Great Minds - Montesquieu and the Beginnings of Political Science

You can find The Spirit of Laws here amzn.to/3zSv4bT
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Dr. Michael Sugrue earned his BA at the University of Chicago and PhD at Columbia University.

[@jakeanderson4125]

All of his videos are on point... What a great Mind... we are all blessed to have access to these videos... I never write reviews but this guy is worthy!

[@victoriaarshad8407]

Love him to speak on women issues.

[@713screwstontx6]

Is he still alive ?

[@rickgruffman7132]

@@713screwstontx6 yes, he is.

[@Stoic_Zoomer]

@@713screwstontx6 No longer sadly

[@cheri238]

Professor Sugrue remains alive in our hearts and minds due to these videos. RIP 🙏 ❤ Professor Sugrue.

[@jasoncherry3404]

These lectures need to added to the US Library of Congress to save them for future generations enjoy and learn from.

[@ggeetika]

Intellectual supremacy, eloquence epitome, knowledge inexhaustible; Michael Sugrue, you are loved forever. Thank you 💛

[@MuhammadAli-in3jm]

indeed.

[@cheri238]

"The People's History of the United States of America," by late the Professor Howard Zinn. Professor Gerald Horne's books & lectures, Afro-American history stretches to the Caribbean Islands and Africa. Thank you, Professor Sugre, RIP 🙏 ❤and Professor Staloff for these for these lectures. What will happen now in 2024? Empires fall once every 500 years due to powers of greed.

[@armentumhominum9931]

When people complain about the lack of education availability, I think it speaks more about their ideological dogmatism and/or their lazyness. This is top quality content, elite, and it's free for everybody to watch and learn from.

[@joemcdermott1213]

It is, but it's not easy to find something of this quality. Saw a video by chance on Marcus Aurelius, became really interested in hearing him on other topics, and then found a goldmine I never could have expected.

[@pearz420]

Complaining about a lack of education invariably comes from haughty, politically-minded people. None of them are Plato to be sure.

[@seanmimder1830]

This is my favorite of his I was really sad hearing about him dying recently. Internet still being so young crazy to think what it will be like in 20 years when more greats will pass with an even closer vr influencer society

[@yeyoreview5661]

The eloquence, the passion, the organization of thoughts, the charisma, this man is a genius of pedagogy, I listen to him almost every day, like Maquiavelli said, follow those whose shoes fill greatness, so that you shall show some of that greatness, this lectures are awesome intelectual works, I love them.

[@Khumzalet]

Dr Michael Sugrue is a Walking History Book

[@jon_______]

How insanely timely. Thank you legend.

[@theenlightenment3370]

I wish, I wish, I wish you were my philosophy or politics lecturer.

[@bigboispyro]

I love Michael Sugrue.

[@asoulist4829]

Can't say I was aware of Montesquieu before this. Thanks for introducing me to him!

[@CharlesAustin]

How profound is Montesquieu ..so influential and deeply wise in his outlook !! Thank for this eye opener Dr Sugrue !!

[@Book_Review0]

Best lectures I have ever found on western political thought ❤

[@steveschramko2386]

All this raises interesting questions...how has the rise of social media, the decline of literacy and critical thinking skills, the 'dumbing down' of public education, the concentration of wealth, the impoverishment and disenfranchisement of the masses, the growth of mass media etc. affected the playing field in America today ??? Is' democracy' still (on Montesquieu's terms) any longer a viable option for the U.S. today? Are we destined to follow in the footsteps of China and Russia and how many others? What is the future of America ? If you're not thinking about this, well....

[@nightoftheworld]

I think content like this showing up in this public forum demonstrate that we’re in the midst of another massive social conversation. “Normal” people are able to engage with philosophy and intellectual reflections like never before-you can now discuss life/meaning with the world while sitting on the toilet. The virtual public square is here like the printing press in the reformation.

[@JC-gb2en]

@@nightoftheworld I think your very naive, 95% of people are watching influencers doing deranged things, literally corrupting the youth...:-)

[@vvohvaelez9277]

@@JC-gb2en the youth are fine, they can see the absurdity of social media easily. Its the adults that are busy being brainwashed by disinformation that are the ones lacking critical thinking skills since most of them havent had to do any educated study for 20 years or so

[@No_Avail]

@@vvohvaelez9277 The youth are not fine: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIq2faysl7eSZ9k We might even say _the kids aren't alright._

[@blsabjflkdsafjb5768]

seems from what ive heard in this lecture democracy was never viable for america on montesquieu's terms

[@PhilosoFeed]

I truly love this guy's lessons. Incredible.

[@morenoh149]

Every time I watch one of these lectures, the intro music makes me feel like Im about to eat a fine steak at a restaurant. 🥩

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

I like that New York Strip, especially cut thick and done medium rare.

