View source for Marquis de Condorcet

{{Short description|French philosopher and mathematician (1743–1794)}}
{{Redirect|Condorcet}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name             = Nicolas de Condorcet
| image            = Nicolas de Condorcet.PNG
| office           = [[National Convention|Member of the National Convention]] for [[Aisne]]
| term_start       = 20 September 1792
| term_end         = 8 July 1793
| predecessor      = Louis-Jean-Samuel Joly de Bammeville
| successor        = ''Vacant (1794–1795)''<br>Successor unknown
| constituency     = [[Aisne's 2nd constituency|Saint-Quentin]]
| office1          = [[Legislative Assembly (France)|Member of the Legislative Assembly]]<br>for [[Seine (department)|Seine]]
| term_start1      = 6 September 1791
| term_end1        = 6 September 1792
| successor1       = Joseph François Laignelot
| constituency1    = [[Paris]]
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=yes|1743|9|17}}
| birth_place      = [[Ribemont]], Picardy, France
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=yes|1794|3|29|1743|9|17}}
| death_place      = [[Bourg-la-Reine]], France
| party            = [[Girondin]]
| spouse           = {{marriage|[[Sophie de Condorcet]]|1786|<!-- 1794|end=d. -->}}
| children         = Alexandrine de Caritat de Condorcet
| alma_mater       = [[College of Navarre]]
| profession       = [[Scholar]], [[mathematician]], [[philosopher]]
| module           = {{Infobox philosopher|embed=yes
| notable_works    = [[Girondin constitutional project]], ''[[Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind]]''
| era              = [[18th-century philosophy]]
| region           = [[Western philosophy]]
| school_tradition = [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]<br>[[Classical liberalism]]<br>[[Economic liberalism]]
| main_interests   = [[Mathematics]], [[politics]]
| notable_ideas    = [[Progress]], [[Condorcet criterion]], [[Condorcet's jury theorem]], [[Condorcet method]], [[Condorcet's voting paradox]]
}}
}}
{{republicanism sidebar}}

'''Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis of Condorcet''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɒ|n|d|ɔr|ˈ|s|eɪ}}; {{IPA|fr|maʁi ʒɑ̃ ɑ̃twan nikɔla də kaʁita maʁki də kɔ̃dɔʁsɛ|lang}}; 17 September 1743&nbsp;– 29 March 1794), known as '''Nicolas de Condorcet''', was a French [[Philosophy|philosopher]], [[Political economy|political economist]], [[Politics|politician]], and [[mathematician]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics |last1=Moulin |first1=H. |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-1349951888 |pages=2033–2035 |last2=Peyton Young |first2=H. |chapter=Condorcet, Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas Caritat, Marquis de (1743–1794) |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_248 |doi=10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_248}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Crépel |first1=Pierre |title=Encyclopedia of Social Measurement |date=2005 |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |isbn=978-0123693983 |pages=449–454 |chapter-url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B0123693985002991 |chapter=Condorcet |doi=10.1016/B0-12-369398-5/00299-1}}</ref> His ideas, including support for [[liberal economy|free markets]], [[Universal access to education|public education]], [[constitutionalism|constitutional]] government, and [[Social equality|equal rights]] for women and people of all races, and a [[welfare state|welfare state]]<ref>https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=ccr</ref> have been said to embody the ideals of the [[Age of Enlightenment]], of which he has been called the "last witness",<ref>{{Cite book|last=Viera de Miguel|first=Manuel|url=https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/38202/1/T37417.pdf|title=El imaginario visual de la nación española a través de las grandes exposiciones universales del siglo XIX: "postales", fotografías, reconstrucciones|publisher=[[Complutense University of Madrid]]|year=2016|location=[[Madrid]]|pages=130|language=es|trans-title=The visual imaginary of the Spanish nation through the great universal exhibitions of the 19th century: "postcards", photographs, reconstructions|chapter=1.3.2 Capitalismo y explotación colonial|trans-chapter=1.3.2 Capitalism and colonial exploitation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612232157/https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/38202/1/T37417.pdf|archive-date=2021-06-12}}</ref> and Enlightenment [[rationalism]]. A critic of the constitution proposed by [[Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles]] in 1793, the Convention Nationale&nbsp;– and the Jacobin faction in particular&nbsp;– voted to have Condorcet arrested. He died in prison after a period of hiding from the French Revolutionary authorities.

