The Terror of Natural Right – Republicanism, the Cult of Nature, and the French Revolution

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Dan Edelstein

The Terror of Natural Right – Republicanism, the Cult of Nature, and the French Revolution

Dan Edelstein

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English

University of Chicago Press
15 November 2010

European history; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900; French Revolution; Political science & theory

Natural right—the idea that there is a collection of laws and rights based not on custom or belief but that are “natural” in origin—is typically associated with liberal politics and freedom. In The Terror of Natural Right, Dan Edelstein argues that the revolutionaries used the natural right concept of the “enemy of the human race”—an individual who has transgressed the laws of nature and must be executed without judicial formalities—to authorize three-quarters of the deaths during the Terror. Edelstein further contends that the Jacobins shared a political philosophy that he calls “natural republicanism,” which assumed that the natural state of society was a republic and that natural right provided its only acceptable laws. Ultimately, he proves that what we call the Terror was in fact only one facet of the republican theory that prevailed from Louis’s trial until the fall of Robespierre.

A highly original work of historical analysis, political theory, literary criticism, and intellectual history, The Terror of Natural Right challenges prevailing assumptions of the Terror to offer a new perspective on the Revolutionary period.

By: Dan Edelstein
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 228mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 21mm
Weight: 530g
ISBN: 9780226184395
ISBN 10: 0226184390
Pages: 350
Publication Date: 15 November 2010
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Dan Edelstein is associate professor of French at Stanford University.

Reviews for The Terror of Natural Right – Republicanism, the Cult of Nature, and the French Revolution

"""The most provocative argument in his book is that the ideas that made the revolution spiral out of control were the cult of nature and the belief in natural rights."" (Notion)"""