Montesquieu says Islamic religion adds divine fear onto political fear

Evidence

Subjection is predicated upon one principle, “the principle of despotic government,” fear, crainte. It is “the spring of this government,” a government that demands “the most passive obedience.” “Man’s portion here, like that of beasts, is instinct, compliance, and punishment” (3-9-10). Such subjection, like blind fatalism, excludes reason and excludes one from reason: “Excessive obedience supposes ignorance in the person that obeys: the same it supposes in him that commands, for he has no occasion to deliberate, to doubt, to reason” (4-3). What thus joins subject and sovereign is “natural stupidity” (5-14). — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 624 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Montesquieu tied despotic submission to fear and natural stupidity — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab: A History of the…, 624

Broader Connections

• Montesquieu tied despotic submission to fear and natural stupidity #corroborates (0.92) — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 624