==Early years==
[[File:Anonymous - Portrait de Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794), philosophe, mathématicien et homme politique. - P1668 - Musée Carnavalet.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Nicolas de Condorcet (before 1794)]]

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, Drôme|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 [[Society of Jesus|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]].<ref name="Duce">{{cite journal |last1=Duce |first1=Charles |title=Condorcet on Education |journal=British Journal of Educational Studies |date=1971 |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=272–282 |doi=10.2307/3120441|jstor=3120441 }}</ref> 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.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

From 1765 to 1774, he focused on science. In 1765, he published his first work on mathematics, entitled ''Essai sur le [[integral calculus|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 ''[[French Academy of Sciences|Académie royale des Sciences]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Ellen Judy Wilson|author2=Peter Hanns Reill|title=Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t1pQ4YG-TDIC&pg=PA124|year=2004|publisher=Infobase Publishing|pages=124–125|isbn=978-1438110219}}</ref>

[[File:Anne Robert Jacques Turgot.jpg|thumb|right|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 of France|King]] [[Louis XV]] in 1772 and [[List of Finance Ministers of France|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),<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Marquis+of+Condorcet&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-03-31|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]] (1785), the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] (1792)<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter C|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterC.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterC.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=28 July 2014}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Waldstreicher|first=David|title=A Companion to John Adams and John Quincy Adams|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=82lNLcxLL5sC&pg=PT64|year=2013|publisher=Wiley|page=64|isbn=978-1118524299}}</ref>

==Early political career==
In 1774, Condorcet was appointed inspector general of the [[Monnaie de Paris|Paris mint]] by Turgot.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mary Efrosini Gregory|title=Freedom in French Enlightenment Thought|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=poya_r2az2sC&pg=PA148|year=2010|publisher=Peter Lang|page=148|isbn=978-1433109393}}</ref> 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 rights|women's]] and [[Black (people)|Blacks']] rights in particular (an [[Abolitionism in France|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 de Paris|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]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Daston|first=Lorraine|title=Classical Probability in the Enlightenment|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oq8XNbKyUewC&pg=PA104|year=1995|publisher=Princeton UP|page=104|isbn=978-0691006444}}</ref>

==Election methods==
{{main|Condorcet method}}

In 1785, Condorcet published one of his most important works, ''Essay on the Application of Analysis to the Probability of Majority Decisions'' ({{lang|fr|Essai sur l'application de l'analyse à la probabilité des décisions rendues à la pluralité des voix}}).<ref>{{cite book| url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k417181
| title=Essai sur l'application de l'analyse à la probabilité des décisions rendues à la pluralité des voix | format=PNG | language=fr | access-date=2008-03-10 | author=Marquis de Condorcet | year=1785 }}</ref> It 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 [[intransitivity|intransitive]] with three or more options&nbsp;– it is possible for a certain electorate to express [[Rock paper scissors|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.<ref>{{cite book|author=Douglas J. Amy|title=Behind the Ballot Box: A Citizen's Guide to Voting Systems|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-G46rVRXkY0C&pg=PA188|year=2000|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|page=188|isbn=978-0275965860}}</ref>

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 [[Non-parametric statistics|rankings of alternatives]]). Condorcet was one of the first to systematically apply mathematics in the [[social sciences]].{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}

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.<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last=Nanson |first=E. J. |date=1882 |title=Methods of election: Ware's Method |url=https://archive.org/details/transactionsproc1719roya/page/206 |journal=Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria |volume=19 |pages=206 |quote=The method was, however, mentioned by Condorcet, but only to be condemned.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Condorcet |first=Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d0cwAAAAYAAJ&q=Oeuvres+de+Condorcet%2C+Volume+13&pg=PA243 |title=On the Constitution and the Functions of Provincial Assemblies |date=1788 |series=Complete Works of Condorcet |volume=13 |publication-date=1804 |pages=243 |language=fr |quote=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.}}</ref>

==Other works==
[[File:Condorcet's statue by Jacques Perrin, 2010-06-12 04.jpg|thumb|Condorcet's statue by Jacques Perrin (1847–1915), on the Quai de Conti in Paris, France]]

