Final answer:
The Marquis's philosophy is rooted in conservative ideology, stressing the importance of tradition and hierarchy. Edmund Burke and Joseph de Maistre saw common people as unfit for governance, potentially leading to anarchy and moral decay without the direction of traditional elites.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Marquis's philosophy of keeping the common people under control revolves around a conservative ideology that suggests that maintaining traditional structures and hierarchies is essential for societal stability. Figures such as Edmund Burke believed that the common people, perceived as a ‘mob’ lacking education and political experience, should not have control over governmental decisions because they might make foolish choices.
Joseph de Maistre took a more rigid stance, with his belief that human nature is fundamentally depraved, requiring the combined strength of the monarchy, nobility, and the church to keep societal order. This school of thought insists that too much freedom given to inherently flawed humans would lead to moral corruption and the degradation of society. Therefore, de Maistre and like-minded conservatives advocated for a strong, centralized government that could prevent the chaos attributed to too much democracy.
These ideas are contrasted with more liberal notions of the time, which argued that the mass of mankind, with fair representation in government, could indeed handle a certain degree of liberty and happiness, acknowledging that occasional turbulence or rebellion might even be beneficial to the health of a society.