file which includes the original        
illustration4       ,see #cfefh-;h4htm  
or #cfefh-;h4zip3                       
7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/cache_/epu
b_/#cfefh_/pg#cfefh-;images4html7       
or                                      
7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/files_/#cf
efh_/cfefh-;h4zip7      ,,god ,,and     
,,the ,,state  by  ,,michael ,,bakunin  
,mother ,earth ,publishing ,association 
,illustration3 ,,michael ,,bakunin      
,,god ,,and ,,the ,,state  by  ,,michael
 ,,bakunin  ,with a ,preface by ,carlo  
,cafiero and ,elisee ,reclus  ,first    
,american ,edition        ,mother ,earth
 ,publishing ,association #bj ,east     
#abeth ,street ,new ,york ,city         
,preface to the ,first ,french ,edition 
,one of us is soon to tell in all its   
details the story of the life of        
,michael ,bakunin1 but its general      
features are already sufficiently       
familiar4 ,friends and enemies know that
 this man was great in thought1 will1   
persistent energy2 they know also with  

what lofty contempt he looked down upon 
wealth1 rank1 glory1 all the wretched   
ambitions which most human beings are   
base enough to entertain4 ,a ,russian   
gentleman related by marriage to the    
highest nobility of the empire1 he was  
one of the first to enter that intrepid 
society of rebels who were able to      
release themselves from traditions1     
prejudices1 race and class interests1   
and set their own comfort at naught4    
,with them he fought the stern battle of
 life1 aggravated by imprisonment1      
exile1 all the dangers and all the      
sorrows that men of self-sacrifice have 
to undergo during their tormented       
existence4  ,a simple stone and a name  
mark the spot in the cemetery of ,berne 
where was laid the body of ,bakunin4    
,even that is perhaps too much to honor 
the memory of a worker who held vanities
 of that sort in such slight esteem4    
,his friends surely will raise to him no
 ostentatious tombstone or statue4 ,they
 know with what a huge laugh he would   

have received them1 had they spoken to  
him of a commemorative structure erected
 to his glory2 they knew1 too1 that the 
true way to honor their dead is to      
continue their work--with the same ardor
 and perseverance that they themselves  
brought to it4 ,in this case1 indeed1 a 
difficult task demanding all our        
efforts1 for among the revolutionists of
 the present generation not one has     
labored more fervently in the common    
cause of the ,revolution4  ,in ,russia  
among the students1 in ,germany among   
the insurgents of ,dresden1 in ,siberia 
among his brothers in exile1 in         
,america1 in ,england1 in ,france1 in   
,switzerland1 in ,italy1 among all      
earnest men1 his direct influence has   
been considerable4 ,the originality of  
his ideas1 the imagery and vehemence of 
his eloquence1 his untiring zeal in     
propagandism1 helped too by the natural 
majesty of his person and by a powerful 
vitality1 gave ,bakunin access to all   
the revolutionary groups1 and his       

efforts left deep traces everywhere1    
even upon those who1 after having       
welcomed him1 thrust him out because of 
a difference of object or method4 ,his  
correspondence was most extensive2 he   
passed entire nights in preparing long  
letters to his friends in the           
revolutionary world1 and some of these  
letters1 written to strengthen the      
timid1 arouse the sluggish1 and outline 
plans of propagandism or revolt1 took on
 the proportions of veritable volumes4  
,these letters more than anything else  
explain the prodigious work of ,bakunin 
in the revolutionary movement of the    
century4 ,the pamphlets published by    
him1 in ,russian1 ,french1 and ,italian1
 however important they may be1 and     
however useful they may have been in    
spreading the new ideas1 are the        
smallest part of ,bakunin's work4  ,the 
present memoir1 ,god and the ,state1 is 
really a fragment of a letter or report4
 ,composed in the same manner as most of
 ,bakunin's other writings1 it has the  

