贡斯当的洞见与贡斯当研究的复兴

The Insights of Benjamin Constant and the Revivals of Constant's Research

近年来得益于贡斯当早期手稿的发现,学界开始对贡氏政治著作的"重心"进行再定位,越来越多的研究者将关注点移向贡斯当的早期政治著述,力图厘清其政治思想的源流与谱系。以新发现之手稿为基础,反观贡氏的宪政理论便会有许多先前不曾有的洞见。贡斯当的原创性在于根据大革命后的重建经验,对法国启蒙时代两位最深刻的政治思想家孟德斯鸠与卢梭的理论作一种创造性的转化与综合。贡斯当以政治自由结合原始政治平等的理论,构成了自由民主体制现代转型的关键一环。

Due to the recent discovery of Benjamin Constant's unpublished early manuscripts,the center of gravity of Constant's political thoughts have been pushed back from the French Restoration toward the Consulate and Empire.More and more scholars began to give more attention to his early political works and tried to clarify the genesis and the formation of his political thoughts.Grounded on these newly discovered manuscripts,we can now better understand the significance of Constant's constitutional theory.The originality of Constant's political thoughts lies in his efforts to synthesize the ideas of Montesquieu and Rousseau.Based on the post - revolutionary experiences,Constant tried to integrate the two most essential,sometimes contradictory ideals of the Enlightenment,that of liberty and that of democracy,and to create a modern liberal democratic regime.