Beyond Contractual Morality: Ethics, Law, and Literature in Eighteenth-Century France

In light of contemporary debates over liberalism, and informed by the problems of contemporary democratic, pluralistic culture, Beyond Contractual Morality reexamines the roots of these current discussions in eighteenth-century texts. Enlightenment texts demonstrate the historical intertwining of political, legal and moral problems in their extension of social contract theory into various realms of private and public life. Specifically, these texts point to an over-reliance on the notion of contract to resolve ethical dilemmas. A range of issues and authors is discussed, including: the historical development of social contract theory from Hobbes to Rousseau; conflicting conceptions of education in Rousseau's writings; the rise of professional ethics; the concept of tolerance as discussed by Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau; the divide between the public and private realms in the writings of Charriere and Sade. Beyond Contractual Morality concludes with a reemphasis on the contemporary context of debate and proposes a defense of a revised version of liberalism that can take account of positive duties without sacrificing individual autonomy. Julia Simon is Associate Professor of French at the Pennsylvania State University.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments i Introduction 1 Part I: Education 28 Chapter 1: The Dilemma of Public Education: 43 Individual Rights and Civic Responsibilities Individual Rights and Private Education Civic Education and Virtue Contractual Obligations Chapter 2: Property, Contract, and Tort: 64 The Limits of Freedom in Rousseau's Emile Freedom Independence and Abstract Individualism: The 'Natural' Man? Abstract Individualism and Property Rights: Morality? Moral Education in Adolescence Negative Liberty, Natural Freedom, and the Duty of the Preceptor Part II: Private Moral Conscience and Public Obligation 106 Chapter 3: Negotiating the Legal and the Moral: 117 Diderot's Conversation of a Father with his Children The Private Sphere of the Family Legal Obligations Private Moral Conscience Public Legality and Private Morality Chapter 4: Value Neutrality and the Virtue of Tolerance: 149 Montesquieu's Contribution to Liberalism Methodological Tolerance Commerce and Tolerance Toleration as State Policy Jurisdictional Conflicts Tolerance as Civic Virtue Chapter 5: From Tolerance to Sympathy 181 Voltaire on Tolerance Pitie in Rousseau Charriere's Compassion Contractual Obligations and Imperfect Duties: From Tolerance to Sympathy Part III: The Public and Private Spheres 220 Chapter 6: Contractual Minimalism: 231 Disciplinary Power and Liberalism in Sade The State of Nature and Radical Civil Liberties Regulating the Private Sphere Disciplinary Practices and Radical Liberalism Contractual Minimalism Chapter 7: The Marriage Contract: 268 Obligation and Commitment in the Bourgeois Marriage Aristocratic Marriage Perfect and Imperfect Duties: The Marriage Contract Bourgeois Marriage: Rousseau's Julie A Marriage of Despair: Charriere's Mistriss Henley Class, Marriage, and Contract Conclusion: Some Closing Thoughts on Rights, Justice, and Community 314 Bibliography 330 Index

About the Author :
JULIA SIMON is Associate Professor of French at the Pennsylvania State University.