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La Boétie was born in Sarlat, in the Périgord region of southwest France, in 1530 to an aristocratic family. His father was a royal official of the Périgord region and his mother was the sister of the president of the Bordeaux Parliament (assembly of lawyers). Orphaned at an early age, he was brought up by his uncle and namesake, the curate of Bouilbonnas, and received his law degree from the University of Orléans in 1553. His great and precocious ability earned La Boétie a royal appointment to the Bordeaux Parliament the following year, despite his being under the minimum age. There he pursued a distinguished career as judge and diplomatic negotiator until his untimely death from illness in 1563 at the age of thirty-two. La Boétie was also a distinguished poet and humanist, translating Xenophon and Plutarch, and being closely connected with the leading young Pleiade group of poets, including Pierre de Ronsard, Jean Daurat and Jean-Antoine de Baïf.[6] La Boétie was favorable to the conciliation of Catholicism and Protestantism; "warned of the dangerous and divisive consequences of permitting two religions, which could lead to two opposed states in the same country. The most he would have allowed the Protestants was the right to worship in private, and he pointed out their own intolerance of Catholics. His policy for religious peace was one of conciliation and concord through reforms in the church that would eventually persuade the Protestants to reunite with Catholicism".[7] He served with Montaigne in the Bordeauxparlement and is immortalized in Montaigne's essay on friendship. Some historians[8] have questioned whether the two were lovers or not, but each played influential roles in each other's lives regardless.
Writings
La Boétie's writings include a few sonnets, translations from the classics and an essay attacking absolute monarchy and tyranny in general, Discours de la servitude volontaire ou le Contr'un (Discourse on Voluntary Servitude, or the Anti-Dictator). The essay asserts that tyrants have power because the people give it to them. Liberty has been abandoned once by society, which afterward stayed corrupted and prefers the slavery of the courtesan to the freedom of one who refuses to dominate as he refuses to obey. Thus, La Boétie linked obedience and domination, a relationship which would be later theorised by latter anarchist thinkers. By advocating a solution of simply refusing to support the tyrant, he became one of the earliest advocates of civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance. Murray N. Rothbard summarizes La Boétie's political philosophy as follows:
To him, the great mystery of politics was obedience to rulers. Why in the world do people agree to be looted and otherwise oppressed by government overlords? It is not just fear, Boetie explains in the Discourse on Voluntary Servitude, for our consent is required. And that consent can be non-violently withdrawn.[6]
It was once thought following Montaigne's claims that La Boétie wrote the essay in 1549 at the age of eighteen, but recent authorities argue that it is "likely that the Discourse was written in 1552 or 1553, at the age of twenty-two, while La Boétie was at the university".[9] Some Montaigne scholars have argued that the essay was in fact the work of Montaigne himself. The essay was circulated privately and not published until 1576 after La Boétie's death. He died in Germignan near Bordeaux in 1563. His last days are described in a long letter from Montaigne to his own father.
Œuvres complètes, Editions William Blake & Co., 1991. ISBN2905810602.
Discours de la servitude volontaire, Editions Mille et une nuits, 1997. ISBN2910233944.
Discours de la servitude volontaire, Editions Flammarion, 1993. ISBN2080703943.
The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude, translated by Harry Kurz and with an introduction by Murray Rothbard, Montrèal/New York/London: Black Rose Books, 1997. ISBN1551640899.
The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude, translated by Harry Kurz and with an introduction by Murray Rothbard, Free Life Editions, 1975. ISBN091415611X.
References
^"Voluntary Servitude Reconsidered". The Anarchist Library.
^Paul Bonnefon (1892). Œuvres complètes d'Estienne de La Boétie (Bordeaux: C. Gounouilhou, and Paris: J. Rouam et Cie.), pp. 385–386 (available online in pdf format at Gallica).
^ abKeohane, Nannerl O. (1977). "The Radical Humanism of Étienne De La Boétie". Journal of the History of Ideas. 38 (1): 119–130. doi:10.2307/2708844. JSTOR 2708844.
