Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre (; 1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821) was a
Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, and diplomat who advocated
social hierarchy
Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power (social and political). As su ...
and
monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...
in the period immediately following the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
. Despite his close personal and intellectual ties with France, Maistre was throughout his life a subject of the
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
, which he served as a member of the Savoy Senate (1787–1792), ambassador to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
(1803–1817), and minister of state to the court in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
(1817–1821).
A key figure of the
Counter-Enlightenment
The Counter-Enlightenment refers to a loose collection of intellectual stances that arose during the European Enlightenment in opposition to its mainstream attitudes and ideals. The Counter-Enlightenment is generally seen to have continued from t ...
, Maistre regarded monarchy both as
a divinely sanctioned institution and as the only stable
form of government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
. He called for the restoration of the
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanis ...
to the throne of France and for the ultimate authority of the
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
in temporal matters. Maistre argued that the
rationalist rejection of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
was directly responsible for the disorder and bloodshed which followed the French Revolution of 1789.
Biography
Maistre was born in 1753 at
Chambéry
Chambéry (, , ; Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 58,917 as of 2019, while the population of the Chambér ...
,
Duchy of Savoy
The Duchy of Savoy ( it, Ducato di Savoia; french: Duché de Savoie) was a country in Western Europe that existed from 1416.
It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. The duc ...
, at that time part of the
Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
which was ruled by the
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...
.
His family was of French and Italian origin.
His grandfather André (Andrea) Maistre, whose parents Francesco and Margarita Maistre (née Dalmassi) originated in the
County of Nice
The County of Nice (french: Comté de Nice / Pays Niçois, it, Contea di Nizza/Paese Nizzardo, Niçard oc, Contèa de Niça/País Niçard) is a historical region of France located around the southeastern city of Nice and roughly equivalent t ...
,
had been a draper and councilman in
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
(then under the rule of the House of Savoy) and his father François-Xavier, who moved to Chambéry in 1740, became a magistrate and senator, eventually receiving the title of
count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
from the King of Piedmont-Sardinia. His mother's family, whose surname was Desmotz, were from
Rumilly.
[ Preview availabl]
here
/ref> His younger brother Xavier, who became an army officer, was a popular writer of fiction.
Maistre was probably educated by the Jesuits
The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
.[ After the Revolution, he became an ardent defender of the Jesuits, increasingly associating the spirit of the Revolution with the Jesuits' traditional enemies, the ]Jansenists
Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by ...
. After completing his training in the law at the University of Turin
The University of Turin (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an impo ...
in 1774, he followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a Senator in 1787.
A member of the progressive Scottish Rite
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in the United States often omits the ''and'', while the English Constitution in the United Kingdom omits the ''Scottish''), commonly known as simply the Sco ...
Masonic
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to Fraternity, fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of Stonemasonry, stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their inte ...
lodge at Chambéry from 1774 to 1790, Maistre originally favoured political reform in France, supporting the efforts of the magistrates in the Parlement
A ''parlement'' (), under the French Ancien Régime, was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 parlements, the oldest and most important of which was the Parlement of Paris. While both the modern Fre ...
s to force King Louis XVI
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
to convene the Estates General. As a landowner in France, Maistre was eligible to join that body and there is some evidence that he contemplated that possibility. Maistre was alarmed by the decision of the States-General to combine aristocracy
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At t ...
, clergy
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
and commoner
A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...
s into a single legislative body which became the National Constituent Assembly. After the passing of the August Decrees
One of the central events of the French Revolution was to abolish feudalism, and the old rules, taxes and privileges left over from the age of feudalism. The National Constituent Assembly, acting on the night of 4 August 1789, announced, "The Na ...
on 4 August 1789, he decisively turned against the course of political events in France.
