tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post6826316652408027890..comments2024-03-28T09:46:24.020+02:00Comments on A Political Refugee From The Global Village : More Brexit referendum campaign thoughtsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post-62891263667007547102016-06-12T21:09:14.519+03:002016-06-12T21:09:14.519+03:00This is a longer excerpt from his Considérations s...This is a longer excerpt from his Considérations sur la France (1797):<br /><br />"I will simply point out the error of principle that has provided the foundation of this constitution and that has led the French astray since the first moment of their revolution.<br /><br />The constitution of 1795, like its predecessors, has been drawn up for Man. Now, there is no such thing in the world as Man. In the course of my life, I have seen Frenchmen, Italians, Russians, etc.; I am even aware, thanks to Montesquieu, that one can be a Persian. But, as for Man, I declare that I have never met him in my life. If he exists, I certainly have no knowledge of him.<br /><br />....This constitution is capable of being applied to all human communities from China to Geneva. But a constitution which is made for all nations is made for none: it is a pure abstraction, a school exercise whose purpose is to exercise the mind in accordance with a hypothetical ideal, and which ought to be addressed to Man, in the imaginary places which he inhabits....<br /><br />What is a constitution? Is it not the solution to the following problem: to find the laws that are fitting for a particular nation, given its population, its customs, its religion, its geographical situation, its political relations, its wealth, and its good and bad qualities?"Political Refugee from the Global Villagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523068770529814044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post-34574942157909341092016-06-12T20:54:12.568+03:002016-06-12T20:54:12.568+03:00"Now, there is no such thing in the world as ..."Now, there is no such thing in the world as Man. In the course of my life, I have seen Frenchmen, Italians, Russians, etc.; I am even aware, thanks to Montesquieu, that one can be a Persian. But, as for Man, I declare that I have never met him in my life. If he exists, I certainly have no knowledge of him."<br /><br /><br />Paul,<br /><br />That's a very thought provoking quote.<br /><br />Presumably pointing to the significance of differences in national culture and the false concept that all men and women hold the same attitudes as others, no matter what their religious, political and social beliefs.<br /><br /><br /><br />David in Banja Lukanoreply@blogger.com