In 1781, Condorcet anonymously published a pamphlet entitled ''Reflections on Negro Slavery'' ({{lang|fr|Réflexions sur l'esclavage des nègres}}), in which he denounced [[slavery]].<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of Sociological Analysis|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/historyofsociolo0000bott|chapter-url-access=registration|last=Bierstedt|first=Robert|publisher=Basic Books|year=1978|isbn=0465030238|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofsociolo0000bott/page/19 19]|chapter=Sociological Thought in the Eighteenth Century|editor1-last=Bottomore|editor1-first=Tom|editor2-first=Robert|editor2-last=Nisbet}}</ref> In 1786, Condorcet worked on ideas for the [[Derivative|differential]] and [[integral calculus]], giving a new treatment of [[infinitesimal]]s&nbsp;– a work which apparently was never published. In 1789, he published ''Vie de Voltaire (1789)'', which agreed with [[Voltaire]] in his opposition to the [[Roman Catholic Church|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.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://revolution.chnm.org/d/339 | title=Roster of Membership in the Society of Friends of Blacks, 1789 | year=1789 }}</ref> In 1791, Condorcet, along with [[Sophie de Grouchy]], [[Thomas Paine]], [[Pierre Étienne Louis Dumont|Etienne Dumont]], [[Jacques Pierre Brissot|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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Berges|first=Sandrine|year=2015|title=Sophie de Grouchy on the Cost of Domination in the Letters on Sympathy and Two Anonymous Articles in Le Républicain|journal=Monist|volume=98|pages=102–112|via=Florida International University|doi=10.1093/monist/onu011|hdl=11693/12519|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Roman|first=Hanna|date=2015-02-06|title=Conjecturing a New World in Condorcet's Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progrès de l'esprit humain|journal=MLN|volume=129|issue=4|pages=780–795|doi=10.1353/mln.2014.0077|s2cid=162365727|issn=1080-6598}}</ref> [[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==
[[File:Vue de l'Hotel des Monnoies de Paris prise dans la Cour.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|View of the [[Hôtel_des_Monnaies,_Paris|Hôtel des Monnaies]] taken from the courtyard. Engraving by [[Jean-François Janinet]].]]
[[File:P1140635 Carnavalet- Noel Cite Pont-Neuf P244 rwk.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|View of the [[Pont-Neuf]] and the [[Hôtel des Monnaies, Paris|Hôtel des Monnaies]] on the right]]

===Deputy===
Condorcet took a leading role when the [[French Revolution]] swept France in 1789, hoping for a [[Rationalism|rationalist]] reconstruction of society, and championed many [[Classical liberalism|liberal causes]]. As a result, in 1791 he was elected as a Paris representative in the [[Legislative Assembly (France)|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 [[Age of Enlightenment|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.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGxiE6jvzOcC|title=A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1989|isbn=978-0674177284|pages=207|language=en}}</ref>

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'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20060616060257/http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/book-sum/condorcet4.html ("For the Admission to the Rights of Citizenship For Women")] in 1790.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Robert William Dimand|last2=Nyland|first2=Chris|title=The Status of Women in Classical Economic Thought|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=moR__vx9scMC&pg=PA133|year=2003|publisher=Edward Elgar|page=133|isbn=978-1781956854}}</ref>

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&nbsp;– he proposed to send the king to work as a [[Galley slave|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 [[The Mountain|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.<ref>{{cite book|author=William E. Burns|title=Science in the Enlightenment: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4H9_Zvp80nAC&pg=PA63|year=2003|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|page=63|isbn=978-1576078860}}</ref>

==Arrest and death==
[[File:Condorcet - Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progres de l'esprit humain, 1795 - 1260508.jpeg|thumb|upright|The most famous work by de Condorcet, ''[[Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind|Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progrès de l'esprit humain]]'', 1795.<ref name="Vottari2003">{{cite book|last=Vottari|first=Giuseppe|title=L'illuminismo. Un percorso alfabetico nell'età delle riforme|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gZrQxnfsZE0C&pg=PA54|year=2003|publisher=Alpha Test|isbn=978-8848304566|page=54}}</ref> With this posthumous book the development of the [[Age of Enlightenment]] is considered generally ended.<ref name="Maddaloni2011">{{cite book|last=Maddaloni|first=Domenico|title=Visioni in movimento. Teorie dell'evoluzione e scienze sociali dall'Illuminismo a oggi: Teorie dell'evoluzione e scienze sociali dall'Illuminismo a oggi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jFtcZsJ-8pIC&pg=PA20|year=2011|publisher=FrancoAngeli|isbn=978-8856871159|page=20}}</ref>]]
[[File:Pantheon paris.jpg|right|thumb|Condorcet was symbolically interred in the [[Panthéon, Paris|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 Mind]]''), 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, claims an 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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Loptson|first=Peter|title=Readings on Human Nature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6bGOKpFOY7kC&pg=PA125|year=1998|publisher=[[Broadview Press]]|pages=125–128|isbn=978-1551111568}}</ref>