same literary fault1 lack of proportion2
 moreover it breaks off abruptly3 we    
have searched in vain to discover the   
end of the manuscript4 ,bakunin never   
had the time necessary to finish all the
 tasks he undertook4 ,one work was not  
completed when others were already under
 way4 ,my life itself is a fragment1 he 
said to those who criticised his        
writings4 ,nevertheless1 the readers of 
,god and the ,state certainly will not  
regret that ,bakunin's memoir1          
incomplete though it be1 has been       
published4 ,the questions discussed in  
it are treated decisively and with a    
singular vigor of logic4 ,rightly       
addressing himself only to his honest   
opponents1 ,bakunin demonstrates to them
 the emptiness of their belief in that  
divine authority on which all temporal  
authorities are founded2 he proves to   
them the purely human genesis of all    
governments2 finally1 without stopping  
to discuss those bases of the ,state    
already condemned by public morality1   

such as physical superiority1 violence1 
nobility1 wealth1 he does justice to the
 theory which would entrust science with
 the government of societies4 ,supposing
 even that it were possible to          
recognize1 amid the conflict of rival   
ambitions and intrigues1 who are the    
pretenders and who are the real savants1
 and that a method of election could be 
found which would not fail to lodge the 
power in the hands of those whose       
knowledge is authentic1 what guarantee  
could they offer us of the wisdom and   
honesty of their government8 ,on the    
contrary1 can we not foresee in these   
new masters the same follies and the    
same crimes found in those of former    
days and of the present time8 ,in the   
first place1 science is not3 it is      
becoming4 ,the learned man of to-day is 
but the know-nothing of to-morrow4 ,let 
him once imagine that he has reached the
 end1 and for that very reason he sinks 
beneath even the babe just born4 ,but1  
could he recognize truth in its essence1

 he can only corrupt himself by         
privilege and corrupt others by power4  
,to establish his government1 he must   
try1 like all chiefs of ,state1 to      
arrest the life of the masses moving    
below him1 keep them in ignorance in    
order to preserve quiet1 and gradually  
debase them that he may rule them from a
 loftier throne4  ,for the rest1 since  
the doctrinaires made their appearance1 
the true or pretended genius has been   
trying his hand at wielding the sceptre 
of the world1 and we know what it has   
cost us4 ,we have seen them at work1 all
 these savants3 the more hardened the   
more they have studied2 the narrower in 
their views the more time they have     
spent in examining some isolated fact in
 all its aspects2 without any experience
 of life1 because they have long known  
no other horizon than the walls of their
 cheese2 childish in their passions and 
vanities1 because they have been unable 
to participate in serious struggles and 
have never learned the true proportion  

of things4 ,have we not recently        
witnessed the foundation of a whole     
school of thinkers--wretched courtiers1 
too1 and people of unclean lives--who   
have constructed a whole cosmogony for  
their sole use8 ,according to them1     
worlds have been created1 societies have
 developed1 revolutions have overturned 
nations1 empires have gone down in      
blood1 poverty1 disease1 and death have 
been the queens of humanity1 only to    
raise up an elite of academicians1 the  
full-blown flower1 of which all other   
men are but the manure4 ,that these     
editors of the ,temps and the ,debats   
may have leisure to think1 nations live 
and die in ignorance2 all other human   
beings are destined for death in order  
that these gentlemen may become         
immortal6  ,but we may reassure         
ourselves3 all these academicians will  
not have the audacity of ,alexander in  
cutting with his sword the ,gordian     
knot2 they will not lift the blade of   
,charlemagne4 ,government by science is 

becoming as impossible as that of divine
 right1 wealth1 or brute force4 ,all    
powers are henceforth to be submitted to
 pitiless criticism4 ,men in whom the   
sentiment of equality is born suffer    
themselves no longer to be governed2    
they learn to govern themselves4 ,in    
precipitating from the heights of the   
heavens him from whom all power is      
reputed to descend1 societies unseat    
also all those who reigned in his name4 
,such is the revolution now in progress4
 ,states are breaking up to give place  
to a new order1 in which1 as ,bakunin   
was fond of saying1 human justice will  
be substituted for divine justice4 ,if  
it is allowable to cite any one name    
from those of the revolutionists who    
have taken part in this immense work of 
renovation1 there is not one that may be
 singled out with more justice than that
 of ,michael ,bakunin4                  
,carlo ,cafiero4                        
,elisee ,reclus4     ,,god ,,and ,,the  
,,state   ,who are right1 the idealists 