Maistre fled Chambéry when it was taken by a French revolutionary army in 1792, but he was unable to find a position in the royal court in Turin and returned the following year. Deciding that he could not support the French-controlled regime, Maistre departed again, this time for Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
, Switzerland, where he discussed politics and theology at the salon of Madame de Staël Madame may refer to:
* Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French
* Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel
* ''Madame'' ...
, and began his career as a counter-revolutionary writer, with works such as ''Lettres d'un Royaliste Savoisien'' ("Letters from a Savoyard Royalist", 1793), ''Discours à Mme. la Marquise Costa de Beauregard, sur la Vie et la Mort de son Fils'' ("Discourse to the Marchioness Costa de Beauregard, on the Life and Death of her Son", 1794) and ''Cinq paradoxes à la Marquise de Nav...'' ("Five Paradoxes for the Marchioness of Nav...", 1795).[
From Lausanne, Maistre went to ]Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
and then to Cagliari
Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...
, where the King of Piedmont-Sardinia held the court and the government of the kingdom after French armies took Turin in 1798. Maistre's relations with the court at Cagliari were not always easy.[ In 1802, he was sent to ]Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in Russia as ambassador to Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to:
* Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC
* Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus
* Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome
* Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...
. His diplomatic responsibilities were few and he became a well-loved fixture in aristocratic and wealthy merchant circles, converting some of his friends to Roman Catholicism and writing his most influential works on political philosophy.
Maistre's observations on Russian life, contained in his diplomatic memoirs and in his personal correspondence, were among Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
's sources for his novel ''War and Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...
''.[ After the defeat of ]Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
and the restoration of the House of Savoy's dominion over Piedmont
it, Piemontese
, population_note =
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, demographics1_title2 ...
and Savoy under the terms of the Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
, Maistre returned in 1817 to Turin and served there as magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
and minister of state until his death. He died on 26 February 1821 and is buried in the Jesuit Church of the Holy Martyrs (''Chiesa dei Santi Martiri'').
Philosophy
Politics
In ''Considérations sur la France'' ("Considerations on France", 1797), Maistre claimed that France has a divine mission as the principal instrument of good and evil on Earth. He interpreted the Revolution of 1789 as a providential
Providential (February 6, 1977 – May 1998) was an Irish-born Thoroughbred racehorse who competed successfully in France and won the most important race on turf in the United States. Bred and raced by Bertram R. Firestone, he was sired by Ru ...
event in which the monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...
, the aristocracy
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At t ...
and the ''Ancien Régime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for "ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
{{disambig ...
'' in general, instead of directing the influence of French civilization to the benefit of mankind, had promoted the atheistic
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
doctrines of the 18th-century philosophers. He claimed that the crimes of the Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...
were the logical consequence
Logical consequence (also entailment) is a fundamental concept in logic, which describes the relationship between statements that hold true when one statement logically ''follows from'' one or more statements. A valid logical argument is on ...
of Enlightenment thought as well as its divinely-decreed punishment.
In his short book ''Essai sur le Principe Générateur des Constitutions Politiques et des Autres Institutions Humaines'' ("Essay on the Generative Principle of Political Constitutions and other Human Institutions", 1809), Maistre argued that constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
s are not the product of human reason
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, lang ...
, but rather come from God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
, who slowly brings them to maturity.
What was novel in Maistre's writings was not his enthusiastic defense of monarchical and religious authority ''per se'', but rather his arguments concerning the practical need for ultimate authority to lie with an individual capable of decisive action as well as his analysis of the social foundations of that authority's legitimacy. In his own words which he addressed to a group of aristocratic French émigrés, "You ought to know how to be royalists. Before, this was an instinct, but today it is a science. You must love the sovereign as you love order, with all the forces of intelligence."[Quoted by Philippe Sénart i]
"Maistre et Tocqueville"
''Joseph de Maistre. Les Dossiers H'', (Lausanne: Editions L'Age d'Homme, 2005), p. 646. Maistre's analysis of the problem of authority and its legitimacy foreshadows some of the concerns of early sociologists such as Auguste Comte
Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte (; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense ...
and Henri de Saint-Simon
Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon (17 October 1760 – 19 May 1825), often referred to as Henri de Saint-Simon (), was a French political, economic and socialist theorist and businessman whose thought had a substantial influence on p ...
