Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Archives - Page 2 of 32

P.-J. Proudhon, “The Political Capacity of the Working Classes” (1865)

January 22, 2024 Shawn P. Wilbur

[These draft translations are part of on ongoing effort to establish an edition of Proudhon’s works in English. They are very much a first step, as there are lots of decisions about how best to render the texts which can only be answered in the course of the translation process. It seems important to share the work as it is completed, even in rough form, but the drafts are not suitable for scholarly work or publication elsewhere in their present state. — Shawn P. Wilbur, translator] de la capacité politique des classes ouvrières par P.-J. PROUDHON PARIS E. DENTU, LIBRAIRE-ÉDITEUR […]

Proudhon, “Economy” (Ms. 18255, BnF, excerpts)

December 12, 2023 Shawn P. Wilbur

These writings come from a manuscript held by the French national library, with the title “Economy.” Like the other manuscripts with that title, it appears to be from the early 1850s. This particular set of writings are not presented in that wonderfully readable script that Proudhon used when finishing manuscripts. Quite the contrary, much of the material here is written in a baffling scrawl, which takes multiple examinations to decipher. So there are almost certainly small errors, as well as the obvious gaps. Use with care. [18r] Literature. What the scribblers have called grandeur and decadence in literature, and in […]

Proudhon, “The Philosophy of Progress” (revised and expanded translation)

December 10, 2023 Shawn P. Wilbur

Proudhon’s Philosophy of Progress is one of those books that has simply become part of my basic intellectual toolkit, but in ways that I often forget — at least until I read it again and re-encounter all the delightful ideas and turns of phrase it contains. Returning to it over the last week has been a pleasure, but I’ve also felt a bit pressured to wrap up the preliminaries and get on to the notes on Justice in the Revolution and in the Church.

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Proudhon, “The Celebration of Sunday” (revised and expanded translation)

December 3, 2023 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’m a few days behind schedule getting the first notes on Justice together. Among other things, I’ve been trying to make the most of a narrow fall window to get our yard a little bit better adapted to changing conditions. But work is progressing. I should have test prints of the “text” editions of the first two volumes within a week, at which point I’ll make ordering copies an option for others, and I’ve been trying to shoehorn in the time to put together a companion volume collecting some pre-1858 texts that provide useful context.

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Readings in Popular and Practical Philosophy

November 23, 2023 Shawn P. Wilbur

With the translation of Proudhon’s Of Justice in the Revolution and in the Church now halfway through its first major revision, the time appears ripe for a more active sort of sharing of the text, in the form of a group reading. That is, however, no small task, given the length and complexity of the work — and the fact that I’m still wrestling the other half into shape, along with a variety of other related texts. So I’m going to try to take my cues from what work during the Constructing Anarchisms project, set myself a task that ought to facilitate the readings of others, establish some forums in which discussion is encouraged and then extend a general invitation to others to play along to whatever extend suits them.

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Justice in the Revolution and in the Church, Volume Two: Translator’s Notes

November 1, 2023 Shawn P. Wilbur

I have now uploaded the second volume of my working translation of Proudhon’s Of Justice in the Revolution and in the Church, which includes the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Studies, the second part of the essay “Bourgeoisie and Plebs” and two passages from the 1858 edition not included in the revised edition. These are revised drafts, with most of the problem passages resolved, but, as with the first volume, some notes will probably help to orient readers.

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P.-J. Proudhon, Correspondence related to the Studies in Popular Philosophy

September 6, 2023 Shawn P. Wilbur

Under the general title of Popular Philosophy, I begin an indefinite series of publications on all sorts of subjects, history, literature, political economy, morals, biography, etc., men and things. All this judged, appreciated, explained, interpreted with the aid of the new philosophical principle, the highest and most fruitful, at once objective and subjective, idea and sentiment, law of man and law of nature, justice. Give me five years of this popularization, and I dare say that the public, today tired, disgusted, skeptical, will again take courage and conceive what a philosophical system is, a kind of encyclopedia, whose principle, law, method, end, means, is right.

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Justice in the Revolution and in the Church, Volume One: Translator’s Notes

September 3, 2023 Shawn P. Wilbur

Revised drafts (pdf): Volume One: Program, Preliminary Address, First, Second and Third Studies Volume Two: Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Studies I have just uploaded the first volume of my working translation of Proudhon’s Of Justice in the Revolution and in the Church, which includes the Program, the Preliminary Address and first three Studies. These are revised drafts, with most of the problem passages resolved, but the following notes should give an idea of the present state and possible future revisions of the text. I’ll begin working on the revision of the next three Studies tomorrow, but will also try to […]

P.-J. Proudhon, “The Creation of Order in Humanity” — Chapter III

August 23, 2023 Shawn P. Wilbur

I must admit it at this solemn moment: what worries me is less the uncertainty of my route than the deep feeling of my weakness; the distractions of my life, and the misfortune of an entirely philosophical and religious education have hardly allowed me to learn anything. It’s not the design, it’s the materials that I lack for the reconstruction. All I know I owe to despair; fortune depriving me of the means of acquiring, I want one day, from shreds picked up during my short studies, to create a science by myself alone.

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P.-J. Proudhon, “The Creation of Order in Humanity” — Chapter II

August 19, 2023 Shawn P. Wilbur

Through Religion, the mind remains absorbed in substance: through Philosophy, it frees itself from this passive contemplation, and begins to seek the cause of the phenomena that pass before it, the force that incessantly moves and changes the stage of the world. Hence it is that Philosophy has been defined by some as the science of causes, a lying title, since the cause is as impenetrable to us as the substance.

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The Libertarian Labyrinth

Encounters with the Anarchist Idea / Tools for an Anarchist Entente

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon