Man.It proclaims: "Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else;hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the II.French Philosophy and Literature society the same rights.These limits can only be determined by law ..Law is the expression of the general will.Every citizen has a 1.Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu (1689-1755) right to participate personally,or through his representative,in its Montesquieu,the jurist,satirist,and political and social formation.It must be the same for all,whether it protects or philosopher,was the first of the great French men of letters punishes.All citizens,being equal in the eyes of the law,are equally associated with the Enlightenment. eligible...to all public positions...according to their abilities... Wroks: No person shall be accused,arrested,or imprisoned except in the cases...prescribed by law...The free communication of ideas and a.Persian Letters (1721) opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man..." It is a satire in which Montesquieu joins philosophy,politics and While the Americans and the French were totally preoccupied ethics to tales in the guise of letters exchanged by Persians visiting with their domestic political revolutions,a quieter though not less France with Persians at home and with each other.Wrapped in the important revolution was set in motion in England.The Industrial 150-odd letters are scathing denunciations of every type of despotism Revolution (1760-1840),beginning with the invention of the steam over body and soul. engine,rapidly changed the face of the world,and ushered in a completely new age.This revolution is marked by the following b.The Spirit of the Laws (1748) developments:(1)the introduction of machines which reduced the It is one of the great works in the history of political theory and need for hand labour in making goods;(2)the substitution of steam in the history of jurisprudence.It is an investigation of the power for water,wind,and animal power;(3)the change from environmental and social relationships that lie behind the laws of manufacturing in the home to the factory system;(4)new and faster civilized society.Combining the traditions of customary law with method of transportation on land and on water;(5)the growth of those of the modern theories of natural,Montesquieu redefined law as modern capitalism and the working class. "the necessary relationships which derive from the nature of things". Laws,and their most basic political expression,government,thus became a relative.relationship between a people's physical environment and their social needs and traditions.Laws,"must be adapted to each people".In this book,he also touched on the theory 234 235