1743-1794

French Mathematician and Social Philosopher

Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat, better known by his title, marquis de Condorcet, was among the last of the social commentators known as philosophes, a group that had included Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and Voltaire (1694-1778). A nobleman trained as a mathematician, Condorcet sought to apply mathematical study to social problems, and is considered among the founding fathers of the social sciences.

Born at Ribemont in Picardy on September 17, 1743, de Caritat would later receive the title marquis de Condorcet, which referred to the town of Condorcet in Dauphiné. He studied at the Jesuit college in Reims, and later at the Collège de Navarre in Paris before going on to the Collège Mazarin, also in Paris.

Condorcet published his first significant work, Essai sur le calcul intégral, in 1765, when he was just 22 years...