Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis of Condorcet (; 17 September 1743 – 29 March 1794), known as Nicolas de Condorcet, was a French philosopher and mathematician.
When he was sixteen, his analytical abilities gained the praise of Jean le Rond d'Alembert and Alexis Clairaut; soon, Condorcet would study under d'Alembert. From 1765 to 1774, he focused on science.
In 1765, he published his first work on mathematics, entitled Essai sur le calcul intégral, which was well received, launching his career as a mathematician.
He went on to publish more papers, and on 25 February 1769, he was elected to the Académie royale des Sciences. In 1772, he published another paper on integral calculus.
He went on to publish more papers, and on 25 February 1769, he was elected to the Académie royale des Sciences. In 1772, he published another paper on integral calculus.
Turgot became an administrator under King Louis XV in 1772 and Controller-General of Finance under Louis XVI in 1774. Condorcet worked with Leonhard Euler and Benjamin Franklin.
He went to seek refuge at the house of Jean-Baptiste Suard, a friend of his with whom he had resided in 1772, but he was refused on the basis that he would be betrayed by one of their residents.
When he was sixteen, his analytical abilities gained the praise of Jean le Rond d'Alembert and Alexis Clairaut; soon, Condorcet would study under d'Alembert. From 1765 to 1774, he focused on science.
Turgot became an administrator under King Louis XV in 1772 and Controller-General of Finance under Louis XVI in 1774. Condorcet worked with Leonhard Euler and Benjamin Franklin.
He supported the ideals embodied by the newly formed United States, and proposed projects of political, administrative and economic reforms intended to transform France. In 1776, Turgot was dismissed as Controller General.
Condorcet continued to receive prestigious appointments: in 1777, he became Permanent Secretary of the Académie des Sciences, holding the post until the abolition of the Académie in 1793; and, in 1782, secretary of the Académie française. ==Condorcet's paradox and the Condorcet method== In 1785, Condorcet published his Essay on the Application of Analysis to the Probability of Majority Decisions, one of his most important works.
In the following years, he took up the defense of [rights] in general, and of women's and Blacks' rights in particular (an abolitionist, he became active in the Society of the Friends of the Blacks in the 1780s).
Condorcet was one of the first to systematically apply mathematics in the social sciences. ==Other works== In 1781, Condorcet wrote a pamphlet, Reflections on Negro Slavery, in which he denounced slavery.
Condorcet continued to receive prestigious appointments: in 1777, he became Permanent Secretary of the Académie des Sciences, holding the post until the abolition of the Académie in 1793; and, in 1782, secretary of the Académie française. ==Condorcet's paradox and the Condorcet method== In 1785, Condorcet published his Essay on the Application of Analysis to the Probability of Majority Decisions, one of his most important works.
Condorcet continued to receive prestigious appointments: in 1777, he became Permanent Secretary of the Académie des Sciences, holding the post until the abolition of the Académie in 1793; and, in 1782, secretary of the Académie française. ==Condorcet's paradox and the Condorcet method== In 1785, Condorcet published his Essay on the Application of Analysis to the Probability of Majority Decisions, one of his most important works.
In 1786, Condorcet worked on ideas for the differential and integral calculus, giving a new treatment of infinitesimals – a work which apparently was never published.
His coffin, however, was empty as his remains, originally interred in the common cemetery of Bourg-la-Reine, were lost during the nineteenth century. ==Family== In 1786 Condorcet married Sophie de Grouchy, who was more than twenty years his junior.
In 1789, he published Vie de Voltaire (1789), which agreed with Voltaire in his opposition to the Church.
Thomas Malthus wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) partly in response to Condorcet's views on the "perfectibility of society." ==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.
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.
Public education would form free and responsible citizens, not revolutionaries. ==Evaluation== Rothschild (2001) argues that Condorcet has been seen since the 1790s as the embodiment of the cold, rational Enlightenment.
Consequently, Condorcet submitted his resignation as Inspector General of the Monnaie, but the request was refused, and he continued serving in this post until 1791.
In 1791, Condorcet, along with Sophie de Grouchy, Thomas Paine, Etienne Dumont, Jacques-Pierre Brissot, and Achilles Duchastellet published a brief journal titled Le Républicain, its main goal being the promotion of republicanism and the rejection of constitutional monarchy.
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.
Condorcet continued to receive prestigious appointments: in 1777, he became Permanent Secretary of the Académie des Sciences, holding the post until the abolition of the Académie in 1793; and, in 1782, secretary of the Académie française. ==Condorcet's paradox and the Condorcet method== In 1785, Condorcet published his Essay on the Application of Analysis to the Probability of Majority Decisions, one of his most important works.
When the Montagnards gained control of the Convention, they wrote their own, the French Constitution of 1793.
On 3 October 1793, a warrant was issued for Condorcet's arrest. ===Arrest and death=== The warrant forced Condorcet into hiding.
Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis of Condorcet (; 17 September 1743 – 29 March 1794), known as Nicolas de Condorcet, was a French philosopher and mathematician.
It narrates the history of civilization as one of progress in the sciences, shows the intimate connection between scientific progress and the development of human rights and justice, and outlines the features of a future rational society entirely shaped by scientific knowledge. On 25 March 1794 Condorcet, convinced he was no longer safe, left his hideout and attempted to flee Paris.
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. Condorcet was survived by his widow and four-year-old Eliza.
The journal's theme was that any sort of monarchy is a threat to freedom no matter who is leading and that liberty is freedom from domination. In 1795, Condorcet's book Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind was published after his death by his wife Sophie de Grouchy.
It was there that he wrote Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progrès de l'esprit humain (Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Spirit), which was published posthumously in 1795 and is considered one of the major texts of the Enlightenment and of historical thought.
Sophie died in 1822, never having remarried, and having published all her husband's works between 1801 and 1804.
Sophie died in 1822, never having remarried, and having published all her husband's works between 1801 and 1804.
Sophie died in 1822, never having remarried, and having published all her husband's works between 1801 and 1804.
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.
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.
Alice Drysdale Vickery (with preface and remarks) (Letchworth: Garden City Press, 1912).
Dottrine politiche e sociali, Lecce, Milella Editore 1980, p. 312. Furet, François and Mona Ozouf, eds.
Jean-Pierre Brancourt (in his work L'élite, la mort et la révolution) claims that Condorcet was killed with a mixture of Datura stramonium and opium. Condorcet was symbolically interred in the Panthéon in 1989, in honour of the bicentennial of the French Revolution and Condorcet's role as a central figure in the Enlightenment.
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