.Lucien Lévy-Bruhl
Lucien Lévy-Bruhl (10 April 1857 – 13 March 1939) was a French scholar trained in philosophy who furthered anthropology with his contributions to the budding fields of sociology and ethnology. His primary field interest was ways of thinking.
...
(1903)
''The Philosophy of Auguste Comte''
New York: Putnam and Sons, pp. 297-8.[Pickering, Mary (1993). ''Auguste Comte: An Intellectual Biography'', vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 261–8 ]
Religion
After the appearance in 1816 of his French translation of Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
's treatise ''On the Delay of Divine Justice in the Punishment of the Guilty'', Maistre published ''Du Pape'' (" On the Pope") in 1819, the most complete exposition of his religious conception of authority. According to Maistre, any attempt to justify government on rational grounds will only lead to unresolvable arguments about the legitimacy and expediency of any existing government and that this in turn will lead to violence and chaos. As a result, Maistre argued that the legitimacy of government must be based on compelling, but non-rational grounds which its subjects must not be allowed to question. Maistre went on to argue that authority
In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...
in politics should derive from religion and that in Europe this religious authority must ultimately lie with the Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
.
Ethics
In addition to his voluminous correspondence, Maistre left two books that were published posthumously. ''Soirées de St. Pétersbourg'' ("St Petersburg Dialogues", 1821) is a theodicy
Theodicy () means vindication of God. It is to answer the question of why a good God permits the manifestation of evil, thus resolving the issue of the problem of evil. Some theodicies also address the problem of evil "to make the existence of ...
in the form of a Platonic dialogue in which Maistre argues that evil exists because of its place in the divine plan, according to which the blood sacrifice of innocents returns men to God via the expiation of the sins of the guilty. Maistre sees this as a law of human history as unquestionable as it is mysterious.
Science
''Examen de la Philosophie de Bacon'', ("An Examination of the Philosophy of Bacon", 1836) is a critique of the thought of Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
, whom Maistre considers to be the fountainhead of the destructive Enlightened thought. Maistre also argued, romantically
''Romantically'' is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on November 18, 1963, by Columbia Records and was also the final original studio album recorded by Mathis for the label prior to his moving to Mercury Records. ...
, that genius
Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...
plays a pivotal role in great scientific discoveries, as demonstrated by inspired intellects such as Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws ...
, Galileo Galilei
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...
and Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
, contrary to Bacon's theory about conforming to a mechanistic method.
Legacy and reputation
![Torino Santi Martiri Joseph de Maistre 23072015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Torino_Santi_Martiri_Joseph_de_Maistre_23072015.jpg)
Politics
Together with the Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...
statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
, Maistre is commonly regarded as one of the founders of European conservatism
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
. Maistre exerted a powerful influence on the Spanish political thinker Juan Donoso Cortés
Juan Donoso Cortés, marqués de Valdegamas (6 May 1809 – 3 May 1853) was a Spanish counter-revolutionary author, diplomat, politician, and Catholic political theologian.
Biography
Early life
Cortés was born at Valle de la Serena (Extrem ...
and later on the French monarchist Charles Maurras
Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet, and critic. He was an organizer and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that is monarchist, anti-par ...
and his monarchist political movement ''Action Française
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 f ...
''. However, according to Carolina Armenteros, who has written four books about Maistre, his writings influenced not only conservative political thinkers, but also the utopian socialists
Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...
