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Le traité de la servitude volontaire, ou Le contre un

Contributions

Etienne de La Boëtie
author
Claude Dubosc
publisher
Guillaume Darres
publisher

Related resources

has translation
Discorso di Stefano della Boetie, della schiavitù volontaria, o il Contrà uno translation

Notes

Url to 1576 edition. Here is a link to a beautiful, illustrated edition from 1922: http://davidmhart.com/liberty/FrenchClassicalLiberals/LaBoetie/1922_Jou/ParallelEdition2/Parallel-Texts.html

Originally published clandestinely in 1576 in [Simon Goulart], 'Memoires de l'estat de France, sous Charles neufiesme'. (1576-77, Meidelbourg [Genève?]), Vol.3, pp.160-91, and subsequently as an appendix to Michel de Montaigne's 'Essais'. There were many pirated editions of Boetie's book circulated by French Protestants who opposed religious prosecution in France.

It argues that any tyrant remains in power whose subjects allow him to. Man's original freedom has been abandoned by a society which, corrupted by habit, has come to prefer the servitude of the courtier to the liberty of the free man.

An English translation was published for T. Smith in 1735 as, 'Discourse of Voluntary Servitude. Wrote in French by Stephen de la Boetie'. http://davidmhart.com/liberty/FrenchClassicalLiberals/LaBoetie/1735_Smith/Boetie_DiscourseVoluntaryServitude1735.pdf

For a good overview, see http://davidmhart.com/liberty/FrenchClassicalLiberals/LaBoetie/index.html