Paine and Condorcet to Rebuild Solidarity? On the end of poverty? A historical discussion.

Authors

  • Bosc Yannick Université de Rouen
  • Vital Francisco Celestino Alves Secretaria de Educação do Distrito Federal

Keywords:

Poverty, French Revolution, Paine, Robespierre, Condorcet

Abstract

In his book La fin de la pauvreté? Un débat historique, Gareth Stedman Jones traces the origins of the project for a society without poverty. Seeking to delineate these origins, Stedman Jones establishes as a landmark the 1790s, in which political thinkers, like Thomas Paine and Condorcet, proposed the idea that all citizens should be protected from poverty. In this context, what seemed to be at stake was whether scientific and economic progress would really be able to extinguish poverty. In this article, Bosc Yannick analyzes and discusses some aspects of Steman’s book: he rejects the author’s interpretation that Paine and Condorcet had a similar political and economic agenda and argues that, in reality, Paine’s project is quite different from Condorcet’s and much closer to that of Robespierre.

Author Biographies

Bosc Yannick, Université de Rouen

Professor da Université de Rouen, França. Doutor em História moderna pela Université d’Aix-Marseille, França.

Vital Francisco Celestino Alves, Secretaria de Educação do Distrito Federal

Professor de Filosofia na Secretaria de Educação do Distrito Federal. Doutor em Filosofia pela Universidade Federal de Goiás.

Published

2021-06-30

Issue

Section

Philosophy of Human Rights