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Étienne or Estienne de La Boétie (; oc, Esteve de La Boetiá; 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. His early political treatise ''
Discourse on Voluntary Servitude The ''Discourse on Voluntary Servitude'' (french: Discours de la servitude volontaire) is an essay by Étienne de La Boétie. The text was published clandestinely in 1577. The date of preparation of the ''Discourse on Voluntary Servitude'' is un ...
'' was posthumously adopted by the Huguenot movement and is sometimes seen as an early influence on modern
anti-statist Anti-statism is any approach to social, economic or political philosophy that rejects statism. An anti-statist is one who opposes intervention by the state into personal, social and economic affairs. In anarchism, this is characterized by a comp ...
, utopian and
civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Henc ...
thought.


Life

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 Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...
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 Jean Daurat (Occitan: Joan Dorat; Latin: Auratus) (3 April 15081 November 1588) was a French poet, scholar and a member of a group known as '' The Pléiade''. Early life He was born Joan Dinemandy in Limoges and was a member of a noble family. ...
and Jean-Antoine de Baïf.
Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...

"Ending Tyranny Without Violence"
La Boétie was favorable to the conciliation of
Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and Protestantism; "warned of the dangerous and divisive consequences of permitting two
religions Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, t ...
, 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". He served with Montaigne in the
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...
'' parlement'' and is immortalized in Montaigne's essay on friendship. Some historians 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 Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constitut ...
and
tyranny A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to r ...
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 Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
has been abandoned once by society, which afterward stayed corrupted and prefers the slavery of the
courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or othe ...
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 Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...
thinkers. By advocating a solution of simply refusing to support the tyrant, he became one of the earliest advocates of
civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Henc ...
and nonviolent resistance.
Murray N. Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...
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.
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". 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 Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...
in 1563. His last days are described in a long letter from Montaigne to his own father.


Influence

In the 20th century, many European anarchists began to cite La Boétie as an influence, including Gustav Landauer,
Bart de Ligt Bartholomeus de Ligt (17 July 1883 – 3 September 1938) was a Dutch anarcho-pacifist and antimilitarist. He is chiefly known for his support of conscientious objectors. Life and work Born on 17 July 1883 in Schalkwijk, Utrecht, his father wa ...
and Simone Weil. Autonomist Marxist thinker John Holloway also cites him in his book '' Crack Capitalism'' in order to explain his idea of "breaking with capitalism".John Holloway. '' Crack Capitalism''. Pluto Press (2010). p. 6. . Gene Sharp, the leading theorist of nonviolent struggle, cites his work frequently in both '' The Politics of Nonviolent Action'' and ''
From Dictatorship to Democracy ''From Dictatorship to Democracy, A Conceptual Framework for Liberation'' is a book-length essay on the generic problem of how to destroy a dictatorship and to prevent the rise of a new one. The book was written in 1993 by Gene Sharp (1928-2018), a ...
''.


Gallery

File:LaBoétie001.jpg, ''Discours de la servitude volontaire'' File:La Boétie - Œuvres complètes Bonnefon 1892.djvu, ''Œuvres complètes'' (''Complete Works''), 1892 File:Sarlat - Maison de la Boétie - PA00082964 - 002.jpg, La Boétie's home at Sarlat File:Sarlat-medieval-city-by-night-13.jpg, Birthplace of La Boétie


Bibliography

* ''Œuvres complètes'', Editions William Blake & Co., 1991. . * ''Discours de la servitude volontaire'', Editions Mille et une nuits, 1997. . * ''Discours de la servitude volontaire'', Editions Flammarion, 1993. . * ''The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude'', translated by Harry Kurz and with an introduction by
Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...
, Montrèal/New York/London: Black Rose Books, 1997. . * ''The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude'', translated by Harry Kurz and with an introduction by
Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...
, Free Life Editions, 1975. .


References


Further reading

* 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 rench * Podoksik, Efraim (2003). 'Estienne de La Boëtie and the Politics of Obedience', ''Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance''. LXV(1): 83–95. *


External links

*
The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude
', from
The Ludwig von Mises Institute Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a libertarian nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, United States. It is named after the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973). It wa ...
, Online Edition (
PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems ...
). *
''Discours de la servitude volontaire'', translated and with an introduction about its reception
*
Text on Wikisource


*
Vertoog over de Vrijwillige Slavernij (pdf)

Etiennedelaboetie.net
– website dedicated to the works and life of Etienne de La Boétie *

Online-Exhibition (2012). * {{DEFAULTSORT:La Boetie, Etienne de 1530 births 1563 deaths People from Sarlat-la-Canéda Catholic philosophers French Roman Catholics Nonviolence advocates French political philosophers Renaissance philosophy 16th-century philosophers French philosophers French male writers Libertarian theorists Proto-anarchists 16th-century French poets French male poets College of Guienne alumni