrote a constitution for France in 1815 and published newspaper articles, pamphlets, and several books, whose influence reached across Europe and the Americas. The author of a pathbreaking five-volume book on the history of religion, he also wrote a novel that became a classic in its genre. Throughout his life, he fought for the legal and moral principles he thought necessary to establish and safeguard a liberal society.

Biography

Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque, commonly known as Benjamin Constant, was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, to Protestant parents. His father, Juste Constant de Rebecque, was an army officer in the service of Holland. His mother, Henriette Chandieu, died only 16 days after his birth. Benjamin’s early years were poorly supervised by...

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Courrier français, December 9, 1830, 569. Translation my own

  2. 2.

    Benjamin Constant, “Principles of Politics Applicable to All Representative Governments,” in Political Writings, p 176

References

Cited Works by Constant

  • Adolphe (trans: Mauldon M). In: Coleman P (ed). Oxford University Press, Oxford (2001)

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  • Cours de politique constitutionnelle, 1st edn, 4 vols, Paris (1818–1820)

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  • De la force du gouvernement actuel et de la nécessité de s’y rallier. In: OCBC/Oeuvres I, Ecrits de jeunesse (1774–1799), 319–380

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  • De la perfectibilité de l’espèce humaine. In: De la liberté chez les modernes. Paris (1980), 580–595

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  • De la religion considérée dans sa source, ses formes et ses développements. In: Todorov T, Hofmann E (eds). Arles (1999)

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  • Discours de M. Benjamin Constant à la Chambre des Députés. Paris (1827–1828)

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  • Discours de M. Benjamin Constant à la Chambre des Députés. Paris (1828)

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  • Du moment actuel et de la destinée de l’espèce humaine, ou histoire abrégée de l’égalité. In: OCBC/Oeuvres, III, I, Ecrits littéraires (1800–1813), 367–368

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  • Political writings (ed and trans: Fontana B). Cambridge (1988)

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  • Fragments d’un ouvrage abandonné sur la possibilité d’un constitution républicaine dans un grand pays. Paris (1991)

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  • Recueil d’articles 1820–1824, 2 vols In: Harpaz E (ed). Geneva (1972)

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  • Recueil d’articles 1825–1829. In: Harpaz E (ed). Paris (1992)

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  • Recueil d’articles 1829–1830. In: Harpaz E (ed). Paris (1992)

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  • Commentary on Filangieri’s work (trans: Kahan A). Liberty Fund, Indianapolis (2015)

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  • Mélanges de littérature et de politique. Paris (1829)

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  • Réflexions sur les constitutions et les guaranties. Paris (1814)

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Secondary Sources

  • Bastid P (1966) Benjamin Constant et sa doctrine, 2 vols. Colin, Paris

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  • Craiutu A (2016) A virtue for courageous minds: moderation in French political thought, 1748–1830. Princeton University Press, Princeton

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  • Fontana B (1991) Benjamin Constant and the post-revolutionary mind. Yale University Press, New Haven

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  • Garsten B (2009) Representative government and popular sovereignty. In: Shapiro I, Stokes SC, Wood EJ, Kirshner AS (eds) Political representation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

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  • Holmes S (1984) Benjamin Constant and the making of modern liberalism. Yale University Press, New Haven

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  • Jaume L (1997) L’Individu effacé ou le paradoxe du libéralisme français. Fayard, Paris

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  • Kalyvas A, Katznelson I (2008) Liberal beginnings: making a republic for the moderns. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

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  • Laquièze A (2003) Benjamin Constant et l’Acte Additionnel aux Constitutions de l’Empire du 22 avril 1815. Historia Constitucional 4:197–234

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  • Raico R (2019) Benjamin Constant, liberal extraordinaire. https://mises.org/library/benjamin-constant-french-liberal-extraordinaire

  • Rosenblatt H (2008) Liberal values. Benjamin Constant and the politics of religion. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

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  • Rosenblatt H (ed) (2009) The Cambridge companion to Constant. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

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  • Rosenblatt H (2011) Rousseau, Constant, and the emergence of the modern notion of freedom of speech. In: Powers E (ed) Freedom of speech: the history of an idea. Bucknell University Press, Lewisburg

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  • Selinger W (2019) Parliamentarism: from Burke to Weber. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

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  • Todorov T (1997) Benjamin Constant. La passion démocratique. Hachette, Paris

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  • Vincent SK (2011) Benjamin Constant and the birth of French liberalism. Palgrave, New York

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  • Wood D (1993) Benjamin Constant: a biography. Routledge, London

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Graduate Center CUNY, New York, NY, USA

    Helena Rosenblatt

Authors
  1. Helena Rosenblatt
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Correspondence to Helena Rosenblatt .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Regents Professor of the University, System of Maryland and Director of the University of Baltimore Center for International and Comparative Law, University of Baltimore School of Law, Baltimore, USA

    Mortimer Sellers

  2. Professor for Legal and Social Philosophy, Department of Legal Theory International and European Law, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

    Stephan Kirste

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Law, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Gianfrancesco Zanetti

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Rosenblatt, H. (2023). Constant, Benjamin. In: Sellers, M., Kirste, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6519-1_597

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