Politics Under The Tension Of Mystery And Profane

This dissertation is the first Chinese systematic study of the political thought of the French thinker Joseph de Maistre.Maistre was an important political thinker during the French Revolution period. His thought goes beyond the limits of the Enlightenment atmosphere, and constructs a conservative political thought in the light of mysticism. Maistre's theory influenced posthumously the romanticism, positivism, existentialism, and so on. His thoughts are also seen revived in the post-modern theories. Therefore, the study of his theory will provide us a more comprehensive understanding of western political thoughts.In the first chapter of this dissertation, the life of Maistre is introduced, and the researching achievements within and outside China as well.The second chapter is devoted to the background of the times to which Maistre had to face, the social background and the Enlightenment atmosphere background both included. This chapter also involves a probe into the three main schools of western philosophy, pointing out that Maistre's theory, based on mysticism which derives from the Plato-Augustin tradition, belongs to a school different to that of empiricism and rationalism. The writer continues to study the a prior anthropology of Maistre, which was conceived on the basis of mysticism and historical experiences. Based on this previous part, the dissertation presents a survey of the political thought of Maistre. It shows that the mysticism of his political thought is based on sacrifice theory, which leads to a dichotomy of worldly ethic and transcendental ethic.The third chapter serves a more detailed study on the theory of sovereignty of Maistre. Firstly, his views of such characters of sovereignty as absolute and violent are discussed. In this part the dissertation shows that Maistre deemed the two mentioned characters as necessary phenomena in practical politics. It is crucial that politicians hold the two characters in heart, and set them well, that human can avoid of being hurt by them. Otherwise they will bring human innumerable disasters. Following in the chapter comes the analysis of Maistre's views on the institutions conducting the performance of violence of sovereignty. These institutions form the boundaries of the actions of sovereignty, within which sovereignty is absolute, and outside which sovereignty loses its legitimacy. All these institutions and boundaries are definitely beyond the creation of human reason. They are rather formed during a quite long time which may be traced to pre-history period. Human actions contribute some in the process of institution forming, but human design of the process is impossible. All these thoughts of Maistre see their integration in providentialism, in the light of which revolution and counter-revolution get their senses.The fourth chapter presents the position of Maistre's theory within the academic spectrum, contemporarily and historically.Finally, the writer concludes that, Maistre and Carl Schmitt who is strongly influenced by the former, both put forward deep critiques of modernity. Although their theories are not in a main-stream position, their critiques should be well reflected by us. This kind of reflection will enable modern society to be healthier.