Montesquieu - The Persian Letters - The Parable of the...

The Persian Letters (Letters XI - XIV) illustrate a classic question in philosophical thought: is man meant to live life by desire or virtue, and what happens if either case is taken to an extreme. Montesquieu illustrates this in letters written by Usbek to Mirza, and a story of a clan of Troglodytes who have created a city (so to speak) first ruled by their own desires as individuals (or their own selfish desires) and then through time, come to live by virtue, and later an attempt at the formation of a government - where the story ends. The story can roughly be divided into three parts - as it spans four letters: 1) Letter XI illustrates the Troglodytes living by their desires, 2) Letters XII and XII focus on the Troglodytes living by†¦show more content†¦In this monarchy, this form of government, he believed they would have no need for virtue. Through the whole of the Letters, and the tale of the Troglodytes, Montesquieu is, in addition to philosophical questions, stumbling upon a question made clear by the theme of this weeks readings: Why Government? Besides making clear, in the first part of the story, that selfish actions by all will only yield destruction, Montesquieu points out the need for organization. As the Troglodytes selfishly divided lands, without organization and thought, a large portion of the population died due to poor conditions on the highlands, and a year later, another portion died, as conditions were reversed. Crime was rampant. Without laws to govern them, they were only under the state of Nature so-to-speak, and only yielded to strength. This led to quarrelling and deaths among them. Without a system of trade, or laws to govern such a system, if someone was unable to completely sustain themselves on their own, they fell prey to unreasonable prices and practices. In addition, they had no international relations and even cut off ties with neighboring countries, and helpful foreigners. Overall the first part of the story is shouting for a