^Kurz, Harry (1950). "Montaigne and La Boétie in the Chapter on Friendship". PMLA. 65 (4): 483–530. doi:10.2307/459652. JSTOR 459652. S2CID 163176803.
^Mazzocchi, Paul (2018). "Desire, Friendship, and the Politics of Refusal: The Utopian Afterlives of La Boétie's Discourse on Voluntary Servitude". Utopian Studies. 29 (2): 248–266. doi:10.5325/utopianstudies.29.2.0248. JSTOR 10.5325/utopianstudies.29.2.0248. S2CID 149508037.
^Zagorin, Perez. (2013). How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West. Princeton University Press. ISBN978-1306142809. OCLC 863671693.
^Aldrich, Robert; Wotherspoon, Garry (2001). Who's who in Gay and Lesbian History: From Antiquity to World War II. Psychology Press. ISBN978-0415159821.
^Rockwell, Lew (11 February 2011), p. 38. n. 2. "Having remained long in manuscript, the actual date of writing the Discourse of Voluntary Servitude remains a matter of dispute. It seems clear, however, and has been so accepted by recent authorities, that Montaigne's published story that La Boétie wrote the Discourse at the age of eighteen or even of sixteen was incorrect. Montaigne's statement, as we shall see further below, was probably part of his later campaign to guard his dead friend's reputation by dissociating him from the revolutionary Huguenots who were claiming La Boétie's pamphlet for their own. Extreme youth tended to cast the Discourse in the light of a work so youthful that the radical content was hardly to be taken seriously as the views of the author. Internal evidence as well as the erudition expressed in the work make it likely that the Discourse was written in 1552 or 1553, at the age of twenty-two, while La Boétie was at the university." See Paul Bonnefon (1892), pp. 390–391; and Donald Frame, Montaigne: A Biography (New York: Harcourt Brace, & World, 1965), p. 71 (37–38 n. 2).
^Roland Bleiker (2000), ''Popular Dissent. Human Agency and Global Politics. Cambridge University Press, ISBN0521778298 (pp. 86–87).
Keohane, Nannerl O. (1977). 'The Radical Humanism of Étienne de la Boétie', Journal of the History of Ideas. 38:119–130.
Lablénie, Edmond (1930). 'L'Énigme de la "Servitude Volontaire"', Revue du seizième siècle. 17:203–227 [French].
Podoksik, Efraim (2003). 'Estienne de La Boëtie and the Politics of Obedience', Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance. LXV(1): 83–95.
Presley, Sharon (2008). "La Boétie, Étienne de (1530–1563)". In Hamowy, Ronald (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage/Cato Institute. p. 277. doi:10.4135/9781412965811.n165. ISBN978-1412965804. LCCN 2008009151. OCLC 750831024.
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This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in French December 2013 Click show for important translation instructions View a machine translated version of the French article Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Consider adding a topic to this template there are already 5 561 articles in the main category and specifying topic will aid in categorization Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at fr Etienne de La Boetie see its history for attribution You should also add the template Translated fr Etienne de La Boetie to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation Etienne or Estienne de La Boetie French etjɛn de la bɔesi listen also bwati or bɔeti 2 Occitan Esteve de La Boetia 1 November 1530 18 August 1563 was a French magistrate classicist writer poet and political theorist best remembered for his intense and intimate friendship with essayist Michel de Montaigne 3 4 His early political treatise Discourse on Voluntary Servitude was posthumously adopted by the Huguenot movement and is sometimes seen as an early influence on modern anti statist utopian and civil disobedience thought 3 5 Etienne de La BoetieBorn 1530 11 01 1 November 1530Sarlat la Caneda Perigord FranceDied18 August 1563 1563 08 18 aged 32 Germignan near Bordeaux FranceEducationCollege of Guienne University of OrleansEraRenaissance philosophy 16th century philosophyRegionWestern philosophy French philosophySchoolFrench Renaissance Renaissance humanismMain interestsClassical studies legal philosophy poetry political philosophyNotable ideasVoluntary servitudeInfluences Machiavelli MontaigneInfluenced Montaigne Monarchomachs Bergerac Thoreau Rocker Milgio Rothbard Sharp Vaneigem Rockwell Holloway Newman 1 Contents 1 Life 2 