Abstract
In this paper, I investigate the role of public opinion and De Staël’s liberal principles in relation to her psychological image of human nature. De Staël regarded the French Revolution as a new stage of human progress, in which the French people, for the first time, gained a political voice. From her position as a liberal republican, De Staël argues for political progress in the form of civil equality and liberty confirmed by law and political representation, for which public opinion serves as a political tool. I aim to demonstrate that De Staël developed a multi-layered analysis of public opinion as both an emancipatory tool for more equality, justice, and liberty, as well as a discriminating and harmful tool. According to De Staël, human passions play a crucial role in determining the employment and the effects of public opinion, as becomes clear in the case of the trial of Marie-Antoinette.
Highlights
Historian of the French Revolution François Furet wrote: “One thing is certain, and that is that a whole group of liberal Republicans found their best spokesperson in her” (Furet, 1995, p. 206)
De Staël’s analysis of public opinion demonstrates that public opinion is not to be regarded as a neutral instrument: political developments result from human actions and since political actors are impassioned beings, public opinion can be corrupted and misused, just as it can function as a powerful tool for liberty and progress
I will start my investigation by sketching De Staël’s liberal position. As her political opinions changed over the course of time, I will focus on the political position De Staël held during 1793–1796; the period in which she wrote Réflexions sur le procès de la Reine and De l’influence des passions
Summary
I investigate the role of public opinion and De Staël’s liberal principles in relation to her psychological image of human nature. De Staël regarded the French Revolution as a new stage of human progress, in which the French people, for the first time, gained a political voice. From her position as a liberal republican, De Staël argues for political progress in the form of civil equality and liberty confirmed by law and political representation, for which public opinion serves as a political tool. A partir da sua posição como republicana liberal, De Staël argumenta a favor do progresso político sob a forma de igualdade e liberdade civis, confirmadas pela lei e pela representação política, e em relação às quais a opinião pública serve como ferramenta política. Eveline Groot – Public Opinion and Political Passions in the Work of Germaine de Stäel
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