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

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Summary

A OPINIÃO PÚBLICA E AS PAIXÕES POLÍTICAS NA OBRA DE GERMAINE DE STAËL

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

Introduction
Shift of Thoughts
Liberal Values
Political Passions
Public Opinion as a Political Tool
Liberty and Public opinion
The Case of the Queen
Conclusion
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