.[Armenteros, Carolina (2011). ''The French Idea of History: Joseph de Maistre and his Heirs, 1794-1854''. Ithaca, NY and London: Cornell University Press ] Early sociologists such as Auguste Comte
Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte (; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense ...
and Henri de Saint-Simon
Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon (17 October 1760 – 19 May 1825), often referred to as Henri de Saint-Simon (), was a French political, economic and socialist theorist and businessman whose thought had a substantial influence on p ...
explicitly acknowledged the influence of Maistre on their own thinking about the sources of social cohesion and political authority.
Liberal critic Émile Faguet
Auguste Émile Faguet (; 17 December 18477 June 1916) was a French author and literary critic.
Biography
Faguet was born at La Roche-sur-Yon, Vendée, and educated at the École normale supérieure in Paris. After teaching for some time in La R ...
described Maistre as "a fierce absolutist, a furious theocrat, an intransigent legitimist, apostle of a monstrous trinity composed of pope, king and hangman, always and everywhere the champion of the hardest, narrowest and most inflexible dogmatism, a dark figure out of the Middle Ages, part learned doctor, part inquisitor, part executioner".
Literature
Maistre's skills as a writer and polemicist ensured that he continues to be read. Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, lite ...
, an influential 19th-century critic, wrote as follows while comparing Maistre's style with that of his Irish counterpart Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
:
"Joseph de Maistre is another of those men whose word, like that of Burke, has vitality. In imaginative power he is altogether inferior to Burke. On the other hand his thought moves in closer order than Burke's, more rapidly, more directly; he has fewer superfluities. Burke is a great writer, but Joseph de Maistre's use of the French language is more powerful, more thoroughly satisfactory, than Burke's use of the English. It is masterly; it shows us to perfection of what that admirable instrument, the French language, is capable."
The ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' of 1910 describes his writing style as "strong, lively, picturesque" and states that his "animation and good humour temper his dogmatic tone".[ ]George Saintsbury
George Edward Bateman Saintsbury, FBA (23 October 1845 – 28 January 1933), was an English critic, literary historian, editor, teacher, and wine connoisseur. He is regarded as a highly influential critic of the late 19th and early 20th centu ...
called him "unquestionably one of the greatest thinkers and writers of the eighteenth century". Although a political opponent, Alphonse de Lamartine
Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (; 21 October 179028 February 1869), was a French author, poet, and statesman who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic and the continuation of the Tricolore as the flag of France. ...
admired the splendour of his prose, stating:
Maistre is also associated with the Counter-Enlightenment
The Counter-Enlightenment refers to a loose collection of intellectual stances that arose during the European Enlightenment in opposition to its mainstream attitudes and ideals. The Counter-Enlightenment is generally seen to have continued from t ...
movement Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
and is often referred to as a Romantic. Amongst those who admired him was Charles Baudelaire
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...
– the most famous Romantic poet in France – who described himself a disciple of the Savoyard counter-revolutionary, claiming that he had taught him how to think.["De Maistre and Edgar Poe taught me to reason." – Baudelaire, Charles (1919)]
''Intimate Papers from the Unpublished Works of Baudelaire. Baudelaire – His Prose and Poetry.''
New York: The Modern Library, p. 245.
Works
''Nobilis Ioseph Maistre Camberiensis ad i.u. lauream anno 1772. die 29. Aprilis hora 5. pomeridiana''
(Turin, 1772) – Joseph de Maistre's decree thesis, kept in the National Library of the University of Turin.
''Éloge de Victor-Amédée III''
(Chambéry, 1775)
''Lettres d'un royaliste savoisien à ses compatriotes''
(1793)
''Étude sur la souveraineté''
(1794)
''De l'État de nature, ou Examen d'un écrit de Jean-Jacques Rousseau''
(1795)
''Considérations sur la France''
(London asel 1796)
* ''Intorno allo stato del Piemonte rispetto alla carta moneta'' (Turn, Aosta, Venice, 1797–1799)
''Essai sur le Principe Générateur des Constitutions Politiques,''
1814, st. Pub. 1809
''Du Pape,''Tome Second
1819.
