Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu played a number of important roles in the development of 18th century thought. He published a number of works which were aimed at throwing cold water on any unrestrained sense of Euro-centrism by providing various accounts of the (sometimes exaggerated) differences between his own Judeo-Christian culture and other non-Christian cultures which seemed to get by just as well. Nevertheless, he did not accept, and indeed fought against the strong form of cultural relativism which such accounts might seem to suggest. He saw that while there were innumerable and significant differences across cultures, he also saw similarities which arose from each culture being forced to interact with the same natural reality. Montesquieu would take these similarities and develop an account of the role of despotism in societies, an account which would greatly influence America’s Founding Fathers. (more…)