or the materialists8 ,the question once 
stated in this way hesitation becomes   
impossible4 ,undoubtedly the idealists  
are wrong and the materialists right4   
,yes1 facts are before ideas2 yes1 the  
ideal1 as ,proudhon said1 is but a      
flower1 whose root lies in the material 
conditions of existence4 ,yes1 the whole
 history of humanity1 intellectual and  
moral1 political and social1 is but a   
reflection of its economic history4     
,all branches of modern science1 of true
 and disinterested science1 concur in   
proclaiming this grand truth1           
fundamental and decisive3 ,the social   
world1 properly speaking1 the human     
world--in short1 humanity--is nothing   
other than the last and supreme         
development--at least on our planet and 
as far as we know--the highest          
manifestation of animality4 ,but as     
every development necessarily implies a 
negation1 that of its base or point of  
departure1 humanity is at the same time 
and essentially the deliberate and      

gradual negation of the animal element  
in man2 and it is precisely this        
negation1 as rational as it is natural1 
and rational only because natural--at   
once historical and logical1 as         
inevitable as the development and       
realization of all the natural laws in  
the world--that constitutes and creates 
the ideal1 the world of intellectual and
 moral convictions1 ideas4  ,yes1 our   
first ancestors1 our ,adams and our     
,eves1 were1 if not gorillas1 very near 
relatives of gorillas1 omnivorous1      
intelligent and ferocious beasts1       
endowed in a higher degree than the     
animals of any other species with two   
precious faculties--the power to think  
and the desire to rebel4  ,these        
faculties1 combining their progressive  
action in history1 represent the        
essential factor1 the negative power in 
the positive development of human       
animality1 and create consequently all  
that constitutes humanity in man4  ,the 
,bible1 which is a very interesting and 

here and there very profound book when  
considered as one of the oldest         
surviving manifestations of human wisdom
 and fancy1 expresses this truth very   
naively in its myth of original sin4    
,jehovah1 who of all the good gods      
adored by men was certainly the most    
jealous1 the most vain1 the most        
ferocious1 the most unjust1 the most    
bloodthirsty1 the most despotic1 and the
 most hostile to human dignity and      
liberty--,jehovah had just created ,adam
 and ,eve1 to satisfy we know not what  
caprice2 no doubt to while away his     
time1 which must weigh heavy on his     
hands in his eternal egoistic solitude1 
or that he might have some new slaves4  
,he generously placed at their disposal 
the whole earth1 with all its fruits and
 animals1 and set but a single limit to 
this complete enjoyment4 ,he expressly  
forbade them from touching the fruit of 
the tree of knowledge4 ,he wished1      
therefore1 that man1 destitute of all   
understanding of himself1 should remain 

an eternal beast1 ever on all-fours     
before the eternal ,god1 his creator and
 his master4 ,but here steps in ,satan1 
the eternal rebel1 the first freethinker
 and the emancipator of worlds4 ,he     
makes man ashamed of his bestial        
ignorance and obedience2 he emancipates 
him1 stamps upon his brow the seal of   
liberty and humanity1 in urging him to  
disobey and eat of the fruit of         
knowledge4  ,we know what followed4 ,the
 good ,god1 whose foresight1 which is   
one of the divine faculties1 should have
 warned him of what would happen1 flew  
into a terrible and ridiculous rage2 he 
cursed ,satan1 man1 and the world       
created by himself1 striking himself so 
to speak in his own creation1 as        
children do when they get angry2 and1   
not content with smiting our ancestors  
themselves1 he cursed them in all the   
generations to come1 innocent of the    
crime committed by their forefathers4   
,our ,catholic and ,protestant          
theologians look upon that as very      

