Biography:Marquis de Condorcet

Short description: French philosopher and mathematician (1743–1794)

Nicolas de Condorcet
Portrait by Jean-Baptiste Greuze
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	(1743-09-17)17 September 1743 Ribemont, Picardy, France
Died	29 March 1794(1794-03-29) (aged 50) Bourg-la-Reine, France
Political party	Girondin
Spouse(s)	Sophie de Condorcet (m. 1786)
Children	Alexandrine de Caritat de Condorcet
Alma mater	College of Navarre
Profession	Scholar, mathematician, philosopher
Philosophy career
Notable work	Girondin constitutional project, Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind
Era	18th-century philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Enlightenment Classical liberalism Economic liberalism
Main interests	Mathematics, politics
Notable ideas	Idea of Progress, Condorcet criterion, Condorcet's jury theorem, Condorcet method, Voting paradox
Influences Jean le Rond d'Alembert Jean-Jacques Rousseau Voltaire Turgot Benjamin Franklin Leonhard Euler
Influenced Liberalism André Chénier Thomas Clarkson Jean-Marie Roland Jacques Pierre Brissot Pierre Jean George Cabanis Karl Marx Sigmund Freud Friedrich Nietzsche Charles Darwin Henri de Saint-Simon

Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis of Condorcet (French: [maʁi ʒɑ̃ ɑ̃twan nikɔla də kaʁita maʁki də kɔ̃dɔʁsɛ]; 17 September 1743 – 29 March 1794), known as Nicolas de Condorcet, was a French philosopher and mathematician. His ideas, including support for a liberal economy, free and equal public instruction, constitutional government, and equal rights for women and people of all races, have been said to embody the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment, of which he has been called the "last witness", and Enlightenment rationalism. A critic of the constitution proposed by Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles in 1793, the Convention Nationale — and the Jacobin faction in particular — voted to have Condorcet arrested. He died in prison after a period of hiding from the French Revolutionary authorities.

Early years

Condorcet was born in Ribemont (in present-day Aisne), descended from the ancient family of Caritat, who took their title from the town of Condorcet in Dauphiné, of which they were long-time residents. Fatherless at a young age, he was taken care of by his devoutly religious mother who dressed him as a girl till age eight. He was educated at the Jesuit College in Reims and at the Collège de Navarre in Paris, where he quickly showed his intellectual ability and gained his first public distinctions in mathematics. 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.

Jacques Turgot was Condorcet's mentor and longtime friend

In 1772, he published another paper on integral calculus. Soon after, he met Jacques Turgot, a French economist, and the two became friends. 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 soon became an honorary member of many foreign academies and philosophic societies, including the American Philosophical Society (1775), the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1785), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1792) 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.

Early political career

In 1774, Condorcet was appointed inspector general of the Paris mint by Turgot. From this point on, Condorcet shifted his focus from the purely mathematical to philosophy and political matters. In the following years, he took up the defense of human 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). 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. 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. Condorcet later wrote Vie de M. Turgot (1786), a biography which spoke fondly of Turgot and advocated Turgot's economic theories. 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. This work described several now famous results, including Condorcet's jury theorem, which states that if each member of a voting group is more likely than not to make a correct decision, the probability that the highest vote of the group is the correct decision increases as the number of members of the group increases, and Condorcet's paradox, which shows that majority preferences can become intransitive with three or more options – it is possible for a certain electorate to express a preference for A over B, a preference for B over C, and a preference for C over A, all from the same set of ballots.

The paper also outlines a generic Condorcet method, designed to simulate pair-wise elections between all candidates in an election. He disagreed strongly with the alternative method of aggregating preferences put forth by Jean-Charles de Borda (based on summed rankings of alternatives). Condorcet was one of the first to systematically apply mathematics in the social sciences.