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-Antoine Suard|Jean-Baptiste Suard]], a friend of his with whom he had resided in 1772,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Salmon|first=J.H.M|year=1977|title=Turgot and Condorcet. Progress, Reform and Revolution|journal=History Today|volume=27|page=288|via=Florida International University}}</ref> 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, Paris|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 Condorcet|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 (gathering)|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.<ref>{{Citation |title=Advice to his daughter (written in hiding March 1794) |date=2012 |work=Condorcet: Political Writings |pages=196–204 |editor-last=Urbinati |editor-first=Nadia |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/condorcet-political-writings/advice-to-his-daughter-written-in-hiding-march-1794/24F77BC0AD3F48103A65E72399B72704 |access-date=2024-03-18 |series=Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9781139108119.012 |isbn=978-1107021013 |editor2-last=Lukes |editor2-first=Steven|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

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 [[Society of United Irishmen|United Irishman]] [[Arthur O'Connor (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 [[Age of Enlightenment|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.'<ref name=Lukes/>{{rp|157}}

Like fellow [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] thinker [[Rousseau|Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] in his book ''[[Emile, or On Education|Emile]] ou De l'Education'' (1762), Condorcet identified education as crucial to the emancipation of individuals. However, where Rousseau endorsed a conservative notion of denying women education and equal rights on account of keeping them tied to the domestic sphere where [according to him] they belonged,<ref>{{Citation |title=Jean–Jacques Rousseau, Emile (1762) |date=1762 |url=https://revolution.chnm.org/d/470 |access-date=2024-03-18}}</ref> Condorcet refused to acquit the inequality between men and women to natural disposition. Instead, he believed that the provision of education to women on par with the education provided to men was the pathway to establishing gender equality. He stated: "I believe that all other differences between men and women are simply the result of education".<ref>{{cite book|title=Foundations of Social Choice and Political Theory|date=1994|publisher=Edward Edgard Publishing|last1=and Iain McLean|first1=Fiona Hewitt}}</ref>

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 however this is nonetheless an artificial difference: "There is more truth in this observation, but it still proves nothing since this difference is caused, not by nature, but by education and society..."<ref>{{Citation |title=On giving Women the Right of Citizenship (1790) |date=1994-01-01 |work=Condorcet |pages=335–340 |url=https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781781008119/book-part-9781781008119-34.xml |access-date=2024-03-18 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |doi=10.4337/9781781008119.00034 |isbn=978-1781008119 |editor-last1=McLean |editor-last2=Hewitt |editor-first1=Iain |editor-first2=Fiona |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

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".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Condorcet |first=Jean-Antoine-Nicolas De Carit |title=Oeuvres. Publiées par A. Condorcet O'Connor et F. Arago; Tome 10 |publisher=BiblioBazaar |year=1968 |isbn=978-0274483563 |publication-date=Aug 27, 2016}}</ref>

Scholars{{Who|date=January 2018}} often disagree on the true impact that Condorcet's work had on pre-modern feminist thinking. His detractors{{Who|date=January 2018}} 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.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Condorcet: le seul et premier féministe du 18ème siècle?|last=Pappas|first=John|year=1991|pages=430–441}}</ref> Some scholars{{Who|date=January 2018}} 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.<ref>{{cite book|title=Le Feminisme pendant la Revolution Francaise|date=2007|page=341 |last1=Devance|first1=Louis}}</ref> Along with authors such as [[Mary Wollstonecraft]], [[Jean le Rond d'Alembert|d'Alembert]] or [[Olympe de Gouges]], Condorcet made a lasting contribution to the pre-feminist debate.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Comparative Analysis of the Women's Movement in the United States and France|url=https://www.bakerinstitute.org/students/french-institute-of-international-relations/|date=2010|publisher=The Baker Institute for Public Policy, [[Rice University]]|last1=Robinson|first1=Page}}</ref>{{According to whom|date=January 2018}}