Writings 3 Influence 4 Gallery 5 Bibliography 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksLife EditLa Boetie was born in Sarlat in the Perigord region of southwest France in 1530 to an aristocratic family His father was a royal official of the Perigord region and his mother was the sister of the president of the Bordeaux Parliament assembly of lawyers Orphaned at an early age he was brought up by his uncle and namesake the curate of Bouilbonnas and received his law degree from the University of Orleans in 1553 His great and precocious ability earned La Boetie a royal appointment to the Bordeaux Parliament the following year despite his being under the minimum age There he pursued a distinguished career as judge and diplomatic negotiator until his untimely death from illness in 1563 at the age of thirty two La Boetie was also a distinguished poet and humanist translating Xenophon and Plutarch and being closely connected with the leading young Pleiade group of poets including Pierre de Ronsard Jean Daurat and Jean Antoine de Baif 6 La Boetie was favorable to the conciliation of Catholicism and Protestantism warned of the dangerous and divisive consequences of permitting two religions which could lead to two opposed states in the same country The most he would have allowed the Protestants was the right to worship in private and he pointed out their own intolerance of Catholics His policy for religious peace was one of conciliation and concord through reforms in the church that would eventually persuade the Protestants to reunite with Catholicism 7 He served with Montaigne in the Bordeaux parlement and is immortalized in Montaigne s essay on friendship Some historians 8 have questioned whether the two were lovers or not but each played influential roles in each other s lives regardless Writings EditLa Boetie s writings include a few sonnets translations from the classics and an essay attacking absolute monarchy and tyranny in general Discours de la servitude volontaire ou le Contr un Discourse on Voluntary Servitude or the Anti Dictator The essay asserts that tyrants have power because the people give it to them Liberty has been abandoned once by society which afterward stayed corrupted and prefers the slavery of the courtesan to the freedom of one who refuses to dominate as he refuses to obey Thus La Boetie linked obedience and domination a relationship which would be later theorised by latter anarchist thinkers By advocating a solution of simply refusing to support the tyrant he became one of the earliest advocates of civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance Murray N Rothbard summarizes La Boetie s political philosophy as follows To him the great mystery of politics was obedience to rulers Why in the world do people agree to be looted and otherwise oppressed by government overlords It is not just fear Boetie explains in the Discourse on Voluntary Servitude for our consent is required And that consent can be non violently withdrawn 6 It was once thought following Montaigne s claims that La Boetie wrote the essay in 1549 at the age of eighteen but recent authorities argue that it is likely that the Discourse was written in 1552 or 1553 at the age of twenty two while La Boetie was at the university 9 Some Montaigne scholars have argued that the essay was in fact the work of Montaigne himself The essay was circulated privately and not published until 1576 after La Boetie s death He died in Germignan near Bordeaux in 1563 His last days are described in a long letter from Montaigne to his own father Influence EditIn the 20th century many European anarchists began to cite La Boetie as an influence including Gustav Landauer Bart de Ligt and Simone Weil 10 Autonomist Marxist thinker John Holloway also cites him in his book Crack Capitalism in order to explain his idea of breaking with capitalism 11 Gene Sharp the leading theorist of nonviolent struggle cites his work frequently in both The Politics of Nonviolent Action and From Dictatorship to Democracy Gallery Edit Discours de la servitude volontaire Œuvres completes Complete Works 1892 La Boetie s home at Sarlat Birthplace of La BoetieBibliography EditŒuvres completes Editions William Blake amp Co 1991 ISBN 2905810602 Discours de la servitude volontaire Editions Mille et une nuits 1997 ISBN 2910233944 Discours de la servitude volontaire Editions Flammarion 1993 ISBN 2080703943 