ABSTRACT
In an article published in the "Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale", and entitled Le Déterminisme historique et l' Idéalisme social dans l'Esprit des Lois, the late Professor Gustave Lanson has made a very brilliant effort to bring Montesquieu's philosophy of history in line with the prevailing tendencies of his time. The Troglodytes, as Baron Montesquieu recalls at the very beginning, were described by ancient historians as being more like beasts than men. The people whose history he is going to relate have very little in common with the tribes found in Herodotus or Pomponius Mela. For Montesquieu, however, the methods to be followed in the study of government do not differ greatly from the methods of natural history. Governments, in fact, are comparable to living organisms, which are determined by their antecedents, the climate in which they live, and the very laws of their nature or species.