''De l'Église Gallicane,''
édit. Rodolphe de Maistre, 1821.
''Les Soirées de Saint-Pétersbourg ou Entretiens sur le Gouvernement Temporel de la Providence,''Tome Second
édit. Rodolphe de Maistre, 1821.
''Lettres à un Gentilhomme Russe sur l'Inquisition Espagnole,''
édit. Rodolphe de Maistre, 1822.
''Examen de la Philosophie de Bacon, ou: l'on Traite Différentes Questions de Philosophie Rationnelle,''Tome Second
édit. Rodolphe de Maistre, 1836.
''Lettres et Opuscules Inédits du Comte Joseph de Maistre,''Tome Second
édit. Rodolphe de Maistre, Paris, 1853.
''Mémoires Politiques et Correspondance Diplomatique,''
édit. Albert Blanc, Paris, 1859.
; English translations
* ''Memoir on the Union of Savoy and Switzerland,'' 1795.
''Essay on the Generative Principle of Political Constitutions,''
1847.
''The Pope: Considered in His Relations with the Church, Temporal Sovereignties, Separated Churches and the Cause of Civilization,''
1850.
''Letters on the Spanish Inquisition,''
1838.
* In Menczer, Béla, 1962. ''Catholic Political Thought, 1789-1848'', University of Notre Dame Press.
*
"Human and Divine Nomenclature,"
pp. 61–66.
*
"War, Peace, and Social Order,"
pp. 66–69.
*
"On Sophistry and Tyranny,"
pp. 69–71.
*
"Russia and the Christian West,"
pp. 72–76.
* Lively, Jack. ed. ''The Works of Joseph de Maistre,'' Macmillan, 1965 ().
* Richard Lebrun, ed. ''Works of Joseph de Maistre'':
** ''The Pope,'' Howard Fertig, 1975 ()
** ''St. Petersburg Dialogues,'' McGill-Queen's University Press, 1993 ()
** ''Considerations on France,'' McGill-Queen's University Press, 1974 and Cambridge University Press, 1994 ()
** ''Against Rousseau: "On the State of Nature" and "On the Sovereignty of the People,"'' McGill-Queen's University Press, 1996 ()
** ''Examination of the Philosophy of Bacon,'' McGill-Queen's University Press, 1998 ()
* Blum, Christopher Olaf (editor and translator). ''Critics of the Enlightenment'', ISI Books, 2004 (
** 1798, "Reflections on Protestantism in its Relations to Sovereignty," pp. 133–56.
** 1819, "On the Pope," pp. 157–96.
* Lively, Jack. ed. ''The Generative Principle of Political Constitutions: Studies on Sovereignty, Religion, and Enlightenment,'' Transaction Publishers, 2011 ()
*In Blum, Christopher O., editor and translator. ''Critics of the Enlightenment'', Cluny Media, 2020 ()
**1797, "Considerations on France," (excerpt of first two sections) pp. 75–90.
**1819, "On the Pope," pp. 91–100.
; Collected Works in English
''Major Works, Volume I,''
Imperium Press, 2021.
See also
* Louis Gabriel Ambroise de Bonald
Louis Gabriel Ambroise, Vicomte de Bonald (2 October 1754 – 23 November 1840) was a French counter-revolutionary philosopher and politician. He is mainly remembered for developing a theoretical framework from which French sociology would ...
* François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768 – 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who had a notable influence on French literature of the nineteenth century. Descended from an old aristocrati ...
* German Romanticism
Notes
References
Sources
* Armenteros, Carolina (2007). "From Human Nature to Normal Humanity: Joseph de Maistre, Rousseau, and the Origins of Moral Statistics," ''Journal of the History of Ideas'', Vol. 68, No. 1, pp. 107–30.
* Armenteros, Carolina (2007). "Parabolas and the Fate of Nations: Early Conservative Historicism in Joseph de Maistre's ''De la Souveraineté du Peuple''," ''History of Political Thought'', Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 230–52.
