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Reaction to "Sketch of the Progress of the Human Mind"

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“Sketch of the Progress of the Human Mind”

Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794), mathematician, philosopher and revolutionist was said to be the most famous prophet of progress in the Enlightenment period. Condorcet was born in Ribemont, France, and was taught at the Jesuit College in Reims and at the College of Navarre in Paris. He was skilled in various different areas, and when the Enlightenment came, he was enthralled by the idea of democracy. In Condorcet’s article “Sketch of the Progress of the Human Mind”, he demonstrates his strong opinions on the idea of progress and change for society. Excerpts from “The Ninth Epoch” and “The Ten Epoch”, also written by Condorcet, help to portray these ideas. In the introduction to the article, Condorcet explains general thoughts about the history and ideology of society. He says that generally people did not want to go against tradition, but they did believe that religion and government could change. By change they did not necessarily mean moving forward with new ideas, but resorting back to features of previous “golden ages”. People believed that history repeated itself, and the way of life would always be the same. It was not until the 18th and 19th centuries in the West that people began to believe in beneficial changes, they began to believe in progress. This belief in progress dates back to the 18th century Enlightenment; people thought they could better humanity by eliminating cruelties, superstitions, and prejudices that had existed in the past. The excerpt from “The Ninth Epoch” demonstrates Condorcet’s beliefs that scientific achievement was the contributing feature of change in human thinking during this time. Science gave people the opportunity to voice their opinions openly. They realized that the information provided to them by authority and tradition does not necessarily need to be followed. Condorcet says “The advances of scientific knowledge are all the more deadly to these errors because they destroy them without appearing to attack them. While lavishing on those who stubbornly defend them the degrading taunt of ignorance….”. The traditional way of passing information, by trusting authority and believing your elders, is proved wrong by the sciences; not by directly attacking these beliefs, but by simply proving otherwise. The sciences help humanity to realize that they are not destined for doom and the prejudices that they have been conditioned to believe are no longer valid. Condorcet believes that class and social status no longer shall be determined by birth, but by the knowledge one obtains, and the paths they embark on. These ideas give hope to the people, they can determine their own destiny, he wants society to learn themselves, and make their own conclusions, rather than base their beliefs on authority or scholars. The excerpt from “The Tenth Epoch”, Condorcet outlines three important principles that are crucial to the success of his hopes for the future. His first point is “the destruction and equality among nations”. Condorcet uses the happenings and establishments in Asia and Africa as an example. These countries are being abused and the beliefs of their population are being manipulated to fit that of the nations trying to control them with monopolies and displaying discriminations against people of different race and color. Condorcet believes that instead of taking advantage of these countries, and allowing the wealthy to become more wealthy and powerful, reason should be introduced into Asia and Africa and with knowledge, they should be able to advance in a positive direction. Rather than having money hungry men stripping these countries of whatever wealth they can find, and returning to the homeland to buy themselves power and status, Condorcet hopes that these lands can be filled with well-educated hard working men, who will spread their knowledge and help these countries grow. He believes this will change from a society where people are always prejudiced and made to feel lesser, to a place filled with leaders who want to progress and make better; the people will be liberated. Condorcet’s second point is “the progress of equality within nations themselves”. In order to achieve this, Condorcet believes that prejudice and inequality need to be eliminated. He hopes that a day will come when tyranny and superstition no longer exist, they will become a past that can only be looked upon. Man will be born with no other direction than his own reason. Condorcet believes that the people will eliminate slavery and hard labor by advancing technologically to produce goods efficiently, with less work and more productivity. This would make it achievable for every man to provide for themselves. This progress will have no limits. One major prejudice Condorcet deems very important to eliminate is that of women. He believes that by eliminating this prejudice, it will improve the well-being of families and it will favor the progress of education. He believes that knowledge should be available to both sexes. If it is available to everyone, it is allowing everyone to better themselves, and no longer limiting advancement and power to men only. Condorcet’s also believes that this knowledge will eventually rid society of the desire to initiate wars. He thinks that people will realize that they can not fight and try to conquer others without giving up their own liberty. The last point that Cordorcet makes in this epoch is “the real improvement of humanity”. In order to do this, medical practices will be equipped with knowledge to destroy the diseases of all calibers; contagious, climatic, and one caused by mal- nourishment. Food and exercise will be the perfect combination to increase strength, without being excessive. Death will only be caused by fatal accidents, the lifespan will become undeterminable. Condorcet also believes that knowledge alone will help to better the human body and mind, making it healthier. When I began reading this article by Marquis de Condorcet, I was baffled by the structure and word choice. As I continued reading, I was intrigued by his words and ideas, and how many of his beliefs have actually come true. I cannot imagine what it would be like to live in a world where everything you were taught had no proof or real validity. Where being born into a family of poverty determined your whole life, with no chance of improvement or progression. Where women were not equals, and lived under the rule of men. I do not even fully believe in religion, specifically because there is no real proof. I feel like people just made up answers to the only questions we can’t answer. If I don’t even believe in religion, how would I have lived my life based upon what others told me? I admire Condorcet for seeing things the way he did. He was looking to improve humanity, for the benefit of every person. He was obviously a man who was able to obtain knowledge, but instead of using it for his own power, he wanted to spread the ideas and make things equal. He didn’t want to see people think poorly of themselves, when really they are not lesser people. I cannot imagine what the world would be like today if revolutionists like Condorcet were not enlightened in the past. I cannot see any way anyone could ever disagree with this article, without knowledge and reason how could we ever escape those traditions? Life would have never changed, never improved. Condorcet made many different points to support his ideas. The ones that really sold me, were in his Tenth Epoch. His idea to eliminate prejudices against women really did happen, and I am very thankful for this. He said that just because our physically make up is not as strong as men, it does not mean our intellect is smaller. Men and women are not treated 100% equally, but we are given the opportunity to educated our selves and work to make our lives better. I was fascinated by the whole part about technologies to make producing goods more productive, because we have also achieved this. We know live in a world where people are educated from birth and taught to ingest as much knowledge as our brains can obtain. Our lives are what we make of them. I can be anything I want in life, and the way I will get there is by educating myself. Overall, I agree with Condorcet’s beliefs. Although some of his ideas have not been completed to the extent he talks about, it doesn’t mean they can’t be. It is fascinating to read his thoughts about progression, and really see how far we have come.

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