Proudhon Library

Proudhon Library

Proudhon’s projects

December 17, 2008 Shawn P. Wilbur
[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”]   [/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] During his lifetime Proudhon was frequently accused of being primarily a critic, a destroyer, and within anarchist circles it is largely his destructive critique of property rights that we remember. In some ways, this is a curious turn of events, since so much of his work was devoted to constructing his People’s Bank, his theory of Progress, his evolving theory of property, etc. When his Œuvres Complètes was assembled in the late 1860s, apparently the editors felt the need to combat that perception, and their advertisement for the series […]
Proudhon Library

Another bit on “socialism,” from Proudhon’s “The Federative Principle”

November 5, 2008 Shawn P. Wilbur
Just another of those interesting definitions of “socialism,” from the mid-19th century. I first encountered this particular passage in Proudhon’s posthumously published study of Napoleon III, but is originally from the still-untranslated second part of The Federative Principle. “Qui dit socialisme, dans le bon et vrai sens du mot, dit naturellement liberté du commerce et de l’industrie, mutualité de l’assurance, réciprocité du crédit, peréquation de l’impôt, équilibre et sécurité des fortunes, participation de l’ouvrier aux chances des entreprises, inviolabilité de la famille dans la transmission héréditaire.” “Whoever says socialism, in the good and true sense of the word, says naturally […]
Contr'un

Proudhon, Liberty, Satan, and The Ladies Repository (oh, my!)

September 18, 2008 Shawn P. Wilbur
Very little of Proudhon’s 6-volume work on Justice in the Revolution and in the Church has been translated, but one in/famous passage has been treated to a number of English renderings. Section XLVII, which ends Chapter 5, “Function of Liberty,” which is itself the final chapter of the Eighth Study, “Conscience and Liberty” (which appears in Justice, Tome III in the Lacroix collected works) contains a passage that begins “Come, Satan, come. . . ,” and which has naturally been handy for those who wanted to demonstrate what an evil dude that French socialist Proudhon was. There is a really […]
Proudhon Library

J.-A. Langlois, “P.-J. Proudhon: His Life and His Works” (1875)

July 1, 2008 Shawn P. Wilbur
The Tucker translation of What Is Property? is prefaced by a translation of J. A. Langlois’ “P. J. Proudhon: His Life and Work,” the biographical introduction to Proudhon’s collected Correspondence. Tucker includes a disclaimer regarding Langlois’ account: In the French edition of Proudhon’s works, the above sketch of his life is prefixed to the first volume of his correspondence, but the translator prefers to insert it here as the best method of introducing the author to the American public. He would, however, caution readers against accepting the biographer’s interpretation of the author’s views as in any sense authoritative; advising them, […]