Other works

Condorcet's statue by Jacques Perrin, on Quai de Conti in Paris, France

In 1781, Condorcet wrote a pamphlet, Reflections on Negro Slavery, in which he denounced slavery. 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. In 1789, he published Vie de Voltaire (1789), which agreed with Voltaire in his opposition to the Church. In the same year he was elected as president of the Society of the Friends of the Blacks and lived in an apartment at Hôtel des Monnaies, Paris, across the Louvre. 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. 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 dealt with theoretical thought on perfecting the human mind and analyzing intellectual history based on social arithmetic. 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

Vue de l'Hotel des Monnoies de Paris prise dans la Cour

View on the Pont-Neuf and the Hotel des Monnoies on the right

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.

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.

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.

Arrest and death

The most famous work by de Condorcet, Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progres de l'esprit humain, 1795. With this posthumous book the development of the Age of Enlightenment is considered generally ended.

Condorcet was symbolically interred in the Panthéon (pictured) in 1989.

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 (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. 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. 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. Two days later, he was arrested in Clamart and imprisoned in Bourg-la-Reine (or, as it was known during the Revolution, Bourg-l'Égalité, "Equality Borough" rather than "Queen's Borough") where, after another two days, he was found dead in his cell. The most widely accepted theory is that his friend Pierre Jean George Cabanis gave him a poison which he eventually used. However, some historians believe that he may have been murdered (perhaps because he was too loved and respected to be executed). 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. 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. 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.

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.'

Like fellow Enlightenment thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his book Emile ou De l'Education (1762), Condorcet identified education as crucial to the emancipation of individuals. He stated: "I believe that all other differences between men and women are simply the result of education".

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.

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 Idea of Progress a central concern of Enlightenment thought. He argued that expanding knowledge in the natural and social sciences would lead to an ever more just world of individual freedom, material affluence, and moral compassion. He argued for three general propositions: that the past revealed an order that could be understood in terms of the progressive development of human capabilities, showing that humanity's "present state, and those through which it has passed, are a necessary constitution of the moral composition of humankind"; that the progress of the natural sciences must be followed by progress in the moral and political sciences "no less certain, no less secure from political revolutions"; that social evils are the result of ignorance and error rather than an inevitable consequence of human nature. He was innovative in suggesting that scientific medicine might in the future significantly extend the human life span, perhaps even indefinitely, such that future humans only die of accident, murder and suicide rather than simply old age or disease. Nick Bostrom has thus described him as an early transhumanist.

Condorcet's writings were a key contribution to the French Enlightenment, particularly his work on the Idea of Progress. Condorcet believed that through the use of our senses and communication with others, knowledge could be compared and contrasted as a way of analyzing our systems of belief and understanding. None of Condorcet's writings refer to a belief in a religion or a god who intervenes in human affairs. Condorcet instead frequently had written of his faith in humanity itself and its ability to progress with the help of philosophers such as Aristotle. Through this accumulation and sharing of knowledge he believed it was possible for anybody to comprehend all the known facts of the natural world. The enlightenment of the natural world spurred the desire for enlightenment of the social and political world. Condorcet believed that there was no definition of the perfect human existence and thus believed that the progression of the human race would inevitably continue throughout the course of our existence. He envisioned man as continually progressing toward a perfectly utopian society. He believed in the great potential towards growth that man possessed.

However, Condorcet stressed that for this to be a possibility man must unify regardless of race, religion, culture or gender. To this end, he became a member of the French Société des Amis des Noirs (Society of the Friends of the Blacks). 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.

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 Queen Elizabeth and Maria-Theresa.

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.

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.

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.
• (in fr) Du probleme des trois corps. Paris: François Ambroise Didot. 1787. https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=11456876. 
• 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
• (in fr) Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progres de l'esprit humain. [Paris?]: [s.n.]. 1795. https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1260508. 
• 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

Movies

• Flashback (2021)

See also

• History of the metre
• Seconds pendulum
• Society of the Friends of Truth

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). Hamowy, Ronald. ed. The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Cato Institute. pp. 87–88. doi:10.4135/9781412965811.n57. ISBN 978-1412965804. OCLC 750831024. https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC. 
• 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

• Works by Marquis de Condorcet at Project Gutenberg
• Error in Template:Internet Archive author: Marquis de Condorcet doesn't exist.
• 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].