Impacting Generations: Nicolas de Condorcet by Fabian Rodriguez

1. Impacting Generations: Nicolas de Condorcet by Fabian Rodriguez

2. Introduction

3. Early life of a revolutionary thinker: Nicolas de Condorcet • Name: Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet, but known as Nicolas de Condorcet • Date of birth: Nicolas was born in 1743 in a small town in France called Ribemont • Accomplishments: • French philosopher and mathematician of the Enlightenment and advocate of educational reform and women’s rights. • At only 21 years of age, his work on integral calculus, was praised by the Royal Academy of Science earning him the recognition by many as of the top Europeans mathematicians of his time. • In 1777, he was appointed secretary and spokesman of the French Academy of Science.   

4. French Revolution: role of a radical thinker

5. Race • Race is still a very delicate topic in today’s society. Nicolas had a huge impact in the abolitionist movement in France through his work “Reflections on Black Slavery” and later by being the president of the Society of the Friends of Blacks. • I decided to relate how equality of race has affected me as an immigrant of a different ethnicity. It is very hard to live in a place where you are looked down upon and feel like you don’t fit in. Even though, I still go through these uncomfortable situations, I feel like the battle of Nicolas against racism and slavery really made it much simpler.

6. Women's rights • Nicolas de Condorcet discussed the fact that the obstacles that women face in society are based on their lack of education and opportunity just because of their sex. Furthermore, he states the equality of not just women compared to men but also racial and religious equality and how by putting someone’s right over others just based on these simple things as gender, race, or religious affiliation you are basically relinquishing your own rights.  • Condorcet’s battle against the oppression of women has really impacted me in a profound way. I was raised in an environment where my mom was a role model for me. She was able to become a doctor and I can’t stop thinking about the fact that she was able to achieve her dream due to the sacrifice of figures like Nicolas de Condorcet. The fact that I have the opportunity to be sitting next to my sister, studying in a university working to achieve a better version of ourselves each day. It is shocking to me to think about how the work of someone more than 300 years ago has allowed my mom and my sister to have a voice and important place in society.  “I hope that everyone who attacks my arguments will do so without using ridicule or declamation, and above all that, that someone will show me a natural difference between men and women on which the exclusion could legitimately be based”

7. Perfection“It has never yet been supposed, that all the facts of nature, and all the means of acquiring precision in the computation and analysis of those facts, and all the connections of objects with each other, and all the possible combinations of ideas, can be exhausted by the human mind.” • One of Condorcet’s major focus was humankind strive for perfection; and we can see that in his work titled Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind, where he listed nine stages that the human race has gone through and states that the following step is going to be perfection. Even though, a perfect human race cannot be truly achieved, I believe that Condorcet’s ideals towards the better of humanity has helped me personally by inspiring me to become a better person every day, and by becoming a more capable member of society I can have a more direct impact in my surroundings. 

8. Reflection: How Condorcet’s life impacted mine • Died: March 29 1794 • As I was doing this project, I found it very hard to connect my personal life to the work of another person that lived over 300 years ago. However, after some hours of research and an open mind, I was able to create a bond and a sense of appreciation for the sacrifice and the contributions Nicolas de Condorcet made to society. As I sat here reflecting how Condorcet’s life impacted mine I can honestly say that the first and most important thing that comes to mind is the fact that I get to sit next to my sister in a classroom where she has the same opportunities as me and where her voice matters as much as mine. I will forever be in debt to people that spend their lives in search of a more inclusive and “perfect” world like Nicolas de Condorcet did.