== The idea of progress ==
{{main|Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind}}

Condorcet's ''Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind'' (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.<ref>{{cite journal|author-link1=Keith Michael Baker|first=Keith Michael|last=Baker|title=On Condorcet's 'Sketch'|journal=[[Daedalus (journal)|Daedalus]]|volume=133|issue=3 |date=Summer 2004|pages=56–64|doi=10.1162/0011526041504506|s2cid=57571594|doi-access=free}}</ref> 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.<ref>Condorcet, J.‐A.‐N. d. C. (1979), Sketch for a historical picture of the progress of the human mind. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.</ref> [[Nick Bostrom]] has thus described him as an early [[Transhumanism|transhumanist]].<ref>Nick Bostrom, "A History of Transhumanist Thought", ''Journal of Evolution and Technology''. Vol. 14, Issue 1, April 2005</ref>

Condorcet's writings were a key contribution to the French [[Age of Enlightenment|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 [[Age of Enlightenment|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.<ref name="Williams 2004">{{cite book|last=Williams|first=David|title=Condorcet and Modernity|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2004|isbn=978-0521841399}}</ref> To this end, he became a member of the French [[Society of the Friends of the Blacks|Société des Amis des Noirs (Society of the Friends of the Blacks)]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Glawe|first=Eddie|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707124424/http://www.profsurv.com/magazine/article.aspx?i=71563|archive-date=2014-07-07|url=http://www.profsurv.com/magazine/article.aspx?i=71563|title=Benjamin Banneker|journal=Professional Surveyor Magazine|date=June 2014|volume=39|issue=6|publisher=Flatdog Media, Inc.|access-date=2017-03-11}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Lukes>{{Cite book|title=Condorcet: Political Writings|last=Steven Lukes|first=Nadia Urbinati|publisher=Cambridge University Press, New York|year=2012|isbn=978-1107021013|location=New York|pages=148–155, 156–162}}</ref>

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 [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth]] and [[Maria Theresa|Maria-Theresa]].<ref name=Lukes/> Furthermore, as he argues for the civil, political, and educational rights of women, Condorcet boldly challenges that unless women's natural inferiority to men could be proven, the denial of the aforementioned rights is an "act of tyranny" constituted by the newly formed French nation.<ref>{{Citation |title=On giving Women the Right of Citizenship (1790) |year=1994 |work=Condorcet|pages=335–340 |url=https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781781008119/book-part-9781781008119-34.xml |access-date=2024-03-18 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |doi=10.4337/9781781008119.00034 |isbn=978-1-78100-811-9 |editor-last1=McLean |editor-last2=Hewitt |editor-first1=Iain |editor-first2=Fiona |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

About Islam and China he wrote: "the religion of Mohammed, the simplest in its dogmas, the least absurd in its practices, the most tolerant in its principles, seems to condemn to eternal slavery, to incurable stupidity, this entire vast portion of the Earth where it has extended its empire; while we will see the genius of science and freedom shine beneath the most absurd superstitions, in the midst of the most barbaric intolerance. China offers us the same phenomenon, although the effects of this stupefying poison have been less fatal."<ref name= esprit>{{cite book |author= Nicolas de Condorcet |title= Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progrès de l'esprit humain. Sixième époque – Décadence des lumières, jusqu'à leur restauration vers le temps des croisades. |trans-title= Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind. Sixth Epoch: Decline of Enlightenment, until its Restoration around the Time of the Crusades |language= fr |year= 1794–1795 |url= https://fr.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Esquisse_d%E2%80%99un_tableau_historique_des_progr%C3%A8s_de_l%E2%80%99esprit_humain/06 |access-date= 21 March 2024}}</ref>

==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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Baker|first=Keith Michael|title=Condorcet: From Natural Philosophy to Social Mathematics|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|year=1975|isbn=0226035328|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/condorcetfromnat0000bake}}</ref>

==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.<ref name="Williams 2004"/>

