Marquis de Condorcet
Nicolas de Condorcet | |
---|---|
Member of the National Convention for Aisne | |
In office 20 September 1792 – 8 July 1793 | |
Preceded by | Louis-Jean-Samuel Joly de Bammeville |
Succeeded by | Vacant (1794–1795) Successor unknown |
Constituency | Saint-Quentin |
Member of the Legislative Assembly for Seine | |
In office 6 September 1791 – 6 September 1792 | |
Succeeded by | Joseph François Laignelot |
Constituency | Paris |
Personal details | |
Born | Girondin | 17 September 1743
Spouse |
Voting paradox |
Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis of Condorcet (French:
Early years
Condorcet was born in
From 1765 to 1774, he focused on science. In 1765, he published his first work on mathematics, entitled Essai sur le
In 1772, he published another paper on
Condorcet worked with Leonhard Euler and Benjamin Franklin. He soon became an honorary member of many foreign academies and philosophic societies, including the American Philosophical Society (1775),[6] the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1785), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1792)[7] and also in Prussia and Russia.
His political ideas, many in congruity with Turgot's, were criticized heavily in the English-speaking world, however, most notably by John Adams who wrote two of his principal works of political philosophy to oppose Turgot's and Condorcet's unicameral legislature and radical democracy.[8]
Early political career
In 1774, Condorcet was appointed inspector general of the
In 1776, Turgot was dismissed as Controller General. Consequently, Condorcet submitted his resignation as Inspector General of the
Election methods
In 1785, Condorcet published his Essay on the Application of Analysis to the Probability of Majority Decisions,
The paper also outlines a generic
He also considered the instant-runoff voting elimination method, as early as 1788, though only to condemn it, for its ability to eliminate a candidate preferred by a majority of voters.[13][14]
Other works
In 1781, Condorcet wrote a pamphlet, Reflections on Negro Slavery, in which he denounced
In 1795, Condorcet's book
French Revolution
Deputy
Condorcet took a leading role when the French Revolution swept France in 1789, hoping for a rationalist reconstruction of society, and championed many liberal causes. As a result, in 1791 he was elected as a Paris representative in the Legislative Assembly, and then became the secretary of the Assembly.
Condorcet was not affiliated with any political party but counted many friends among the Girondins. He distanced himself from them during the National Convention, however, due to his distaste for their factionalism.
In April 1792 Condorcet presented a project for the reformation of the education system, aiming to create a hierarchical system, under the authority of experts, who would work as the guardians of the Enlightenment and who, independent of power, would be the guarantors of public liberties. The project was judged to be contrary to republican and egalitarian virtues, handing the education of the Nation over to an aristocracy of savants, and Condorcet's proposal was not taken up by the Assembly. Several years later, in 1795, when the Thermidorians had gained in strength, the National Convention would adopt an educational plan based on Condorcet's proposal.[19]
He advocated women's suffrage for the new government, writing an article for Journal de la Société de 1789, and by publishing De l'admission des femmes au droit de cité ("For the Admission to the Rights of Citizenship For Women") in 1790.[20]
At the Trial of Louis XVI in December 1792, Condorcet, who opposed the death penalty albeit supporting the trial itself, spoke out against the execution of the King during the public vote at the Convention – he proposed to send the king to work as a slave rower on galley ships.
Condorcet was on the Constitution Committee and was the main author of the Girondin constitutional project. This constitution was not put to a vote. When the Montagnards gained control of the Convention, they wrote their own, the French Constitution of 1793. Condorcet criticized the new work, and as a result, he was branded a traitor. On 3 October 1793, a warrant was issued for Condorcet's arrest.[21]
Arrest and death
The warrant forced Condorcet into hiding. He hid for some months in the house of Mme. Vernet in Paris, where he wrote Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progrès de l'esprit humain (
On 25 March 1794 Condorcet, convinced he was no longer safe, left his hideout and attempted to flee Paris. He went to seek refuge at the house of
Condorcet was symbolically interred in the
Family
In 1786 Condorcet married Sophie de Grouchy, who was more than twenty years his junior. Sophie, reckoned one of the most beautiful women of the day, became an accomplished salon hostess as Madame de Condorcet, and also an accomplished translator of Thomas Paine and Adam Smith. She was intelligent and well educated, fluent in both English and Italian. The marriage was a strong one, and Sophie visited her husband regularly while he remained in hiding. Although she began proceedings for divorce in January 1794, it was at the insistence of Condorcet and Cabanis, who wished to protect their property from expropriation and to provide financially for Sophie and their young daughter, Louise 'Eliza' Alexandrine.
