Joseph de Maistre and his European Readers: From Friedrich von Gentz to Isaiah Berlin

by Carolina Armenteros (Editor), Richard A. Lebrun

Following the publication of Isaiah Berlin's essay on Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821), the Savoyard philosopher has been known primarily in the English-speaking world as a precursor of fascism. The essays in this volume challenge this view. Disclosing the inaccuracies and limitations of Berlin's account, they illustrate Maistre's colossally diverse European posterity. Far from an inflexible ideologist, Maistre was a versatile and deeply modern thinker who attracted interpreters across the political spectrum.Through the centuries, Maistre's passionate Europeanism has contributed to his popularity from Madrid to Moscow. And in our times, when religion is re-asserting itself as a source of public reason, his theorization of the encounter between tradition and modernity is lending his work ever more urgent relevance. Cover illustration by Matthieu Manche

315 pages, Hardcover

First published April 20, 2011

Reviews

[Adam DeVille, Ph.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors, two of the leading scholars of Maistre today, are interviewed here about their work on him: http://easternchristianbooks.blogspot...