* Armenteros, Carolina ''et al''. (2010)
New'' Enfant du Siècle: ''Joseph de Maistre as a Writer''
''St. Andrews Studies in French History and Culture''.
* Armenteros, Carolina (2011). The French Idea of History: Joseph de Maistre and his Heirs, 1794–1854. Ithaca, NY and London: Cornell University Press
* Armenteros, Carolina and Richard Lebrun (2011). ''Joseph de Maistre and his European Readers: From Friedrich von Gentz to Isaiah Berlin''. Leiden and Boston: Brill.
* Armenteros, Carolina and Richard Lebrun (2011). ''Joseph de Maistre and the Legacy of Enlightenment''. Oxford: The Voltaire Foundation.
* Austern, Donald M. (1974). ''The Political Theories of Edmund Burke and Joseph de Maistre as Representative of the Schools of Conservative Libertarianism and Conservative Authoritarianism.'' Amherst: Boston College Doctoral Thesis.
* Barbey D'Aurevilly, Jules (1889). "Joseph de Maistre". In: ''Les Prophètes du Passé.'' Paris: Calmann Lévy, pp. 50–69.
* Barthelet, Philippe (2005). ''Joseph de Maistre: Les Dossiers H''. Geneva: L'Age d'Homme.
* Blamires, Cyprian P. (1985). ''Three Critiques of the French Revolution: Maistre, Bonald and Saint-Simon.'' Oxford: Oxford University Doctoral Thesis.
* Bradley, Owen (1999). ''A Modern Maistre: The Social and Political Thought of Joseph de Maistre''. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press.
* Brandes, Georg (1903)
"Joseph de Maistre."
In: ''Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature, Vol. 3. The Reaction in France.'' New York: The Macmillan Company, pp. 87–112
*
* Camcastle, Cara (2005). ''The More Moderate Side of Joseph de Maistre.'' Ottawa: McGill-Queen's University Press.
* Caponigri, A.R. (1942). ''Some Aspects of the Philosophy of Joseph de Maistre.'' PhD Thesis, University of Chicago.
* Croce, Benedetto (1922). "Il Duca di Serra-Capriola e Giuseppe de Maistre". In: ''Archivio Storico per le Province Napoletane'', Vol. XLVII, pp. 313–335.
* Edwards, David W. (1977). "Count Joseph de Maistre and Russian Educational Policy, 1803-1828", ''Slavic Review'', Vol. 36, pp. 54–75.
* Eichrodt, Joan B. (1968). ''Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality, and Joseph de Maistre.'' New York: Columbia University Master's Thesis.
* Faust, A.J. (1882)
"Count Joseph de Maistre,"
''The American Catholic Quarterly Review'', Vol. VII, pp. 17–41.
* Fisichella, Domenico (1963). ''Giusnaturalismo e Teoria della Sovranità in Joseph de Maistre''. Messina: Firenze (Rep. in ''Politica e Mutamento Sociale''. Lungro di Cosenza: Costantino Marco Editore, 2002, pp. 191–243 .)
* Fisichella, Domenico (1993). ''Il Pensiero Politico di Joseph de Maistre''. Roma-Bari: Laterza .
* Fisichella, Domenico (2005). ''Joseph de Maistre, Pensatore Europeo''. Roma-Bari: Laterza .
* Garrard, Graeme (1995). ''Maistre, Judge of Jean-Jacques. An Examination of the Relationship between Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Joseph de Maistre, and the French Enlightenment.'' Oxford: Oxford University Doctoral Thesis.
*
* Gianturco, Elio (1937). ''Joseph de Maistre and Giambattista Vico (Italian Roots of the Maistre's Political Culture)''. New York: Columbia University.
* Gianturco, Elio (1936). "Juridical Culture and Politico-historical Judgement in Joseph de Maistre", ''Roman Revue'', Vol. 27, pp. 254–262.