profound and very just1 precisely       
because it is monstrously iniquitous and
 absurd4 ,then1 remembering that he was 
not only a ,god of vengeance and wrath1 
but also a ,god of love1 after having   
tormented the existence of a few        
milliards of poor human beings and      
condemned them to an eternal hell1 he   
took pity on the rest1 and1 to save them
 and reconcile his eternal and divine   
love with his eternal and divine anger1 
always greedy for victims and blood1 he 
sent into the world1 as an expiatory    
victim1 his only son1 that he might be  
killed by men4 ,that is called the      
mystery of the ,redemption1 the basis of
 all the ,christian religions4 ,still1  
if the divine ,savior had saved the     
human world6 ,but no2 in the paradise   
promised by ,christ1 as we know1 such   
being the formal announcement1 the elect
 will number very few4 ,the rest1 the   
immense majority of the generations     
present and to come1 will burn eternally
 in hell4 ,in the meantime1 to console  

us1 ,god1 ever just1 ever good1 hands   
over the earth to the government of the 
,napoleon ,thirds1 of the ,william      
,firsts1 of the ,ferdinands of ,austria1
 and of the ,alexanders of all the      
,russias4  ,such are the absurd tales   
that are told and the monstrous         
doctrines that are taught1 in the full  
light of the nineteenth century1 in all 
the public schools of ,europe1 at the   
express command of the government4 ,they
 call this civilizing the people6 ,is it
 not plain that all these governments   
are systematic poisoners1 interested    
stupefiers of the masses8  ,i have      
wandered from my subject1 because anger 
gets hold of me whenever ,i think of the
 base and criminal means which they     
employ to keep the nations in perpetual 
slavery1 undoubtedly that they may be   
the better able to fleece them4 ,of what
 consequence are the crimes of all the  
,tropmanns in the world compared with   
this crime of treason against humanity  
committed daily1 in broad day1 over the 

whole surface of the civilized world1 by
 those who dare to call themselves the  
guardians and the fathers of the people8
 ,i return to the myth of original sin4 
,god admitted that ,satan was right2 he 
recognized that the devil did not       
deceive ,adam and ,eve in promising them
 knowledge and liberty as a reward for  
the act of disobedience which he had    
induced them to commit2 for1 immediately
 they had eaten of the forbidden fruit1 
,god himself said 7see ,bible73 ,behold1
 the man is become as one of the gods1  
to know good and evil2 prevent him1     
therefore1 from eating of the fruit of  
eternal life1 lest he become immortal   
like ,ourselves4  ,let us disregard now 
the fabulous portion of this myth and   
consider its true meaning1 which is very
 clear4 ,man has emancipated himself2 he
 has separated himself from animality   
and constituted himself a man2 he has   
begun his distinctively human history   
and development by an act of            
disobedience and science--that is1 by   

rebellion and by thought4         99    
99     99     99     99  ,three elements
 or1 if you like1 three fundamental     
principles constitute the essential     
conditions of all human development1    
collective or individual1 in history3   
7#a7 human animality2 7#b7 thought2 and 
7#c7 rebellion4 ,to the first properly  
corresponds social and private economy2 
to the second1 science2 to the third1   
liberty4         99     99     99     99
     99  ,idealists of all schools1     
aristocrats and bourgeois1 theologians  
and metaphysicians1 politicians and     
moralists1 religionists1 philosophers1  
or poets1 not forgetting the liberal    
economists--unbounded worshippers of the
 ideal1 as we know--are much offended   
when told that man1 with his magnificent
 intelligence1 his sublime ideas1 and   
his boundless aspirations1 is1 like all 
else existing in the world1 nothing but 
matter1 only a product of vile matter4  
,we may answer that the matter of which 
materialists speak1 matter spontaneously

 and eternally mobile1 active1          
productive1 matter chemically or        
organically determined and manifested by
 the properties or forces1 mechanical1  
physical1 animal1 and intelligent1 which
 necessarily belong to it--that this    
matter has nothing in common with the   
vile matter of the idealists4 ,the      
latter1 a product of their false        
abstraction1 is indeed a stupid1        
inanimate1 immobile thing1 incapable of 
giving birth to the smallest product1 a 
caput mortuum1 an ugly fancy in contrast
 to the beautiful fancy which they call 
,god2 as the opposite of this supreme   
being1 matter1 their matter1 stripped by
 them of all that constitutes its real  
nature1 necessarily represents supreme  
nothingness4 ,they have taken away from 
matter intelligence1 life1 all its      
determining qualities1 active relations 
or forces1 motion itself1 without which 
matter would not even have weight1      
leaving it nothing but impenetrability  
and absolute immobility in space2 they  

