ABSTRACT
Political and economic liberalism has generally been considered to be of marginal import in France, but at an intellectual level, it is a different story. An exploration of the history of French economic thought shows how a rich intellectual tradition developed during the nineteenth century, which has been previously neglected in English language studies of French thinking. In this important new collection, Robert Leroux brings together key works, both from widely regarded and lesser known authors, whose thinking constituted the core of a singular intellectual movement. These include such figures as Charles Dunoyer, Joseph Garnier, Gustave de Molinari, Yves Guyot, Alexis de Tocqueville, Benjamin Constant and Frédéric Bastiat.
Including several works that have never before been published in English, this anthology begins with a full introduction that provides an overview of liberal thought in the nineteenth century, and each text is preceded by a biographical note on the author, and an explanation of the wider significance of the text. This anthology, by bringing to the fore a number of writers and doctrinal positions, seeks to give a coherence, an overall cast to French liberalism without exaggerating its unity. It will be of interest to economists, political scientists, historians, philosophers and sociologists alike.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter |8 pages
Introduction
part |37 pages
The Empire (up to 1815)
chapter |9 pages
Pierre-Louis Roederer on “Property Rights” (1800)
chapter |14 pages
Jean-Baptiste Say on “The Division of Labour” (1803)
chapter |10 pages
Destutt de Tracy on “The Laws and Public Liberty” (1811)
chapter |2 pages
Charles Comte's foreword to Le Censeur (1814)
part |39 pages
The Restoration (1815–30)
chapter |8 pages
Destutt de Tracy on “Society” (1817)
chapter |7 pages
Germaine de Staël on “The Love of Liberty” (1818)
chapter |3 pages
Pierre Daunou on “Freedom of Opinion” (1819)
part |65 pages
The July Monarchy (1830–48)
chapter |8 pages
Alexis de Tocqueville on “The Liberty of the Press” (1835)
chapter |13 pages
Pierre-Jean de Béranger on his songs and liberty (1833)
chapter |16 pages
Pierre-Jean de Béranger: Selected Poems (1813–48)
part |60 pages
The Second Republic (1848–52)
chapter |6 pages
Frédéric Bastiat on “Disarmament and Taxes” (1849)
chapter |16 pages
Gustave de Molinari on “The Private Production of Security” (1849)
chapter |5 pages
Michel Chevalier on “The Protectionist System” (1852)
chapter |17 pages
Léon Faucher on “Property” (1852)
chapter |6 pages
Jean-Gustave Courcelle-Seneuil on “Sumptuary Laws” (1852)
chapter |2 pages
Joseph Garnier on “The Cost of Collection of Taxes” (1852)
chapter |2 pages
Joseph Garnier on “Laissez Faire – Laissez Passer” (1852)
chapter |4 pages
Ambroise Clément on “Private Charity” (1852)
part |50 pages
The Second Empire (1852–70)
chapter |5 pages
Horace Say on “The Division of Labour” (1852)
chapter |8 pages
Henri Baudrillart on “Political Economy” (1857)
chapter |15 pages
Augustin Thierry on “The Rise of the Bourgeoisie” (1859)
chapter |12 pages
Louis Wolowski and Émile Levasseur on “Property” (1863)
chapter |4 pages
Maurice Block on “Decentralization” (1863)
chapter |4 pages
Édouard Laboulaye on “Individual Liberties” (1863)
part |50 pages
The Third Republic (1871 onwards)