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
* ''[https://libserv.aip.org/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=16S2580667MW5.32010&menu=search&aspect=power&npp=10&ipp=20&spp=20&profile=rev-nbl&ri=&index=.GW&term=Rapport+sur+le+choix+d%27une+unit%C3%A9+de+mesure%2C+lu+%C3%A0+l%27Acad%C3%A9mie+des+Sciences+le+19+mars+1791&oper=AND&x=0&y=0&aspect=power&index=.TW&term=&oper=AND&index=.AW&term=&oper=AND&index=.SW&term=&ultype=&uloper=%3D&ullimit=&ultype=&uloper=%3D&ullimit=&sort= 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]].
* {{Cite book|title=Du probleme des trois corps|volume=|publisher=François Ambroise Didot|location=Paris|year=1787|language=fr|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=11456876}}
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=qvFIAAAAcAAJ ''Lettres d'un théologien à l'auteur du Dictionnaire des trois siècles''], 1774
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=DuSCv0WICxIC ''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
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=VEJaAAAAcAAJ ''Éloge de M. d'Alembert, lu dans l'Assemblée publique de l'Académie des sciences, le 21 Avril 1784'']. A Paris: chez Moutard, 1784
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=noRYAAAAcAAJ ''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
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=VJBcAAAAcAAJ ''Vie de Monsieur Turgot'']. Londres, 1786
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=V0xaAAAAcAAJ ''Réflexions d'un citoyen, sur la révolution de 1788'']. Londres, 1788
* [https://archive.org/details/surlechoixdesmin00cond ''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
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=0QdZAAAAcAAJ ''Réflexions sur la révolution de 1688, et sur celle du 10 août 1792''], 1792
* [https://archive.org/details/adresseauxbatave00cond ''Adresse aux Bataves''], 1792
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=dXVfAAAAcAAJ ''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
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=4vra1xckteoC ''Correspondance inédite de Condorcet et de Turgot: 1770–1779'']. Paris: Charavay Frères, 1883
* {{Cite book|title=Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progres de l'esprit humain|volume=|publisher=[s.n.]|location=[Paris?]|year=1795|language=fr|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1260508}}
* Œuvres complètes, Paris, 1804. 21 delen
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=t-zVEcIloG0C Tome premier. ''Eloges des académiciens de l'Académie Royale de Sciences, morts depuis l'an 1666, jusqu'en 1699'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=VXZ_1VH60QEC Tome II: ''Mélanges de littérature et de philosophie Tome II. Éloges des académiciens de l'Académie Royale de Sciences, morts depuis l'an 1771'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=ytvAyOzO1AkC Tome III: ''Mélanges de littérature et de philosophie tome III. Éloges des académiciens de l'Académie Royale de Sciences, morts depuis l'an 1783'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=D1HQjKakgdsC 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'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=9eOV46dTtEQC Tome V: ''Vie de M. Turgot, publiée en 1786'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=zvVGqIF5heEC Tome VI: ''Mélanges de littérature et de philosophie. Vie de Voltaire, suivi des advertissements et notes ...'']
** [https://archive.org/details/oeuvresd Tome septième: ''Economie politique et politique tome I. Réflexions sur la jurisprudence criminelle. 1775'']. 1847
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=rAcUAAAAQAAJ Tome VIII: ''Mélanges de littérature et de philosophie. Exquisse d'un tableau historique des progrès de l'esprit humaine''. Premiere partie]
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=mRc4cnILR3kC Tome IX: ''Mélanges de littérature et de philosophie Tome IX. Sur l'instruction publique'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=msb8Po3PpwkC Tome X: ''Mélanges de littérature et de philosophie Tome X. Lettres d'un théologien a l'auteur des trois siècles'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=9GiyWubM9UUC Tome XI: ''Mélanges de politique tome XI. Réflexions sur la jurisprudence criminelle'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=pmWc77jnhnwC Tome XII: ''Lettres d'un bourgeois de New-Heaven a un citoyen de Virginie ...'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=DDgEGMkp-aEC Tome XIII: ''Melanges de politique. Sur les assemblées provinciales. Première partie'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=DCRRgolhybMC Tome XIV: ''Melanges de politique. Sur les assemblées provinciales. Seconde partie'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=wx8BkDa0KCIC Tome XVI: ''Fragmentt sur la liberté de la presse'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=UDTT2GOAjM8C Tome XVII: ''Mélanges de politique tome XVII. De l'influence d'un monarque et d'une cour . Sur les moers d'un peuple libre'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=mzCPuHEmI5wC Tome XVIII: ''Sur le sens du mot révolutionnaire'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=aUtIAAAAYAAJ Tome XIX: ''Lettre d'un laboureur de Picardie, A.M.N.***'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=Eq3rotNwTl4C Tome XX: ''Mélanges d'economie politique Tome XX. Plan d'un emprunt publique, avec des hypothèques spéciales'']
** [https://books.google.com/books?id=xRK5K3nrFX0C Tome XXI: ''Sur les caisses d'accumulation'']

