History

Political Liberty in Revolutionary Times: Mme. de Staël and Alexis de Tocqueville on the Causes and Aftermath of the French Revolution

ABSTRACT

This colloquium paired the writings of Germaine de Stael and Alexis de Tocqueville on the causes, events, and legacy of the French Revolution. Both thinkers used their meditations on the Revolution as a preparation for more general philosophies about the requirements of political freedom and the sources that endanger that freedom.

READING LIST

Conference Readings

Staël, Germaine de. Considerations on the Principal Events of the French Revolution. Edited by Aurelian Craiutu. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2008.

Tocqueville, Alexis de. The Old Regime and the Revolution: The complete text. Edited by François Furet and Françoise Mélonio. Translated by Alan Kahan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.

Tocqueville, Alexis de. Selected Letters on Politics and Society. Edited by Roger Boesche. Translated by James Toupin and Roger Boesche. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.