I\u2019ve been read\u00ading a lot of Con\u00addorcet, late\u00adly, in dribs and drabs. He was not a great writer, or par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly enter\u00adtain\u00ading, but what he had to say is worth pay\u00ading atten\u00adtion to. He was pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly a math\u00ade\u00admati\u00adcian and sci\u00aden\u00adtist, who found him\u00adself con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adous\u00adly caught up in polit\u00adi\u00adcal issues (for which he would ulti\u00admate\u00adly pay with his life, in Robe\u00adspier\u00adre\u2019s ter\u00adror), and he was a shy, social\u00adly inept man with no tal\u00adent for cul\u00adti\u00advat\u00ading celebri\u00adty. Con\u00addorcet is a much more impor\u00adtant fig\u00adure than most think. I have else\u00adwhere com\u00adplained that the actu\u00adal bal\u00adance of intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal influ\u00adences in the Enlight\u00aden\u00adment and the peri\u00adod of the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan and French rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtions is prob\u00ada\u00adbly not much like the image of it that most of us have inher\u00adit\u00aded from text\u00adbooks, or old chest\u00adnuts like Rousseau and Rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion. The small atten\u00adtion paid to Con\u00addorcet illus\u00adtrates this. Recent\u00adly there has been a mod\u00adest growth of inter\u00adest in him because of his writ\u00adings on the math\u00ade\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcal the\u00ado\u00adry of vot\u00ading, and its rel\u00ade\u00advance to mod\u00adern bal\u00adlot reform. In France, he is bet\u00adter known as a the\u00ado\u00adrist of pub\u00adlic edu\u00adca\u00adtion. But, still the inter\u00adest is rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly small, con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00ading the degree of his actu\u00adal influence.<\/p>\n
There is no doubt as to his rel\u00ade\u00advance to the intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal zeit\u00adgeist of the era. He was the inti\u00admate\u00adly close friend and dis\u00adci\u00adple of Tur\u00adgot. D\u2019Alem\u00adbert was his patron in youth. He shared digs with Voltaire (whose math\u00ade\u00admat\u00adics he cor\u00adrect\u00aded). He met with Adam Smith (whose The\u00ado\u00adry of Moral Sen\u00adti\u00adments was trans\u00adlat\u00aded by Con\u00addorcet\u2019s wife, Sophie). He knew Ben\u00adjamin Franklin rea\u00adson\u00adably well, and his good friend La Rochefou\u00adcauld worked as Franklin\u2019s sec\u00adre\u00adtary. He was friend of Fil\u00adip\u00adpo Mazzei. He was a close friend and col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtor with Tom Paine. Most sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant\u00adly, he was an inti\u00admate friend of Thomas Jef\u00adfer\u00adson, with whom he shared a long and detailed philo\u00adsoph\u00adi\u00adcal cor\u00adre\u00adspon\u00addence. While he played no part in the first stages of the French Rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion, he was elect\u00aded to the Leg\u00adisla\u00adtive Assem\u00adbly, and then the Nation\u00adal Con\u00adven\u00adtion. He head\u00aded the com\u00admit\u00adtee to draft the Girondin Con\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adtion of 1793, work\u00ading under the direct influ\u00adence of Jef\u00adfer\u00adson. It includ\u00aded a Bill of Rights and pro\u00adposed uni\u00adver\u00adsal suf\u00adfrage, for which he was denounced by Marat and Robe\u00adspier\u00adre\u2019s Jacobins, who by then had pret\u00adty much hijacked the Rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion. Unlike most mod\u00adern inter\u00adpreters of these events, Con\u00addorcet was bright enough to per\u00adceive that the Jacobins rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded a more Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy, and denounced the Jacobin \u201ccounter-con\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adtion\u201d as a return to aris\u00adto\u00adcrat\u00adic rule. Declared an out\u00adlaw and hunt\u00aded down by the Ter\u00adror, he died under uncer\u00adtain cir\u00adcum\u00adstances in a prison cell. His wife Sophie, with whom he had shared a pro\u00adfound\u00adly equal intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal part\u00adner\u00adship, and an intense roman\u00adtic love, lived on to brave\u00adly oppose Napoleon.<\/p>\n
Con\u00addorcet is now, as I men\u00adtioned, stud\u00adied pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly for his con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtion to elec\u00adtoral the\u00ado\u00adry. But he was also a vig\u00ador\u00adous cham\u00adpi\u00adon of wom\u00aden\u2019s rights, and wrote exten\u00adsive\u00adly against slav\u00adery. What I did\u00adn\u2019t know, and per\u00adhaps has not been noticed at all, is that he is the first per\u00adson to explic\u00adit\u00adly advo\u00adcate gay rights. In his notes on Voltaire, Con\u00addorcet specif\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly argues that con\u00adsen\u00adsu\u00adal sex\u00adu\u00adal rela\u00adtions between adult males should not be against any law \u201cbecause they vio\u00adlate no-ones rights\u201d. As far as I know, he is the first per\u00adson to put this idea down on paper, and it is all the more remark\u00adable in that it is unlike\u00adly that he was gay. Have his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans of gay lib\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion noticed this? It should be a cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00aded moment in history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve been read\u00ading a lot of Con\u00addorcet, late\u00adly, in dribs and drabs. He was not a great writer, or par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly enter\u00adtain\u00ading, but what he had to say is worth pay\u00ading atten\u00adtion to. He was pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly a math\u00ade\u00admati\u00adcian and sci\u00aden\u00adtist, who \u2026<\/p>\n