have attributed all these natural       
forces1 properties1 and manifestations  
to the imaginary being created by their 
abstract fancy2 then1 interchanging     
roles1 they have called this product of 
their imagination1 this phantom1 this   
,god who is nothing1 supreme ,being1    
and1 as a necessary consequence1 have   
declared that the real being1 matter1   
the world1 is nothing4 ,after which they
 gravely tell us that this matter is    
incapable of producing anything1 not    
even of setting itself in motion1 and   
consequently must have been created by  
their ,god4  ,at the end of this book ,i
 exposed the fallacies and truly        
revolting absurdities to which one is   
inevitably led by this imagination of a 
,god1 let him be considered as a        
personal being1 the creator and         
organizer of worlds2 or even as         
impersonal1 a kind of divine soul spread
 over the whole universe and            
constituting thus its eternal principle2
 or let him be an idea1 infinite and    

divine1 always present and active in the
 world1 and always manifested by the    
totality of material and definite       
beings4 ,here ,i shall deal with one    
point only4  ,the gradual development of
 the material world1 as well as of      
organic animal life and of the          
historically progressive intelligence of
 man1 individually or socially1 is      
perfectly conceivable4 ,it is a wholly  
natural movement from the simple to the 
complex1 from the lower to the higher1  
from the inferior to the superior2 a    
movement in conformity with all our     
daily experiences1 and consequently in  
conformity also with our natural logic1 
with the distinctive laws of our mind1  
which being formed and developed only by
 the aid of these same experiences1 is1 
so to speak1 but the mental1 cerebral   
reproduction or reflected summary       
thereof4  ,the system of the idealists  
is quite the contrary of this4 ,it is   
the reversal of all human experiences   
and of that universal and common good   

sense which is the essential condition  
of all human understanding1 and which1  
in rising from the simple and           
unanimously recognized truth that twice 
two are four to the sublimest and most  
complex scientific                      
considerations--admitting1 moreover1    
nothing that has not stood the severest 
tests of experience or observation of   
things and facts--becomes the only      
serious basis of human knowledge4  ,very
 far from pursuing the natural order    
from the lower to the higher1 from the  
inferior to the superior1 and from the  
relatively simple to the more complex2  
instead of wisely and rationally        
accompanying the progressive and real   
movement from the world called inorganic
 to the world organic1 vegetables1      
animal1 and then distinctively          
human--from chemical matter or chemical 
being to living matter or living being1 
and from living being to thinking       
being--the idealists1 obsessed1 blinded1
 and pushed on by the divine phantom    

which they have inherited from theology1
 take precisely the opposite course4    
,they go from the higher to the lower1  
from the superior to the inferior1 from 
the complex to the simple4 ,they begin  
with ,god1 either as a person or as     
divine substance or idea1 and the first 
step that they take is a terrible fall  
from the sublime heights of the eternal 
ideal into the mire of the material     
world2 from absolute perfection into    
absolute imperfection2 from thought to  
being1 or rather1 from supreme being to 
nothing4 ,when1 how1 and why the divine 
being1 eternal1 infinite1 absolutely    
perfect1 probably weary of himself1     
decided upon this desperate salto       
mortale is something which no idealist1 
no theologian1 no metaphysician1 no     
poet1 has ever been able to understand  
himself or explain to the profane4 ,all 
religions1 past and present1 and all the
 systems of transcendental philosophy   
hinge on this unique and iniquitous     
mystery4#a ,holy men1 inspired          

