Un inédit de Benjamin Constant : Du moment actuel et de la destinée de l'espèce humaine ou histoire abrégée de l'égalité

Abstract

Beatrice Fink : An unpublished political treatise by Benjamin Constant. Almost all of Constant's post-Empire theoretical writings are traceable to ms. works pre-dating 1806 that were subsequently published piecemeal. One group of mss., however, not mentioned by Constant, remains entirely unpublished. It consists of an unfinished treatise entitled «Du moment actuel et de la destinée de l'espèce humaine, ou Histoire abrégée de l'égalité », 2 lists of contents and an outline of the projected whole. Treatise and outline are here reproduced and situated in Constant's opus, and his aim is reconstructed. The treatise is an early work (ca. 1800), while the outline was written after 1815, suggesting projected publication. These texts add a new dimension to Constant's historical thought and pinpoint the role of equality in his philosophy.