Realism and Reform in Rousseau's Constitutional Projects for Poland and Corsica
| Date | 01 August 2001 |
| Author | Ethan Putterman |
| DOI | 10.1111/1467-9248.00322 |
| Published date | 01 August 2001 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Realism and Reform in Rousseau’s
Constitutional Projects for Poland
and Corsica
Ethan Putterman
University of Chicago
Of all of the criticisms leveled against Rousseau’s practical political writings few have been as
pervasive as the charge of intentional utopianism. Over the years this charge has not gone entirely
unanswered but, for the most part, the scholarly response has been to identify these works’ realism
solely in terms of Rousseau’s desire to educate a corrupt Europe morally. In this essay, I reexamine
the question of utopianism in Considérations sur le Gouvernement de Pologne and Projet pour la Corse
to argue that the most egregiously fanciful or eccentric recommendations in these works actually
demonstrate evidence of the philosopher’s practicality and seriousness about constitutional
reform in Poland and Corsica. To appreciate this realism though, readers must turn to Rousseau’s
opaque remarks about opinion’s relationship to the laws in the Lettre à d’Alembert and other
writings.
A popularly debated question in Rousseau scholarship over the last few decades
has centered upon the intent or seriousness of the philosopher’s practical political
writings. In the 1960s a number of important authors, such as Judith N. Shklar,
William H. Blanchard, and Jean Guéhenno concluded that Rousseau’s utopianism in
Considérations sur le Gouvernement de Pologne and Projet pour la Corse was intentional
and originated from, above all else, the philosopher’s desire for polemical social
criticism above serious constitutional reform. Since this time more contemporary
scholars, such as Arthur M. Melzer, have articulately refined this thesis by arguing for
the ‘realism’ or non-utopianism of this type of social criticism if its object is to
educate a corrupt modern Europe, but very few authors argue today for Rousseau’s
actual constitutional reform of Poland or Corsica (Melzer, 1990, pp. 253–82; Gay,
In an important study Maurice Cranston writes, for example, that ‘the best
[Rousseau] could suggest for Poles was to nurture a spirit of patriotism and modify
their social and political system’ but, at root, his advice ‘told the Poles as politely as
possible that in view of their circumstances freedom was not an option for them
…’ rather Rousseau ‘used the Polish case as an occasion to indict all modern
Europeans, who he said lacked the patriotic spirit and the institutions that had
made possible the great political achievements of the ancient Greeks, Romans, and
Israelites’ (Cranston, 1997, pp. 177–8). In a similar fashion, James Miller concludes
that Rousseau’s ‘unfinished and unpublished practical political projects, like all of
his previous political writing, fitfully charted the uncertain region between dream
and reality, between impossible ideals and remote possibilities … the treacheries of
attempting in practice, to travel the path indicated by his thinking had virtually
convinced him to abandon the attempt. The dangers of action were intolerable’
POLITICAL STUDIES: 2001 VOL 49, 481–494
© Political Studies Association, 2001.
Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
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