During his time in hiding, Condorcet penned a poignant letter to his daughter, who was then a toddler, offering his advice and wisdom to her as she grows to become an adult. The letter stands as a testament, not only for the loving hopes he has for his daughter as a father, but also for his egalitarian vision of the rights and opportunities for women in society.[26]
Condorcet was survived by his widow and four-year-old Eliza. Sophie died in 1822, never having remarried, and having published all her husband's works between 1801 and 1804. Her work was carried on by Eliza, wife of former United Irishman Arthur O'Connor. The Condorcet-O'Connors published a revised edition between 1847 and 1849.
Gender equality
Condorcet's work was mainly focused on a quest for a more egalitarian society. This path led him to think and write about gender equality in the Revolutionary context. In 1790, he published "Sur l'admission des femmes au droit de cité" ("On the Admission of Women to the Rights of Citizenship") in which he strongly advocated for women's suffrage in the new Republic as well as the enlargement of basic political and social rights to include women. One of the most famous Enlightenment thinkers at the time, he was one of the first to make such a radical proposal.
'The rights of men stem exclusively from the fact that they are sentient beings, capable of acquiring moral ideas and of reasoning upon them. Since women have the same qualities, they necessarily also have the same rights. Either no member of the human race has any true rights, or else they all have the same ones; and anyone who votes against the rights of another, whatever his religion, colour or sex, automatically forfeits his own.'[27]: 157
Like fellow
Condorcet's whole plea for gender equality is founded on the belief that the attribution of rights and authority comes from a false assumption that men possess reason and women do not. He even goes on to argue that women possess their own form of reason that is different from their male compatriots but by no means lesser.[30]
His views on rights that must be afforded to women were not limited to education and citizenship but also social freedoms and protections that included the right for women to plan their own pregnancies, provision of access to birth control, and men's obligation to take responsibility for the welfare of children they have fathered, both legitimate and illegitimate and women's right to seek divorce. He also advocated for the criminalization of rape, declaring that it “violates the property which everyone has in her person”.[31]
Scholars[who?] often disagree on the true impact that Condorcet's work had on pre-modern feminist thinking. His detractors[who?] point out that, when he was eventually given some responsibilities in the constitutional drafting process, his convictions did not translate into concrete political action and he made limited efforts to push these issues on the agenda.[32] Some scholars[who?] on the other hand, believe that this lack of action is not due to the weakness of his commitment but rather to the political atmosphere at the time and the absence of political appetite for gender equality on the part of decision-makers.[33] Along with authors such as Mary Wollstonecraft, d'Alembert or Olympe de Gouges, Condorcet made a lasting contribution to the pre-feminist debate.[34][according to whom?]