lawgivers1 prophets1 messiahs1 have     
searched it for life1 and found only    
torment and death4 ,like the ancient    
sphinx1 it has devoured them1 because   
they could not explain it4 ,great       
philosophers1 from ,heraclitus and      
,plato down to ,descartes1 ,spinoza1    
,leibnitz1 ,kant1 ,fichte1 ,schelling1  
and ,hegel1 not to mention the ,indian  
philosophers1 have written heaps of     
volumes and built systems as ingenious  
as sublime1 in which they have said by  
the way many beautiful and grand things 
and discovered immortal truths1 but they
 have left this mystery1 the principal  
object of their transcendental          
investigations1 as unfathomable as      
before4 ,the gigantic efforts of the    
most wonderful geniuses that the world  
has known1 and who1 one after another1  
for at least thirty centuries1 have     
undertaken anew this labor of ,sisyphus1
 have resulted only in rendering this   
mystery still more incomprehensible4 ,is
 it to be hoped that it will be unveiled

 to us by the routine speculations of   
some pedantic disciple of an            
artificially warmed-over metaphysics at 
a time when all living and serious      
spirits have abandoned that ambiguous   
science born of a                       
compromise--historically explicable no  
doubt--between the unreason of faith and
 sound scientific reason8  ,it is       
evident that this terrible mystery is   
inexplicable--that is1 absurd1 because  
only the absurd admits of no            
explanation4 ,it is evident that whoever
 finds it essential to his happiness and
 life must renounce his reason1 and     
return1 if he can1 to naive1 blind1     
stupid faith1 to repeat with            
,tertullianus and all sincere believers 
these words1 which sum up the very      
quintessence of theology3 ,credo quia   
absurdum4 ,then all discussion ceases1  
and nothing remains but the triumphant  
stupidity of faith4 ,but immediately    
there arises another question3 ,how     
comes an intelligent and well-informed  

man ever to feel the need of believing  
in this mystery8  ,nothing is more      
natural than that the belief in ,god1   
the creator1 regulator1 judge1 master1  
curser1 savior1 and benefactor of the   
world1 should still prevail among the   
people1 especially in the rural         
districts1 where it is more widespread  
than among the proletariat of the       
cities4 ,the people1 unfortunately1 are 
still very ignorant1 and are kept in    
ignorance by the systematic efforts of  
all the governments1 who consider this  
ignorance1 not without good reason1 as  
one of the essential conditions of their
 own power4 ,weighted down by their     
daily labor1 deprived of leisure1 of    
intellectual intercourse1 of reading1 in
 short of all the means and a good      
portion of the stimulants that develop  
thought in men1 the people generally    
accept religious traditions without     
criticism and in a lump4 ,these         
traditions surround them from infancy in
 all the situations of life1 and        

artificially sustained in their minds by
 a multitude of official poisoners of   
all sorts1 priests and laymen1 are      
transformed therein into a sort of      
mental and moral habit1 too often more  
powerful even than their natural good   
sense4  ,there is another reason which  
explains and in some sort justifies the 
absurd beliefs of the people--namely1   
the wretched situation to which they    
find themselves fatally condemned by the
 economic organization of society in the
 most civilized countries of ,europe4   
,reduced1 intellectually and morally as 
well as materially1 to the minimum of   
human existence1 confined in their life 
like a prisoner in his prison1 without  
horizon1 without outlet1 without even a 
future if we believe the economists1 the
 people would have the singularly narrow
 souls and blunted instincts of the     
bourgeois if they did not feel a desire 
to escape2 but of escape there are but  
three methods--two chimerical and a     
third real4 ,the first two are the      

dram-shop and the church1 debauchery of 
the body or debauchery of the mind2 the 
third is social revolution4 ,hence ,i   
conclude this last will be much more    
potent than all the theological         
propagandism of the freethinkers to     
destroy to their last vestige the       
religious beliefs and dissolute habits  
of the people1 beliefs and habits much  
more intimately connected than is       
generally supposed4 ,in substituting for
 the at once illusory and brutal        
enjoyments of bodily and spiritual      
licentiousness the enjoyments1 as       
refined as they are real1 of humanity   
developed in each and all1 the social   
revolution alone will have the power to 
close at the same time all the          
dram-shops and all the churches4  ,till 
then the people1 taken as a whole1 will 
believe2 and1 if they have no reason to 
believe1 they will have at least a      
right4  ,there is a class of people who1
 if they do not believe1 must at least  
make a semblance of believing4 ,this    

