Voyages et traversée des airs: l’exercice du regard et les lieux de la législation

Abstract

In the travel writings of Montesquieu, we notice not only his attention to the quality of the land, but also to that of the air. These notes form part of a viewpoint that questions the reality of a country by examining everything of interest to a travelling diplomat. They constitute a landscape painting which is part of this political perspective. It is by pursuing this question of the air, examining how these notes are written, comparing them to other works in which Montesquieu examines the organization of places, on the training of minds and the people’s morals, that we can clarify the climatic questioning developed in The Spirit of the Laws. Comparing this also with the approaches of Dubos and Arbuthnot, we can see how a medical gaze, like that of Hippocrates, animates Montesquieu’s research. The travel writings show a reflexion on relations that allow an insight into the science of the laws of interest to all legislators : to travel to Italy is to become able to examine “the infinity of laws and morals” and understand “the histories of all nations”.