[@cheri238]

❤️

[@omarhassan7627]

What a great mind. Thanks Dr. Sugrue for your generosity. I am a political Science student and have utilized tremendously from your lectures... Salute you...

[@mutabazimichael8404]

nothing better than watching this after having read "De l'esprit des Lois "(on the spirit of laws ) , thanks for the lecture Mr.Sugrue .

[@christinemartin63]

Another realist who makes sense (along with Burke, Marcus Aurelius, Camus, and a (very) few other philosophers). Terrific in every way!

[@713screwstontx6]

I wish I could have had attended his classes , the things I would change … what an exemplary human being ! Attentively listening from a place far away : )

[@1948DavidB]

Beautiful exposition. Points out the inherent complexity (different from ccmplicated) of governing. Corroborates 2 other major self directed studies I've done in past 20 years. We Americans have,,over the years, have long mistaken "equality under the law" (unachievable in practice) with equality of persons. Cromwellians are again at our gates propelled by quite similar religious traditions.

[@assholio]

Whoa

[@ryfreedman]

I love these lectures. Thanks!

[@user-vs6eb2zw2s]

Three types of government: 1. Monarchy ruled by honour 2. Despotism ruled by fear 3(a) Democratic republic ruled by virtue 3(b) aristocracies republic ruled by moderation.

[@charlesedwardandrewlincoln8181]

Loved it! Excellent video!

[@willingtolistentoyou]

18:17 "Anytime that a democratic system of government loses the spirit of its laws - when it loses its virtue - then decline sets in..."

[@cch312]

The definitions of almost everything in the US have become so loose that virtue is nowhere to be found. You say this is right, but someone can say the total opposite... What a challenge we are experiencing...

[@jsvoable]

@@cch312 What's more/worse is that most people don't believe such a thing as virtue even exists.

[@cch312]

@@jsvoable the idea of Social Construct has destroyed more than we can ever imagine.

[@jsvoable]

@@cch312 Round up all crusaders of truth, we'll mount our arguments and take back the holy land.

[@HKG432]

Pakistan right now probably going thru that

[@jayfurrow2632]

Thanks!

[@nelsongonzalez4533]

Moderation is the name of game.. avoiding the extremes on whatever side of the fence you happen to find yourself in.

[@nareshdekkapati7709]

Thank you sir for all your videos.Excellently. God bless you.

[@ryans3001]

Thank You!

[@obladioblada6932]

Amazing lectures! There is one about Hobbes?

[@zhengyangwu8289]

Great lecture as usual. The best lecturer I have ever listened to. Perfect combination of exceptional knowledge, insight and rhetorical capacity.

[@mehmetgok9138]

An apostle of synthesis. RIP.

[@ThatJustHappenedTV]

where does this video fit into the larger series of "great minds"? I would really like to watch these in chronological order so there are no ambiguities or misconceptions in my understanding of these lectures.

[@grimscribe6454]

Does human nature have the capacity to improve, or is it only the society surrounding it that improves? Could we achieve a Star Trek like reality where we have world peace and good relations with all?

[@pearz420]

As a sociological thought experiment, Star Trek is too full of holes both in its worldbuilding and understanding of human nature to be a serious template for reality. It's time we left this kind of Mickey Mouse sociology behind. Hollywood and the small number of people who control it are not the architects of the future, no matter how effectively the've brainwashed people to the contrary. But since you ask the question, two things are worth pointing out: 1) Human nature has patently improved over the period of recorded history, if your standard of improvement involves reduction in violence and increase in individuality, etc. 2) The timeline of the Star Trek universe, in case you have forgotten, begins with a global war in which 600,000,000 people die. The only story Hollywood knows how to tell is the one in the Scripture they left behind: a great and terrible destruction, a war to end all wars where all of humanity's sins will be revealed, followed by a better world than any human has ever known. The entire secular world has still failed to come up with a better story. And we are further away from Star Trek than we were 50 years ago.

[@oliverolonan2556]

Very lucid explanation

[@ryanw3658]

Man I’m an idiot. I thought he meant he was the metaphorical bacon 🥓 to social science

[@Bombadil-ez9ns]

Knowledge is power. France is bacon.

[@pearz420]

You're not an idiot. The tragic thing is that you're average.

[@JC-gb2en]

38:30 that has yet to be determined...

[@clintonstephens273]

Enjoyed the video. Now if anybody thinks that it is possible to be neutral when it comes to who will rule over you has smoked themselves stupid.

[@jackanderson719]

I have a question. Is the misuse of money a threat to political order? I would argue that when politicians use super packs to get elected that is a misuse of money it should be one person one vote not one dollar one vote right?