* Glaudes, Pierre (1997). ''Joseph de Maistre et Les figures de l'Histoire: Trois Essais sur un Précurseur du Romantisme Français''. In: ''Cahiers Romantiques''. Saint Genouph: Librairie Nizet.
* Godechot, Jacques (1982). ''The Counter-Revolution,'' Princeton University Press.
*
* Lebrun, Richard A. (ed., 1988). ''Maistre Studies,'' Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
* Lebrun, Richard A. (2001). ''Joseph de Maistre's Life, Thought and Influence: Selected Studies.'' Ottawa: McGill-Queen's University Press.
*
* Legittimo, Gianfranco (1963). ''Sociologi Cattolici Italiani: De Maistre, Taparelli, Toniolo''. Roma: Il Quadrato.
* Maistre, Rodolphe de, Hexis d'un soir ou de la prénotion d'un retour de l'Esprit dans la science, La Compagnie Littéraire, 2016, 154p. ()
* Mandoul, Jean (1900). ''Un Homme d'État Italien: Joseph de Maistre et la Politique de la Maison de Savoie''. Paris: Alcan.
* Mazlish, Bruce (1955). ''Burke, Bonald and de Maistre. A Study in Conservatism.'' New York: Columbia University Doctoral Thesis.
* McMahon, Darrin M. (2002). ''Enemies of the Enlightenment: The French Counter-Enlightenment and the Making of Modernity.'' Oxford University Press.
* Menczer, Béla (1962)
"Joseph de Maistre."
In: ''Catholic Political Thought, 1789–1848''. University of Notre Dame Press, pp. 59–61.
* Monteton, Charles Philippe Dijon de (2007). ''Die Entzauberung des Gesellschaftsvertrags. Ein Vergleich der Anti-Sozial-Kontrakts-Theorien von Carl Ludwig von Haller und Joseph Graf de Maistre im Kontext der politischen Ideengeschichte''. Frankfurt am Main ''et al.'' .
* Morley, John (1909)
"Joseph de Maistre."
In: ''Critical Miscellanies''. London: Macmillan & Co., pp. 257–338.
* Muret, Charlotte Touzalin (1933)
''French Royalist Doctrines since the Revolution.''
New York: Columbia University Press.
* Pranchère, Jean-Yves (1992). ''Qu'est-ce que la Royauté? Joseph de Maistre''. Paris: Vrin.
* Pranchère, Jean-Yves (2005). ''L'Autorité contre les Lumières: la Philosophie de Joseph de Maistre''. Geneva: Droz.
* Sacré-Cœur Mercier, Lucille du (1953). ''The Historical Thought of the Comte Joseph de Maistre.'' Washington: Catholic University of America Thesis.
* Siedentop, Larry Alan (1966). ''The Limits of Enlightenment. A Study of Conservative Political Thought in Early Nineteenth-Century France with Special Reference to Maine de Biran and Joseph de Maistre.'' Oxford: Oxford University Doctoral Thesis.
* Thorup, Mikkel (2005)
"'A World Without Substance': Carl Schmitt and the Counter-Enlightenment,"
''Distinktion: Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory'', Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 19–39.
* Thurston, Benjamin (2001). ''Joseph de Maistre. Logos and Logomachy.'' Oxford: Brasenose College-Oxford University Doctoral Thesis.
* Vermale, François (1921), ''Notes sur Joseph de Maistre Inconnu''. Chambéry: Perrin, M. Dardel Successeur.
*
External links
*
*
Works by Joseph de Maistre
at Europeana
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Works by Joseph de Maistre
at Hathi Trust
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The Joseph de Maistre Homepage
at the University of Cambridge
Works of Joseph de Maistre in English Translation
* Britannica Com
Joseph de Maistre
*
* The Super-Enlightenment
Joseph de Maistre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maistre, Joseph De
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