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1991
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John Pappas, « Condorcet, «le seul» et «le premier» féministe du 18e siècle ? », Dix-Huitième Siècle (documents), ID : 10.3406/dhs.1991.1831
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John Pappas : Is Condorcet the "first-and "only" Feminist in the 18th century ? The biography of Condorcet by Elisabeth and Robert Badinter presents him as the "first" and "only" defender of women in his century. This article points out that fourteen years before Condorcet's work on the subject, D'Alembert had written a similar essay "On women", quoted here at length, and what is more, sought to have not one but four women elected to the French Academy. Since Condorcet was his faithful disciple, we can assume that D'Alembert's example influenced his own position on women. We must not follow mediaeval chroniclers who invented pious myths to enhance the status of their saints. It is to Condorcet's credit that he defended women, but he is not a Prometheus stealing fire from heaven for the good of mankind. He is a man of his century who simply followed his predecessors in spreading enlightenment ideas.