The idea of progress
Condorcet's Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Spirit (1795) was perhaps the most influential formulation of the idea of progress ever written. It made the
Condorcet's writings were a key contribution to the French
However, Condorcet stressed that for this to be a possibility man must unify regardless of race, religion, culture or gender.[38] To this end, he became a member of the French Société des Amis des Noirs (Society of the Friends of the Blacks).[39] He wrote a set of rules for the Society of the Friends of the Blacks which detailed the reasoning and goals behind the organization along with describing the injustice of slavery and put in a statement calling for the abolition of the slave trade as the first step to true abolition.[27]
Condorcet was also a strong proponent of women's civil rights. He claimed that women were equal to men in nearly every aspect and asked why then should they be debarred from their fundamental civil rights; the few differences that existed were due to the fact that women were limited by their lack of rights. Condorcet even mentioned several women who were more capable than average men, such as
Civic duty
For Condorcet's republicanism the nation needed enlightened citizens and education needed democracy to become truly public. Democracy implied free citizens, and ignorance was the source of servitude. Citizens had to be provided with the necessary knowledge to exercise their freedom and understand the rights and laws that guaranteed their enjoyment. Although education could not eliminate disparities in talent, all citizens, including women, had the right to free education. In opposition to those who relied on revolutionary enthusiasm to form the new citizens, Condorcet maintained that revolution was not made to last and that revolutionary institutions were not intended to prolong the revolutionary experience but to establish political rules and legal mechanisms that would insure future changes without revolution. In a democratic city there would be no Bastille to be seized. Public education would form free and responsible citizens, not revolutionaries.[41]
Evaluation
Rothschild (2001) argues that Condorcet has been seen since the 1790s as the embodiment of the cold, rational Enlightenment. However she suggests his writings on economic policy, voting, and public instruction indicate different views both of Condorcet and of the Enlightenment. Condorcet was concerned with individual diversity; he was opposed to proto-utilitarian theories; he considered individual independence, which he described as the characteristic liberty of the moderns, to be of central political importance; and he opposed the imposition of universal and eternal principles. His efforts to reconcile the universality of some values with the diversity of individual opinions are of continuing interest. He emphasizes the institutions of civilized or constitutional conflict, recognizes conflicts or inconsistencies within individuals, and sees moral sentiments as the foundation of universal values. His difficulties call into question some familiar distinctions, for example between French, German, and English-Scottish thought, and between the Enlightenment and the counter-Enlightenment. There was substantial continuity between Condorcet's criticism of the economic ideas of the 1760s and the liberal thought of the early 19th century.[38]
The Lycée Condorcet in the rue du Havre, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, is named in his honour, as are streets in many French cities.
Publications
- Essai sur le calcul intégral, 1765
- Rapport sur le choix d'une unité de mesure, lu à l'Academie des sciences le 19 mars 1791 / imprimé par ordre de l'Assemblée nationale. With Jean-Charles de Borda.
- Du probleme des trois corps (in French). Paris: François Ambroise Didot. 1787.
- Lettres d'un théologien à l'auteur du Dictionnaire des trois siècles, 1774
- Réflexions sur l'esclavage des nègres, 1781. Under the pseudonym M. Schwartz
- Mémoire sur le calcul des probabilités, in Mémoires de l’Académie royale des sciences. 1781–1784
- Éloge de M. d'Alembert, lu dans l'Assemblée publique de l'Académie des sciences, le 21 Avril 1784. A Paris: chez Moutard, 1784
- Essai sur l'application de l'analyse à la probabilité des décisions rendus à la pluralité des voix. Paris: Royale, 1785
- De l’influence de la révolution d’Amérique sur l’Europe. 1786
- Vie de Monsieur Turgot. Londres, 1786
- Réflexions d'un citoyen, sur la révolution de 1788. Londres, 1788
- Sur le choix des ministres, 1789
- Au corps électoral sur Esclavage des Noirs. 1789
- Déclaration des droits. 1789
- Sur l’admission des femmes au droit de cité. 1790
- Réflexions sur la révolution de 1688, et sur celle du 10 août 1792, 1792
- Adresse aux Bataves, 1792
- Vie de Voltaire. Paris : Renouard, 1822. Contains also: Mémoires pour servir à la vie de M. de Voltaire / écrits par lui-m^eme. Commentaire historique sur les œuvres de l'auteur de la Henriade. Choix de pièces justificatives pour La vie de Voltaire
- Correspondance inédite de Condorcet et de Turgot: 1770-1779. Paris: Charavay Frères, 1883
- Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progres de l'esprit humain (in French). [Paris?]: [s.n.] 1795.
