Louis Gabriel Ambroise de Bonald

Louis Gabriel Ambroise, Vicomte de Bonald was a French philosopher and politician. A counter-revolutionary, he is mainly remembered for developing a theoretical framework from which French sociology would emerge. His political philosophy rests on the assumptions of humanity's fallenness, the need for strong government to repress man's evil tendencies, and the belief that humans are inherently social creatures. He opposed the individualistic and atomistic tendencies of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. At the heart of his political thought was the idea that the family was the basis of society and that institutions should work to protect it in its traditional form. For this reason he opposed the secularization of marriage, divorce, and partitive inheritance. He was also critical of the Industrial Revolution because of its negative effects on traditional patterns of family life. Bonald's writings exercised a great deal of influence over conservative and French Catholic thought throughout the 19th century.