Joseph de Maistre's apology of war and political modernity

Abstract

Interest in the work of Joseph de Maistre, a philosopher who is best known for his harsh criticism of the French Revolution, ultraroyalism and ultramontanism, revived on the eve of the bicentennial celebration of the French Revolution. The aim of this paper is to examine the significance of De Maistres' views of the world, and war in particular, for the modern world and for the modern man; which of De Maistres' topics are relevant today and which of his conclusions correspond to our age. The process of research included comparative-historical method, biographical method, and the method of content analysis. Seemingly outdated theses and arguments of the philosopher are matters for fruitful discussions, mainly about government, order and war, and their mutual relations. The paper points to the actuality of various aspects of De Maistres' philosophy, focusing on his apology of war. Particularly noteworthy is the connection that De Maistre established between the war and the political order, which provides an explanation of the causes of the wars that have been, are, and will be fought by the world empires of all times.