法的精神抑或诸法系的特质?——孟德斯鸠De l'esprit des lois一书的题名解读

The Spirit of Laws or the Genius of the Legal Systems? An Analysis of the Title of Montesquieu's De l'esprit des lois

汉语"法的精神"的各种含义难以契合孟德斯鸠在其著述中对l'esprit des lois这一术语的界定,本文通过分析孟氏法文原著及相关西语著述力图论证:作为比较法和法社会学开创者的孟德斯鸠,法律的多样性是其研究的中心论题,孟德斯鸠用l'esprit des lois这一概念作为其著作的题名和思想体系的核心,所意指的是"诸法系的特质",而非汉语学界所通常理解的"法治精神"、"法律本质"或"立法意图"。

Charles - Louis Montesquieu is a precursor of comparative jurisprudence and legal sociology, whose core argument of his De L'esprit des Lois is about the infinite diversity of laws. Through studying French editions of Montesquieu' s writings and the related research literature, this essay argues that Montesquieu' s use of l'esprit des lois as both descriptive and normative concept, which is the centrality of the term in the title of his magnum opus and the heart of his thought, is to mean the genius of legal systems, rather than the spirit of the rule of law, the true and inner meaning of the law, the essence of law or the intention of the law as it is generally understood by Chinese scholars.