Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

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P.-J. Proudhon, The Celebration of Sunday — V

January 16, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
THE CELEBRATION OF SUNDAY [Continued from Part IV] V. If I have accomplished the task that I imposed on myself in beginning these researches, it remains certain and proven: 1. That the institution of the Sabbath was conceived on the principles of a higher politics, the greatest secret of which consisted in making the means arise from the end; 2. That this institution, analyzed in the circumstances of its origin and its reform, supposes liberty, equality, supremacy of religion and the laws, executive power in the people, absolute dependence of the functionaries, means of subsistence the same for all; 3. […]
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P.-J. Proudhon, The Celebration of Sunday — IV

January 16, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
THE CELEBRATION OF SUNDAY [Continued from Part III] IV It remains to examine the importance of the Sunday celebration with regard to public hygiene. This text will perhaps appear rather petty after the serious subjects that I have treated; and I do not know if, by reversing the order of the question proposed, I could reasonably flatter myself that I had fulfilled the law of progression so recommended by the rhetoricians. However, I do not despair of succeeding: the reader will decide if my boldness has been felicitous. There is no doubt that Moses, in establishing the law of the […]
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P.-J. Proudhon, The Celebration of Sunday — III

January 15, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
THE CELEBRATION OF SUNDAY [Continued from Part II] III I approach what is perhaps the most difficult part of my subject, because of the pitfall that it seems to cover: moral utility. What is the influence, on the morals of individuals and of society, of the observation of Sunday considered in itself, independent of the force that religion lends to it, and setting aside faith in dogmas and mysteries? Such is, at least, the manner in which I take up the question, and I do not think, I admit, that one could understand it otherwise. It is not a question […]
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The Celebration continues

January 15, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
I’ve posted another section from my translation of Proudhon’s The Celebration of Sunday, and I have revised the sections previously posted. I finished a rough translation of the whole book a couple of days ago, and am now roughly half-way through revising and editing the full translation. The section I just posted includes the material on “theft” that I started to discuss in December. UPDATE: Section III is now also available.
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P.-J. Proudhon, The Celebration of Sunday — II

January 15, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
THE CELEBRATION OF SUNDAY [continued from Part I] II What I have said of the civil effects of the Sabbath sufficiently explains the importance that the legislator attached to it, when he made the stability of the State depend on it. But that institution itself had need of safeguards: it demanded to be defended against the negligence of some, against the ill will of others, and against the ignorance and barbarity of all. Now, it is from the guarantees with which Moses surrounded it that we have seen born the influence of the Sabbath on family relations. For such is […]
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Proudhonian consistency

January 14, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
I was amused to find that Proudhon’s first published article in 1839 begins with the following: “Is a universal alphabet possible? “If it is possible, is it practicable in the study and common usage of language? “Yes, a universal alphabet is possible, and I believe that possibility is demonstrated by the work that I am about to analyze. “No, that universal alphabet is not practicable and never will be, outside of some phonological comparisons and some literal connections. As the last proposition is a sort of negation of the preceding one, I must engage in some clarifications on the subject, […]
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The Theory of Property, Chapter VIII

January 11, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
Of the chapters from Proudhon’s The Theory of Property which have not yet appeared in translation, the first is the Introduction compiled by Proudhon’s friends, which surveyed his previous works; the third, fourth and fifth chapters amount to a summing up of Proudhon’s scattered thoughts on the varieties of property, legal opinions on the subject, and the history of property. All of these contain interesting material, including the data on which the New Theory was constructed. But arguably the most interesting of the remaining chapters are the seventh, which explains in some detail the “equilibration” of property, and the eighth, […]
Proudhon Library

P.-J. Proudhon, The Philosophy of Progress (1853)

January 8, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
It’s coming up on three years since I completed my initial working translation of Proudhon’s The Philosophy of Progress. In that time, I’ve subjected the text to three rather complete revisions, and various more minor adjustments. The result is a new edition of the New Proudhon Library volume, which I’ll be releasing as Corvus Editions’ first offset-printed release in the near future. Details of the release are coming together, but it looks like it will be something about midway between previous pamphlets and my hand-bound hardcover editions, with a heavy cover made from repurposed materials. In the meantime, the text […]
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“Theory of Property” controversies

January 5, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
In the interest of covering as many of the bases as possible, relating to The Theory of Property, and Proudhon’s posthumous works in general, I’ve spent some time this week exploring the debates within Proudhon’s circle specifically concerning The Theory of Property. A key exchange appeared in La Presse, in November 1865, initially pitting J. A. Langlois and Georges Duchêne against Alfred Darimon, over the question of the style and extent of the editing in the posthumous works. Abraam Rolland and Gustave Chaudey expressed themselves in disagreement with Langlois and Duchêne on the most appropriate form for the posthumous works […]