Battista/Narratives of Peace, 12. Religious Freedom and History of Religions in Benjamin Constant

This chapter aims to outline the basic coordinates of Benjamin Constant’s work De la Religion, considerée dans sa source, ses formes et ses développements, published between 1824 and 1831, showing its belonging to the religious-liberal tradition of modern thought, which from Humanism and the Reformation reaches the Aufklärung of Lessing, Kant, and Schleiermacher. Moreover, it intends to claim the dense and original theoretical value of this historical-erudite work dedicated to ancient polytheisms—too often overshadowed by other more well-known studies of Constant—that is, an authentic theory of religious freedom with historical value.