Condorcet, Nicolas de (1743–1794)

Nicolas de Condorcet (1743–1794) was an influential mathematician whose contributions to the theory of voting and of probabilities underlie modern social choice theory. He advocated for the human rights of women and Africans, wrote a proposal for reorganizing the French educational system which was eventually adopted, and played a prominent role in the French Revolution. His last work, written while in hiding from the radical Jacobins during the Terror, was a conjectural history of human society from its prehistoric beginnings through to a history of the future. It depicts a perennial conflict in the past between scientific geniuses on the one hand, and religious and secular authorities on the other, but also foresaw many of the social welfare programs of the twentieth century. Condorcet helped shape early sociology – among other ways, through his influence on Auguste Comte.