Sylvain Maréchal (15 August 1750 – 18 January 1803) was a French essayist, poet, philosopher and political theorist, whose views presaged

utopian socialism Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...

and

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

. His views on a future

golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

are occasionally described as ''utopian anarchism''. He was editor of the newspaper .

Early life

Born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

as the son of a wine merchant, he studied

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

and became a lawyer in the capital. At the age of 20, he published , a collection of idylls, successful enough to ensure his employment at the Collège Mazirin as an aide-

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

. Maréchal was an admirer of

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

Claude Adrien Helvétius Claude Adrien Helvétius (; ; 26 January 1715 – 26 December 1771) was a French philosopher, freemason and ''littérateur''. Life Claude Adrien Helvétius was born in Paris, France, and was descended from a family of physicians, originally su ...

, and

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the '' Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promi ...

, and associated with

deist Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...

and atheist authors.

Vision

He developed his own views of an agrarian

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

where all goods would be

shared Shared may refer to: * Sharing * Shared ancestry or Common descent * Shared care * Shared-cost service * Shared decision-making in medicine * Shared delusion (disambiguation), Shared delusion, various meanings * Shared government * Shared intellig ...

. In ("Fragments of a Moral Poem on God"), he aimed to replace elements of practiced religion with a cult of Virtue and faith with Reason (''see

Cult of Reason The Cult of Reason (french: Culte de la Raison) was France's first established state-sponsored atheistic religion, intended as a replacement for Roman Catholicism during the French Revolution. After holding sway for barely a year, in 1794 it ...

''). His critique of both religion and

political absolutism Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

( - "Book Salvaged from the Flood", a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

) and his atheism caused him to lose his position at the College; Maréchal was forced to live off his literary output. In 1788, he was sentenced to four months in prison for publishing the ("Honest Man's Almanac"). The months were given names numbered one through twelve (for example, March is the first month, listed as "", while February is "". The calendar also replaced the usual figures of a calendars of saints with famous characters (such as Blaise Pascal). Later editions of the ''Almanach'' used the French Republican Calendar. From this moment on until his death he published

anonymously Anonymity describes situations where the acting person's identity is unknown. Some writers have argued that namelessness, though technically correct, does not capture what is more centrally at stake in contexts of anonymity. The important idea he ...

- to prevent further prosecutions.

Atheist ideology

During Maréchal's lifetime, atheism was consistently frowned upon by the highly religious people of France. Living in a traditionalist Christian country, he would often write about his thoughts on the church, often critical of the doctrines and beliefs held by the Christians of his time. In his 1799 essay, ''Preliminary discourse, or Answer to the question: What is an atheist?'', Sylvain Maréchal proclaimed that he had no more need of God than God needed him, and proclaimed such an attitude was "true atheism" after rejecting several competing stances. He outright rejected the idea of masters ruling his life, and that included the will of any god. For him, to believe in God is to submit to hierarchy.

Revolution

An enthusiastic supporter of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, Maréchal also advocated the defense of the poor. He did not become involved in the conflict opposing

Girondist The Girondins ( , ), or Girondists, were members of a loosely knit political faction during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnard ...

s and

Jacobins , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = P ...

, and became instead worried about the outcome of revolutionary events, especially after the

Thermidorian Reaction The Thermidorian Reaction (french: Réaction thermidorienne or ''Convention thermidorienne'', "Thermidorian Convention") is the common term, in the historiography of the French Revolution, for the period between the ousting of Maximilien Robespie ...

and the establishment of the French Directory. The encounter between him and

François-Noël Babeuf François-Noël Babeuf (; 23 November 1760 – 27 May 1797), also known as Gracchus Babeuf, was a French proto-communist, revolutionary, and journalist of the French Revolutionary period. His newspaper ''Le tribun du peuple'' (''The Tribune of ...

(''Gracchus Babeuf'') and involvement in the latter's

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...

was to find in Maréchal an early influence on

, as evidenced by the manifesto he wrote in support of Babeuf's goals - (first issued in 1796). His later works include an 1801 ("Bill Defending the Teaching of Reading Skills to Women"), which relates to subject matter of

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

and

egalitarianism Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...

, as well as a ("Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Atheists"). He died at

Montrouge Montrouge () is a commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. After a long period of decline, the population has increased again in recent years. ...

in 1803.

Works

* (1770) * (1770) * (1775) * (1780) * * (1781) * (1782) * (1784) * (1788) * (1788) * (1788) * (1791) * (théâtre, 1793) * (1798) * (1798) * (1798) * (1799) * (1800) * (1801). * (1801)

Works in English translation

*''The Woman Priest: A Translation of Sylvain Marechal's Novella, "La femme abbe" '', translated by Sheila Delany, 2016, University of Alberta Press.

References

External links

Sylvain Maréchal's essays translated in English at Marxist Internet Archive

Sylvain Maréchal
on data.bnf.fr * * * Archive o
Pierre Sylvain Maréchal Papers
at the

International Institute of Social History The International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG) is one of the largest archives of labor and social history in the world. Located in Amsterdam, its one million volumes and 2,300 archival collections include the papers of major figu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marechal, Sylvain 18th-century atheists 18th-century French male writers 18th-century French poets 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights French opera librettists French philosophers French atheists Atheist philosophers French communists French socialists Enlightenment philosophers 18th-century French lawyers French erotica writers Newspaper editors of the French Revolution People involved in the Conspiracy of the Equals French male essayists Writers from Paris 1750 births 1803 deaths 18th-century essayists 19th-century atheists 18th-century socialists Proto-anarchists