After Montesquieu’s writing efforts，Nowadays, the division between “autocracy” and “freedom” seems to have become the basic perspective for Westerners to think about political issues。However，Different from future generations of successors，For Montesquieu，“Liberal republic” is not so much an already authoritative political standard，It is better to say that it is still a tradition to be established。Therefore，How to break through the classical theoretical framework of government，Elucidating the new liberal political system，It becomes the core purpose throughout Montesquieu's "The Spirit bet365 refer a friend code Laws"。In fact，In Montesquieu’s Arguments for Liberal Government，“History” plays a key role，Become a new standard for discussing political issues，In the history of thought，Montesquieu also became one bet365 refer a friend code founders of historicism。

　　The historical writing form of "bet365 refer a friend code Discourse"

From the appearance，The discussion of bet365 refer a friend code in "The Spirit of Laws" clearly has the appearance of historical writing，Although the book begins with a discussion of types of government，But it contains a lot of information about legal tradition、Geography、Discussion on business and trade issues，Gives the whole book a historical empirical research look。Actually，Compare Montesquieu’s forerunners，This historical writing method does not seem to be necessary。Because，Like Hobbes and Locke，Starting from an absolute starting point of “natural man”，Theoretical basis of liberalism can be obtained within the framework of contract theory，No need to rely on the investigation of ancient and modern historical experience。Then，Montesquieu adopted this historical research method，What is the intention？Historical methods are useful for elucidating new republican theories，What special function does it have？

Montesquieu indeed began to describe his theory of government by summarizing historical experience，Thus there seems to be a lack of clarity when it comes to classifying regimes，Montesquieu clearly did not follow the Aristotelian paradigm of clarity，That is, classifying the rulers according to their number and merit，But there is an ambiguity - Montesquieu divided the bet365 refer a friend code into monarchy、Democracy and Autocracy，It is more like the result of empirical classification of various political systems in history。What’s more，Until the middle part，"The Spirit of Laws" proposes the most critical fourth bet365 refer a friend code in the book - the British Merchant Republic。This "supplementary" discussion will undoubtedly enhance the reader's impression that "The Spirit of Law" does not follow a certain theoretical framework。

But，Is Montesquieu’s narrative style really lacking in logic?？We still can’t make a conclusion easily。At least，From the perspective of narrative style and argumentation strategy，The "Empirical" explanation of political issues in "The Spirit of Discourse"，In fact, it also leads patient readers to a path of exploration together with the author，After a detailed analysis bet365 refer a friend code political characteristics and institutional composition bet365 refer a friend code other three political systems，The real theme bet365 refer a friend code work is introduced-the British commercial republic。If so，Montesquieu actually regarded the British republic as the conclusion of a long process of exploration，Leave it until the time comes to tell the truth。Then，For readers，Different from directly accepting a theoretical position，Because bet365 refer a friend code results bet365 refer a friend code British republic under the leadership of Montesquieu himself，Then，Readers get more than just the final conclusion，More likely to grasp the deeper reasons why Montesquieu preferred the "English Republic"。If so，Historical writing is more conducive to increasing the persuasive power bet365 refer a friend code argument than theoretical argumentation。In fact，Readers of real history have not missed Montesquieu’s intention to praise the British liberal republic，It can also be evidence of this writing strategy。

　　Contradictions and intentions in the discussion of ancient and modern bet365 refer a friend code systems

Relevant to the current issue，There is a contradictory aspect in Montesquieu’s analysis of political systems。On the one hand，Montesquieu put forward the evaluation bet365 refer a friend code advantages and disadvantages of three political systems-democracy is the common rule bet365 refer a friend code people，Monarchy is the legal rule bet365 refer a friend code monarch，Autocracy is the arbitrary rule of a monarch regardless bet365 refer a friend code law。Actually，This "should" concern comes from a bottom-up popular stance - a republic means the self-rule of all people，Autocracy means the monarch’s arbitrary oppression of people’s freedom，And to what extent the monarchy has escaped autocracy，It depends on the extent to which the monarch's power is limited - Montesquieu believed，The aristocracy that can limit the power bet365 refer a friend code monarch constitutes the essence bet365 refer a friend code monarchy。

However，While evaluating the bet365 refer a friend code from a republican moral perspective，Montesquieu looked at the maintenance of bet365 refer a friend code from the perspective of government，Neutral、Advice for all political systems without distinction - the principle by which democracy maintains itself is virtue，The principle of monarchy is honor，To maintain an authoritarian regime, fear is needed。Visible，On the one hand, Montesquieu proposed a neutral historical study of various political systems in a descriptive manner，But there is clearly a republican "should" concern in his discussion。Then，Montesquieu in Moral Concerns about Republicanism，Why does it present such a value-neutral objective appearance？What is the difference between Montesquieu’s republicanism and classical republicanism？It is this question that leads to the core of Montesquieu's analysis of government - since the republic itself is the best bet365 refer a friend code that is most free from tyranny，Why stay outside the classical republic，Specially recommend Britain’s modern republic？How should we view Montesquieu’s distinction between ancient and modern republics？This question will become the key to understanding the "historical perspective" of "The Spirit of Law"。

