Blog - Page 6 of 286 - The Libertarian Labyrinth

Jenny P. d’Héricourt, “Philosophical Letters on Tolerance and the Critique of Hypotheses” (1863-64)

February 14, 2024 Shawn P. Wilbur

Lettres philosophiques sur la tolérance et la critique des hypothèses. (Première lettre.) Si quelque honorable du sexe barbu a surpris la suscription de la lettre que je reçois de vous, chère Madame, il n’a pas manqué de se dire in petto: Une Genevoise demandant à une Parisienne: Quelle couleur sera réputée de bon goût cet hiver? Quelle sera la forme la plus élégante des manteaux? Les crinolines conserveront-elles l’envergure qui a rendu nécessaire la presque démolition de Paris et l’élargissement de ses rues, élargissement si peu pittoresque et qui doit, un jour ou l’autre, multiplier les oculistes en multipliant les […]

Jenny P. d’Héricourt in the Messager Franco-Americain (1865-1869)

February 14, 2024 Shawn P. Wilbur

Now, what makes war possible and produces the disastrous results I am pointing out? A lack of equilibrium in social forces. Woman is one of these forces, and she has neither her place nor her liberty of action. If, as I believe, the government of women alone should be bad, it does not seem surprising to me that the government of men alone has produced what we see. It takes the equal influence of both sexes to produce balance, because they are equal by “difference” as much as by philosophically defined law.

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Henriette, artist, “A New Crime Against Liberty” (1848)

February 8, 2024 Shawn P. Wilbur

Yesterday, on the Boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle, a group was formed; there was little conversation there, and all eyes were directed on the same point. From time to time these words were heard: Release the prisoners who came to announce to us the sweet spring. See! One prisoner for two pennies; take your pick!

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Jeanne Marie, “What the Socialists Want” (1848)

February 8, 2024 Shawn P. Wilbur

It is to this celestial banquet that, for a long time, the socialists have been inviting you! It is therefore no longer a question of fighting them, but of aiding them. The great human family is marching toward the goal to which God leads it. Forward then, you who aspire to the honor of leading it. Support our efforts, but do not hinder them: you will be crushed!

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Georges Duchêne, “Government” (1849-50)

January 31, 2024 Shawn P. Wilbur

Six thousand years of government have proven abundantly that power is, by its nature, spendthrift, prodigal, unproductive, invasive, despotic. Experience does not seem decisive for certain intelligences; and we are in the necessity, — if we do not want to attempt a new dictatorship, — of combatting the idea of authority, not by its historical antecedents, but in its very principle.

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P.-J. Proudhon, “The Political Capacity of the Working Classes” (1865)

January 22, 2024 Shawn P. Wilbur

[These draft translations are part of on ongoing effort to establish an edition of Proudhon’s works in English. They are very much a first step, as there are lots of decisions about how best to render the texts which can only be answered in the course of the translation process. It seems important to share the work as it is completed, even in rough form, but the drafts are not suitable for scholarly work or publication elsewhere in their present state. — Shawn P. Wilbur, translator] de la capacité politique des classes ouvrières par P.-J. PROUDHON PARIS E. DENTU, LIBRAIRE-ÉDITEUR […]

P.-J. Proudhon, Economy (Ms. 2866) — selected translations

January 15, 2024 Shawn P. Wilbur

ECONOMY, PART II Psychology of the Collective Being, Its Faculties. Its Ideas. Its Judgments. Its Laws. Origins of Right. APHORISMS or PRINCIPLES OR REVOLUTIONARY RIGHT. […] [71] In all orders of ideas, we will see that the notions that direct the collective reason are not the same as those that direct individuals; that, unbeknownst to us, we have, so to speak, two minds and two languages, a mind for interest, speculation and individual [propre] justice, and a mind for general interest, synthetic philosophy and universal justice, quite different from the first; — a language for our individual ideas and a […]

Proudhon, “Economy” (Ms. 18255, BnF, excerpts)

December 12, 2023 Shawn P. Wilbur

These writings come from a manuscript held by the French national library, with the title “Economy.” Like the other manuscripts with that title, it appears to be from the early 1850s. This particular set of writings are not presented in that wonderfully readable script that Proudhon used when finishing manuscripts. Quite the contrary, much of the material here is written in a baffling scrawl, which takes multiple examinations to decipher. So there are almost certainly small errors, as well as the obvious gaps. Use with care. [18r] Literature. What the scribblers have called grandeur and decadence in literature, and in […]

Proudhon, “The Philosophy of Progress” (revised and expanded translation)

December 10, 2023 Shawn P. Wilbur

Proudhon’s Philosophy of Progress is one of those books that has simply become part of my basic intellectual toolkit, but in ways that I often forget — at least until I read it again and re-encounter all the delightful ideas and turns of phrase it contains. Returning to it over the last week has been a pleasure, but I’ve also felt a bit pressured to wrap up the preliminaries and get on to the notes on Justice in the Revolution and in the Church.

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Proudhon, “The Celebration of Sunday” (revised and expanded translation)

December 3, 2023 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’m a few days behind schedule getting the first notes on Justice together. Among other things, I’ve been trying to make the most of a narrow fall window to get our yard a little bit better adapted to changing conditions. But work is progressing. I should have test prints of the “text” editions of the first two volumes within a week, at which point I’ll make ordering copies an option for others, and I’ve been trying to shoehorn in the time to put together a companion volume collecting some pre-1858 texts that provide useful context.

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