The Politics of Obedience The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude translated by Harry Kurz and with an introduction by Murray Rothbard Montreal New York London Black Rose Books 1997 ISBN 1551640899 The Politics of Obedience The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude translated by Harry Kurz and with an introduction by Murray Rothbard Free Life Editions 1975 ISBN 091415611X References Edit Voluntary Servitude Reconsidered The Anarchist Library Paul Bonnefon 1892 Œuvres completes d Estienne de La Boetie Bordeaux C Gounouilhou and Paris J Rouam et Cie pp 385 386 available online in pdf format at Gallica a b Keohane Nannerl O 1977 The Radical Humanism of Etienne De La Boetie Journal of the History of Ideas 38 1 119 130 doi 10 2307 2708844 JSTOR 2708844 Kurz Harry 1950 Montaigne and La Boetie in the Chapter on Friendship PMLA 65 4 483 530 doi 10 2307 459652 JSTOR 459652 S2CID 163176803 Mazzocchi Paul 2018 Desire Friendship and the Politics of Refusal The Utopian Afterlives of La Boetie s Discourse on Voluntary Servitude Utopian Studies 29 2 248 266 doi 10 5325 utopianstudies 29 2 0248 JSTOR 10 5325 utopianstudies 29 2 0248 S2CID 149508037 a b Murray Rothbard Ending Tyranny Without Violence Zagorin Perez 2013 How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West Princeton University Press ISBN 978 1306142809 OCLC 863671693 Aldrich Robert Wotherspoon Garry 2001 Who s who in Gay and Lesbian History From Antiquity to World War II Psychology Press ISBN 978 0415159821 Rockwell Lew 11 February 2011 p 38 n 2 Having remained long in manuscript the actual date of writing the Discourse of Voluntary Servitude remains a matter of dispute It seems clear however and has been so accepted by recent authorities that Montaigne s published story that La Boetie wrote the Discourse at the age of eighteen or even of sixteen was incorrect Montaigne s statement as we shall see further below was probably part of his later campaign to guard his dead friend s reputation by dissociating him from the revolutionary Huguenots who were claiming La Boetie s pamphlet for their own Extreme youth tended to cast the Discourse in the light of a work so youthful that the radical content was hardly to be taken seriously as the views of the author Internal evidence as well as the erudition expressed in the work make it likely that the Discourse was written in 1552 or 1553 at the age of twenty two while La Boetie was at the university See Paul Bonnefon 1892 pp 390 391 and Donald Frame Montaigne A Biography New York Harcourt Brace amp World 1965 p 71 37 38 n 2 Roland Bleiker 2000 Popular Dissent Human Agency and Global Politics Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521778298 pp 86 87 John Holloway Crack Capitalism Pluto Press 2010 p 6 ISBN 0745330088 978 0745330082 Further reading EditKeohane Nannerl O 1977 The Radical Humanism of Etienne de la Boetie Journal of the History of Ideas 38 119 130 Lablenie Edmond 1930 L Enigme de la Servitude Volontaire Revue du seizieme siecle 17 203 227 French Podoksik Efraim 2003 Estienne de La Boetie and the Politics of Obedience Bibliotheque d Humanisme et Renaissance LXV 1 83 95 Presley Sharon 2008 La Boetie Etienne de 1530 1563 In Hamowy Ronald ed The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism Thousand Oaks CA Sage Cato Institute p 277 doi 10 4135 9781412965811 n165 ISBN 978 1412965804 LCCN 2008009151 OCLC 750831024 External links EditEtienne de La Boetie at Wikipedia s sister projects Media from Commons Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource The Politics of Obedience The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude from The Ludwig von Mises Institute Online Edition PDF in English Discours de la servitude volontaire translated and with an introduction about its reception in French Text on Wikisource Poetry in French in Dutch Vertoog over de Vrijwillige Slavernij pdf Etiennedelaboetie net website dedicated to the works and life of Etienne de La Boetie in English German and French Etienne de La Boetie Against Voluntary Servitude Discourse on the fall of tyrants Online Exhibition 2012 Works by Etienne de La Boetie at LibriVox public domain audiobooks Portals Economics France Liberalism Libertarianism Philosophy Politics Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Etienne de La Boetie amp oldid 1130911754, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
