Montesquieu defined civic liberty as the tranquility from trusting fellow citizens
Evidence
Montesquieu (1989: 157) seems to offer a gloss on Machiavelli when he writes, over two centuries later: ‘Political liberty in a citizen is that tranquillity of spirit which comes from the opinion each one has of his security, and in order for him to have this liberty the government must be such that one citizen cannot fear another citizen’ (see too Spinoza 1951: 259). — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 359
Categorization
- XREF: Directly serves the reader’s core research: civic trust (one citizen not fearing another) is produced by institutional design, not out-group threat. — connects to: Freedom requires civic trust, not solitary defensive walls — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 1192; A trusting society requires citizens to surrender instinctive distrust. — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 1741; Montesquieu’s principles of action are honor, virtue, and fear — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1054
- ADDENDUM: The ‘government must be such that one citizen cannot fear another citizen’ is the institutional-design mechanism for building mutual trust without external enemies.
Broader Connections
- Freedom requires civic trust, not solitary defensive walls
#exemplifies(0.90) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 1192 - Montesquieu’s principles of action are honor, virtue, and fear
#expands(0.85) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1054 - A trusting society requires citizens to surrender instinctive distrust.
#expands(0.80) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 1741