class1 comprising all the tormentors1   
all the oppressors1 and all the         
exploiters of humanity2 priests1        
monarchs1 statesmen1 soldiers1 public   
and private financiers1 officials of all
 sorts1 policemen1 gendarmes1 jailers   
and executioners1 monopolists1          
capitalists1 tax-leeches1 contractors   
and landlords1 lawyers1 economists1     
politicians of all shades1 down to the  
smallest vendor of sweetmeats1 all will 
repeat in unison those words of         
,voltaire3  ,if ,god did not exist1 it  
would be necessary to invent him4 ,for1 
you understand1 the people must have a  
religion4 ,that is the safety-valve4    
,there exists1 finally1 a somewhat      
numerous class of honest but timid souls
 who1 too intelligent to take the       
,christian dogmas seriously1 reject them
 in detail1 but have neither the courage
 nor the strength nor the necessary     
resolution to summarily renounce them   
altogether4 ,they abandon to your       
criticism all the special absurdities of

 religion1 they turn up their noses at  
all the miracles1 but they cling        
desperately to the principal absurdity2 
the source of all the others1 to the    
miracle that explains and justifies all 
the other miracles1 the existence of    
,god4 ,their ,god is not the vigorous   
and powerful being1 the brutally        
positive ,god of theology4 ,it is a     
nebulous1 diaphanous1 illusory being    
that vanishes into nothing at the first 
attempt to grasp it2 it is a mirage1 an 
ignis fatuus that neither warms nor     
illuminates4 ,and yet they hold fast to 
it1 and believe that1 were it to        
disappear1 all would disappear with it4 
,they are uncertain1 sickly souls1 who  
have lost their reckoning in the present
 civilization1 belonging to neither the 
present nor the future1 pale phantoms   
eternally suspended between heaven and  
earth1 and occupying exactly the same   
position between the politics of the    
bourgeois and the ,socialism of the     
proletariat4 ,they have neither the     

power nor the wish nor the determination
 to follow out their thought1 and they  
waste their time and pains in constantly
 endeavoring to reconcile the           
irreconcilable4 ,in public life these   
are known as bourgeois ,socialists4     
,with them1 or against them1 discussion 
is out of the question4 ,they are too   
puny4  ,but there are a few illustrious 
men of whom no one will dare to speak   
without respect1 and whose vigorous     
health1 strength of mind1 and good      
intention no one will dream of calling  
in question4 ,i need only cite the names
 of ,mazzini1 ,michelet1 ,quinet1 ,john 
,stuart ,mill4#b ,generous and strong   
souls1 great hearts1 great minds1 great 
writers1 and the first the heroic and   
revolutionary regenerator of a great    
nation1 they are all apostles of        
idealism and bitter despisers and       
adversaries of materialism1 and         
consequently of ,socialism also1 in     
philosophy as well as in politics4      
,against them1 then1 we must discuss    

this question4  ,first1 let it be       
remarked that not one of the illustrious
 men ,i have just named nor any other   
idealistic thinker of any consequence in
 our day has given any attention to the 
logical side of this question properly  
speaking4 ,not one has tried to settle  
philosophically the possibility of the  
divine salto mortale from the pure and  
eternal regions of spirit into the mire 
of the material world4 ,have they feared
 to approach this irreconcilable        
contradiction and despaired of solving  
it after the failures of the greatest   
geniuses of history1 or have they looked
 upon it as already sufficiently well   
settled8 ,that is their secret4 ,the    
fact is that they have neglected the    
theoretical demonstration of the        
existence of a ,god1 and have developed 
only its practical motives and          
consequences4 ,they have treated it as a
 fact universally accepted1 and1 as     
such1 no longer susceptible of any doubt
 whatever1 for sole proof thereof       

