Discover Montesquieu in the 18th Century Poland

The aim of this article is to show how Polish political thought was inspired by the work of Montesquieu during the Age of Enlightenment. It is primarily concerned with examining which works of the French philosopher attracted the attention of Polish translators and thinkers, and what the motivations were behind their initiative to discover and expose his work to Poles. The article shows that Polish political thought was very much inspired by the works of Montesquieu, seeking advice and many universal lessons of wisdom from them for the reform policies of the Polish state in the second half of the eighteenth century. In this way, interpreting and analysing the thoughts ofth e French philosopher had a very pragmatic political purpose during the Polish Enlightenment.