[@johnlively7174]

There are no notes. For 45 minutes. He seems young to have mastered philosophy, but the more he can relate one philosopher to another, it is impossible to deny

[@patrickskramstad1485]

39:24

[@MuhammadYounas-gl6sn]

Though the lecture is well delivered and well crafted, there seems some mistakes and ambiguity. He says that monatchy is best suited to large terirtory but montesquieu says that confederation is best suited to large teritory. I read this point in Judd Horman book.

[@michaelprenez-isbell8672]

Michael, I hunted for that gold jacket for years. A j press? Brooks brothers?

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

Brooks Brothers corduroy.

[@voidsff]

When was this recorded?

[@OALM]

My guess is the early 90s

[@davidfost5777]

I'm always looking for new interesting lectures on Psychology/Philosophy, please let me know if you guys have any recommendations, would be highly appreciated

[@jsvoable]

kzbin.info/aero/PLFF9E7ADD88FBA144

[@majojok]

John Vervaeke's "Waking Up from the Meaning Crisis" is a life-changing lecture series

[@nelsongonzalez4533]

The real world of science and technology put at the service of big corporations and big government and bi banks.

[@thattimestampguy]

How does Human Society work? 2:24 Plato’s Republic is The Ideal State to Plato; education politics morals

[@patrickskramstad1485]

15:36

[@EmperorJ123]

Love this. Makes. STAR WARS industrious backstory more vivid.

[@jakecarlo9950]

@18:18 - 10/10 America 2022

[@patrickskramstad1485]

31:48

[@seanmimder1830]

This guy mixed with William James pragmatics with elements of excelerationism and sprinkled in stoisiesum

[@camorinbatchelder6514]

John Adams was actually influenced by Machiavelli.

[@Ahp0489]

who wasn’t! mostly every leader is... even if not open about

[@pearz420]

If you ever read a book that didn't influence you, then objectively you wasted your time.

[@liambaldwin6823]

The Jordan Peterson gateway from listening to Joe Rogan to now just watching full on lectures.

[@raymanovich3254]

Ha, this is relatable. Next step might be reading at least one or some of the original works. I can also recommend the Royal Institute for lectures on scientific topics.

[@bishop7954]

I mean hey, doesn't matter who or what sparked your intrigue! Commit to the capability of cultivating the comprehensive creative capacity of your consciousness :)

[@Tadesan]

Hack , hack, cough!

[@serbryndenshiversthecool5928]

Hey guys welcome to the world of the free ivy league....

[@georgeblumenthal]

Hahaha so accurate

[@drbonesshow1]

It was difficult to find a good butler during the French Revolution.

[@patrickskramstad1485]

18:18

[@jackanderson719]

So in a way Montesque predicted the American civil war?

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

yes

[@erennaber]

devr-i istibdad...

[@fayyaznoor1962]

Founding slave owning and slave trading fathers. Based a virtuous idea and government on the basest vice i.e. slavery.

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

I disagree, I would respond that genocide, not slavery, is "the basest vice", the summum malum. From a book I am working on: In the wild, there was no reason to spare strangers who competed for resources (unless there was some problem with endogamous reproduction) until trade with agricultural civilizations emerged. The “… main commodity traded [by nomads] to early states [in Mesopotamia] was the slave”. Trade with early sedentary civilizations may have provided many nomadic peoples with their first and only reason to take captives rather than simply slaughter competing populations, as has been found in so many archaeological sites in every portion of the planet. Sooner or later, the Cain and Abel conflict gets reprised at every place and time. We are all descended from Cain. If you doubt this, ask your Denisovian and Neanderthal friends for confirmation. The quote in the first sentence above is from Smith, Against the Grain, p35 Slavery or some coercive arrangement for extracting labor, like serfdom, were historically ubiquitous, Judaism, Christianity and Islam legitimized slavery; very few of the laborers constructing the Great Wall of China were volunteers; Dalits were born into a degraded Indian caste that justified their exploitation, the Roman law of slavery was highly developed for a reason, the Mongols enslaved an immense swath of Eurasia. When complex societies begin to produce a predictable surplus beyond subsistence, most of this new surplus goes to the elites, military or religious, who organize this labor. All complex premodern societies were dependent upon slave labor supplemented by coercive work arounds like a corvee. Slaves and other ill treated people longed for redemption and freedom, often with tragic results, but after a massacre there were no aspirations left.

[@nelsongonzalez4533]

Russia and China are too big too spread up to be controlled effectively...so what kind of government and political system is needed? A federation or a confederation like in Canada or USA!

[@cch312]

Let people own things, let them own enough things that they will demand property rights and freedom to defend what they own. The founding of the US of America is a manifesto opposite of that of Marx. Thank you, Mr. Sugrue.

[@xXabstractXx]

So you’re the same guy that has a fund for Ukraine in 2022. You sold out . Not talking about this video btw. 30 years later he doesn’t know a thing.

[@patrickskramstad1485]

33:40

[@patrickskramstad1485]

18:18