- Œuvres complètes, Paris, 1804. 21 delen
- Tome premier. Eloges des académiciens de l'Académie Royale de Sciences, morts depuis l'an 1666, jusqu'en 1699
- Tome II: Mélanges de littérature et de philosophie Tome II. Éloges des académiciens de l'Académie Royale de Sciences, morts depuis l'an 1771
- Tome III: Mélanges de littérature et de philosophie tome III. Éloges des académiciens de l'Académie Royale de Sciences, morts depuis l'an 1783
- Tome IV: Mélanges de littérature et de philosophie. Eloges des académiciens de l'Académie Royale de Sciences, morts depuis l'an 1787; suivvis de cuex de Michel de l'hôpital et de Blaise Pascal
- Tome V: Vie de M. Turgot, publiée en 1786
- Tome VI: Mélanges de littérature et de philosophie. Vie de Voltaire, suivi des advertissements et notes ...
- Tome septième: Economie politique et politique tome I. Réflexions sur la jurisprudence criminelle. 1775. 1847
- Tome VIII: Mélanges de littérature et de philosophie. Exquisse d'un tableau historique des progrès de l'esprit humaine. Premiere partie
- Tome IX: Mélanges de littérature et de philosophie Tome IX. Sur l'instruction publique
- Tome X: Mélanges de littérature et de philosophie Tome X. Lettres d'un théologien a l'auteur des trois siècles
- Tome XI: Mélanges de politique tome XI. Réflexions sur la jurisprudence criminelle
- Tome XII: Lettres d'un bourgeois de New-Heaven a un citoyen de Virginie ...
- Tome XIII: Melanges de politique. Sur les assemblées provinciales. Première partie
- Tome XIV: Melanges de politique. Sur les assemblées provinciales. Seconde partie
- Tome XVI: Fragmentt sur la liberté de la presse
- Tome XVII: Mélanges de politique tome XVII. De l'influence d'un monarque et d'une cour . Sur les moers d'un peuple libre
- Tome XVIII: Sur le sens du mot révolutionnaire
- Tome XIX: Lettre d'un laboureur de Picardie, A.M.N.***
- Tome XX: Mélanges d'economie politique Tome XX. Plan d'un emprunt publique, avec des hypothèques spéciales
- Tome XXI: Sur les caisses d'accumulation
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Cover page of a 1791 copy of "Rapport sur le choix d'une unité de mesure" by Condorcet and Jean-Charles de Borda
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Page one of a 1791 copy of "Rapport sur le choix d'une unité de mesure" by Condorcet and Jean-Charles de Borda
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Pages 2–3
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Pages 4–5
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Pages 6–7
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Pages 8–9
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Pages 10–11
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Final page of a 1791 copy of "Rapport sur le choix d'une unité de mesure" by Condorcet and Jean-Charles de Borda
Bibliography
- Steven Lukes, Nadia Urbinati, ed. (2012). Condorcet: Political Writings. New York: Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought). ISBN 978-1107021013.
Fictional portrayals
Novels
- City of Darkness, City of Light by Marge Piercy[42]
Movies
- Flashback (2021)[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ Pilbeam, Pamela M. (2014). Saint-Simonians in Nineteenth-Century France: From Free Love to Algeria. Springer. p. 5.
- ISBN 978-1-349-95188-8.
- ^ Viera de Miguel, Manuel (2016). "1.3.2 Capitalismo y explotación colonial" [1.3.2 Capitalism and colonial exploitation]. El imaginario visual de la nación española a través de las grandes exposiciones universales del siglo XIX: "postales", fotografías, reconstrucciones [The visual imaginary of the Spanish nation through the great universal exhibitions of the 19th century: "postcards", photographs, reconstructions] (PDF) (in Spanish). Madrid: Complutense University of Madrid. p. 130. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2021.
- JSTOR 3120441.
- ISBN 978-1438110219.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter C" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- ISBN 978-1118524299.
- ISBN 978-1433109393.
- ISBN 978-0691006444.
- ^ Marquis de Condorcet (1785). Essai sur l'application de l'analyse à la probabilité des décisions rendues à la pluralité des voix (PNG) (in French). Retrieved 10 March 2008.
- ISBN 978-0275965860.
- ^ Nanson, E. J. (1882). "Methods of election: Ware's Method". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 19: 206.
The method was, however, mentioned by Condorcet, but only to be condemned.
- ^ Condorcet, Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat (1788). On the Constitution and the Functions of Provincial Assemblies (in French). Vol. 13 (published 1804). p. 243.
