Commentary is founded on the view that government should maintain a strictly limited role in society; “The functions of government are purely negative. It should repress disorder, eliminate obstacles, in a word, prevent evil from arising. Thereafter one can leave it to individuals to find the good.”
Benjamin Constant (1767–1830), born in Switzerland, became one of France’s leading writers, as well as a journalist, philosopher, and politician.
Alan S. Kahan is Professor of British Civilization at the Université de Versailles/St. Quentin-en-Yvelines in France.