<gallery>
File:Rapport-1.jpg|Cover page of a 1791 copy of "Rapport sur le choix d'une unité de mesure" by Condorcet and [[Jean-Charles de Borda]]
File:Rapport-2.jpg|Page one of a 1791 copy of "Rapport sur le choix d'une unité de mesure" by Condorcet and [[Jean-Charles de Borda]]
File:Rapport-3.jpg|Pages 2–3
File:Rapport-4.jpg|Pages 4–5
File:Rapport-5.jpg|Pages 6–7
File:Rapport-6.jpg|Pages 8–9
File:Rapport-8.jpg|Pages 10–11
File:Rapport-7.jpg|Final page of a 1791 copy of "Rapport sur le choix d'une unité de mesure" by Condorcet and [[Jean-Charles de Borda]]
</gallery>

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book|title=Condorcet: Political Writings|editor-last=Steven Lukes|editor-first=Nadia Urbinati|publisher=Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)|year=2012|isbn=978-1107021013|location=New York}}

==Fictional portrayals==
===Novels===
* '' City of Darkness, City of Light'' by [[Marge Piercy]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Piercy |first1=Marge |title=City of Darkness, City of Light |date=1997 |publisher=Michael Joseph Ltd, Penguin Group |location=London |isbn=0718142160}}</ref>

===Short stories===
* "The Philosopher" in ''Ribbons of Scarlet'' by [[Kate Quinn]], Stephanie Dray, [[Laura Kamoie]], Sophie Perinot, Heather Webb, and E. Knight<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quinn |first1=Kate |last2=Dray | first2= Stephanie |last3=Kamoie | first3=Laura | last4=Perinot | first4=Sophie |last5=Webb|first5=Heather|last6=Knight|first6=E.|title=Ribbons of Scarlet |date=2019 |publisher=William Morrow Paperbacks, HarperCollins Publishers |location=New York City |isbn=9780062916075}}</ref>

===Movies===
* [[Flashback (2021 film)|''Flashback'' (2021 film)]] {{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

==See also==
* [[History of the metre]]
* [[Seconds pendulum]]
* [[Society of the Friends of Truth]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Baker, Keith. ''Condorcet: From Natural Philosophy to Social Mathematics'' (1975). {{ISBN|0226035328}}
* Cosimo Scarcella, ''Condorçet. Dottrine politiche e sociali'', Lecce, Milella Editore (1980), p.&nbsp;312.
* Furet, François and Mona Ozouf, eds. ''A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution'' (1989), pp.&nbsp;204–212
* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Hart|first=David|editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Hamowy|editor-link=Ronald Hamowy|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism|chapter=Condorcet, Marquis de (1743–1794)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC|year=2008 |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|Sage]]; [[Cato Institute]]|location=Thousand Oaks, CA|isbn=978-1412965804|oclc=750831024|lccn=2008009151|pages=87–88 |doi=10.4135/9781412965811.n57|url-access=subscription}}
* 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==
* {{wikiquote-inline}}
* {{commons-inline}}
* {{wikisource author-inline}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=34146}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Marquis de Condorcet}}
* {{Librivox author |id=11197}}
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/histfem-condorcet/ Condorcet in the History of Feminism], at the [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]
* [http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1669&Itemid=27 ''Outlines of an historical view of the progress of the human mind''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826185017/http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1669&Itemid=27 |date=26 August 2013 }} (1795)
* [http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/authors/condorcet Contains ''Sketch for an Historical Picture of the Advances of the Human Mind'', slightly modified for easier reading]
* [http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1013&Itemid=99999999 ''The First Essay on the Political Rights of Women.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109215404/http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1013&Itemid=99999999 |date=9 November 2012 }} 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 ''[http://www.bibnum.education.fr/sciences-humaines-et-sociales/diffusion-des-sciences/sur-les-raisons-qui-m-ont-empeche-jusqu-ici-de Bibnum]'' <small>[click 'à télécharger' for English version]</small>.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Condorcet, Nicolas De Caritat De}}
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