En effet, lorsqu'il y a plus de trois concurrents, le véritable vœu de la pluralité peut être pour un candidat qui n'ait eu aucune des voix dans le premier scrutin.
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help) - ISBN 0465030238.
- ^ "Roster of Membership in the Society of Friends of Blacks, 1789". 1789.
- hdl:11693/12519– via Florida International University.
- S2CID 162365727.
- ISBN 978-0674177284.
- ISBN 978-1781956854.
- ISBN 978-1576078860.
- ISBN 978-8848304566.
- ISBN 978-8856871159.
- ISBN 978-1551111568.
- ^ Salmon, J.H.M (1977). "Turgot and Condorcet. Progress, Reform and Revolution". History Today. 27: 288 – via Florida International University.
- ISBN 978-1-107-02101-3, retrieved 18 March 2024
- ^ ISBN 978-1107021013.
- ^ Jean–Jacques Rousseau, Emile (1762), 1762, retrieved 18 March 2024
- ^ and Iain McLean, Fiona Hewitt (1994). Foundations of Social Choice and Political Theory. Edward Edgard Publishing.
- ISBN 978-1-78100-811-9, retrieved 18 March 2024
- ISBN 978-0274483563.
- ^ Pappas, John (1991). Condorcet: le seul et premier féministe du 18ème siècle?. pp. 430–441.
- ^ Devance, Louis (2007). Le Feminisme pendant la Revolution Francaise. p. 341.
- ^ Robinson, Page (2010). A Comparative Analysis of the Women's Movement in the United States and France. The Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University.
- S2CID 57571594.
- ^ Condorcet, J.‐A.‐N. d. C. (1979), Sketch for a historical picture of the progress of the human mind. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
- ^ Nick Bostrom, "A History of Transhumanist Thought", Journal of Evolution and Technology. Vol. 14, Issue 1, April 2005
- ^ ISBN 978-0521841399.
- ^ Glawe, Eddie (June 2014). "Benjamin Banneker". Professional Surveyor Magazine. Flatdog Media, Inc. 39 (6). Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-78100-811-9, retrieved 18 March 2024
- ISBN 0226035328.
- ISBN 0718142160.
Further reading
- Baker, Keith. Condorcet: From Natural Philosophy to Social Mathematics (1975 ISBN 0-226-03532-8)
- Cosimo Scarcella, Condorçet. Dottrine politiche e sociali, Lecce, Milella Editore 1980, p. 312.
- Furet, François and Mona Ozouf, eds. A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution (1989), pp. 204–212
- Hart, David (2008). "Condorcet, Marquis de (1743–1794)". In OCLC 750831024.
- Manuel, Frank Edward. The Prophets of Paris (1962)
- Mount, Ferdinand. The Condor's Head (2007)
- Rothschild, Emma. Economic Sentiments: Adam Smith, Condorcet, and the Enlightenment (2001)
- Schapiro, Jacob Salwyn. Condorcet and the Rise of Liberalism (1962)
- Williams, David. Condorcet and Modernity (Cambridge University Press. 2004)
External links
- Quotations related to Marquis de Condorcet at Wikiquote
- Media related to Marquis de Condorcet at Wikimedia Commons
- Works by or about Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat de Condorcet at Wikisource
- Works by Marquis de Condorcet at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Marquis de Condorcet at Internet Archive
- Works by Marquis de Condorcet at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Condorcet in the History of Feminism, at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Outlines of an historical view of the progress of the human mind (1795)
- Contains Sketch for an Historical Picture of the Advances of the Human Mind, slightly modified for easier reading
- The First Essay on the Political Rights of Women. A Translation of Condorcet's Essay "Sur l'admission des femmes aux droits de Cité" (On the Admission of Women to the Rights of Citizenship). By Dr. Alice Drysdale Vickery(with preface and remarks) (Letchworth: Garden City Press, 1912). The Online Library Of Liberty.
- "Condorcet and mesmerism : a record in the history of scepticism", Condorcet manuscript (1784), online and analyzed on Bibnum [click 'à télécharger' for English version].