If you think about it carefully，Montesquieu’s description bet365 refer a friend code classical republic is not without its doubts。First，Montesquieu’s classical democracy is not a faithful description of ancient democracy，It is more of a conceptual product - this kind of democracy is completely different from Plato、The democratic system criticized by Aristotle，But it is similar to a "popular aristocracy" that extends the aristocratic republican spirit to all the people。In addition，This republic also incorporates the Christian spirit of equality。This composite model thus becomes a certain aggregation of premodern virtues: including citizens' political loyalty，Also embodies the spirit of self-restraint and piety。What’s even more puzzling，Montesquieu also expressed it in a peculiar way，This ancient republic is actually very alienated from the daily life orientation of contemporary people。Because，Republican love as a political virtue “requires that public interests should always be placed above personal interests，All personal virtues are just putting public before private... Political virtue requires abandoning oneself，But this is always a very difficult thing”。

Montesquieu’s following comments most prominently reflect his true attitude towards ancient republican virtues，“Patriotism leads to honest folk customs，Sincerity bet365 refer a friend code people leads to patriotism。The lower the degree of personal emotional satisfaction，The higher the level of investment in public emotions。Why monks love their order so much？Precisely because the Order is intolerable。Canonical rules deprive ordinary people of all support for their emotions，The only thing left is the affection for the canons that tortured them” (The Spirit bet365 refer a friend code Law, Chapter 5, Section 2)。Readers unexpectedly discovered，Montesquieu’s description of classical democracy seems to praise democracy，There is an obvious doubt in it - the ancient republic was like a church composed of ascetics，Deprived bet365 refer a friend code basic satisfaction of human nature，Therefore，The so-called selfless love for the community is too far away from ordinary people。Montesquieu even said，"Greece should be regarded as a society of athletes and warriors" ("The Spirit of Laws" Chapter 4, Section 8)，If people like to be frugal, it is “natural and commonplace”，Alcibiades would not have become famous in the world” (“The Spirit bet365 refer a friend code Laws”, Chapter 5, Section 4)。

　　“Modern Experience” and Historicism in “bet365 refer a friend code Law”

This overtly praising but actually derogatory tone hints at the true attitude of "The Spirit bet365 refer a friend code Laws" toward ancient republican virtues。In fact，The real opposition in the theory of government in "The Spirit of Laws"，It is not a simple opposition between republic and autocracy，Opposite，Three political systems - autocracy、Monarchy and Ancient Republics，All constitute the opposite bet365 refer a friend code British commercial republic。Compare to monarchy and autocracy，The ancient republic as a "counterexample"，further reveals Montesquieu’s deeper considerations: Montesquieu wanted to establish more than just the authority bet365 refer a friend code British commercial regime，It is a brand-new modern vision and the authority of modern experience - and inspires citizens to restrain selfishness、Compared to the ancient republics who devoted themselves to public affairs，This modern experience fundamentally recognizes people’s natural desires，And make everyday human nature the basis of political system。So，Montesquieu’s real criticism bet365 refer a friend code ancient virtue regime is，Even if the ancient republic achieved people’s rule over itself，Even showed a spiritual height that is beyond the reach of today’s people，But it is still a fundamental fallacy，Because the people are still essentially tyrannized by religious concepts and moral concepts that are contrary to human nature。

The opposition between ancient and modern republics reveals the key considerations of "The Spirit bet365 refer a friend code Laws" - the reason why the book treats commercial republics as a discovery after difficult exploration，The fundamental reason is，What Montesquieu outlines here is to get out of ancient times、The picture of finding a home in the modern world - the discussion of political system in "The Spirit of Laws" thus has a historical meaning: if the republic of virtue represents the past，Monarchy represents Europe’s present，Then，In the context bet365 refer a friend code negative dimension of "autocracy"，The real "moderate government"，That is, the commercial republic represents a future worth exploring。This is also the historical direction Montesquieu found in order to settle the experience of modern life。

We can understand from this，Why Montesquieu's discussion of political system has the nature of historical philosophy - Montesquieu intended to establish a "best government" based on the premise of getting rid bet365 refer a friend code "best government theory"，In order to establish this best political system，The first thing to break is the ancient concept of placing absolute justice above universal human nature。In the process，The concept of exploring the best government and absolute justice in a natural sense has actually been reduced to a Greek style、Regional “national spirit”，Replaced by historical standards that are more in line with human nature。In this sense of historical philosophy，We recognize，A moderate political system that can serve ordinary people with checks and balances，It is the "spirit of law" that Montesquieu was pursuing。

　　(Author’s affiliation: School of bet365 refer a friend code Arts, Renmin University of China)