Montesquieu (and Machiavelli) on Cruelty

Abstract

Almost all scholars who have written on Montesquieu’s Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and Their Decline have observed that it contains a deep reflection on the political philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli (whether sympathetic, critical, or both). Given this scholarly consensus, we would expect that Montesquieu would comment in some way on one of the most famous (or notorious) aspects of Machiavelli’s thought—namely, his unabashed promotion of the political utility of cruelty. This essay seeks to show that Montesquieu does indeed have a new understanding of cruelty, one that is both indebted to but critical of Machiavelli’s original understanding. By failing to see the new teaching on cruelty in Considerations, we risk overlooking or misunderstanding a key dimension of his overarching political project as most fully articulated in The Spirit of the Laws: the promotion of a new ethic of humanity.