limiting themselves to the establishment
 of the antiquity and this very         
universality of the belief in ,god4     
,this imposing unanimity1 in the eyes of
 many illustrious men and writers to    
quote only the most famous of them who  
eloquently expressed it1 ,joseph de     
,maistre and the great ,italian patriot1
 ,giuseppe ,mazzini--is of more value   
than all the demonstrations of science2 
and if the reasoning of a small number  
of logical and even very powerful1 but  
isolated1 thinkers is against it1 so    
much the worse1 they say1 for these     
thinkers and their logic1 for universal 
consent1 the general and primitive      
adoption of an idea1 has always been    
considered the most triumphant testimony
 to its truth4 ,the sentiment of the    
whole world1 a conviction that is found 
and maintained always and everywhere1   
cannot be mistaken2 it must have its    
root in a necessity absolutely inherent 
in the very nature of man4 ,and since it
 has been established that all peoples1 

past and present1 have believed and     
still believe in the existence of ,god1 
it is clear that those who have the     
misfortune to doubt it1 whatever the    
logic that led them to this doubt1 are  
abnormal exceptions1 monsters4  ,thus1  
then1 the antiquity and universality of 
a belief should be regarded1 contrary to
 all science and all logic1 as          
sufficient and unimpeachable proof of   
its truth4 ,why8  ,until the days of    
,copernicus and ,galileo everybody      
believed that the sun revolved about the
 earth4 ,was not everybody mistaken8    
,what is more ancient and more universal
 than slavery8 ,cannibalism perhaps4    
,from the origin of historic society    
down to the present day there has been  
always and everywhere exploitation of   
the compulsory labor of the             
masses--slaves1 serfs1 or               
wage-workers--by some dominant minority2
 oppression of the people by the ,church
 and by the ,state4 ,must it be         
concluded that this exploitation and    

this oppression are necessities         
absolutely inherent in the very         
existence of human society8 ,these are  
examples which show that the argument of
 the champions of ,god proves nothing4  
,nothing1 in fact1 is as universal or as
 ancient as the iniquitous and absurd2  
truth and justice1 on the contrary1 are 
the least universal1 the youngest       
features in the development of human    
society4 ,in this fact1 too1 lies the   
explanation of a constant historical    
phenomenon--namely1 the persecution of  
which those who first proclaim the truth
 have been and continue to be the       
objects at the hands of the official1   
privileged1 and interested              
representatives of universal and ancient
 beliefs1 and often also at the hands of
 the same masses who1 after having      
tortured them1 always end by adopting   
their ideas and rendering them          
victorious4  ,to us materialists and    
,revolutionary ,socialists1 there is    
nothing astonishing or terrifying in    

this historical phenomenon4 ,strong in  
our conscience1 in our love of truth at 
all hazards1 in that passion for logic  
which of itself alone constitutes a     
great power and outside of which there  
is no thought2 strong in our passion for
 justice and in our unshakable faith in 
the triumph of humanity over all        
theoretical and practical bestialities2 
strong1 finally1 in the mutual          
confidence and support given each other 
by the few who share our convictions--we
 resign ourselves to all the            
consequences of this historical         
phenomenon1 in which we see the         
manifestation of a social law as        
natural1 as necessary1 and as invariable
 as all the other laws which govern the 
world4  ,this law is a logical1         
inevitable consequence of the animal    
origin of human society2 for in face of 
all the scientific1 physiological1      
psychological1 and historical proofs    
accumulated at the present day1 as well 
as in face of the exploits of the       

,germans conquering ,france1 which now  
furnish so striking a demonstration     
thereof1 it is no longer possible to    
really doubt this origin4 ,but from the 
moment that this animal origin of man is
 accepted1 all is explained4 ,history   
then appears to us as the revolutionary 
negation1 now slow1 apathetic1 sluggish1
 now passionate and powerful1 of the    
past4 ,it consists precisely in the     
progressive negation of the primitive   
animality of man by the development of  
his humanity4 ,man1 a wild beast1 cousin
 of the gorilla1 has emerged from the   
profound darkness of animal instinct    
into the light of the mind1 which       
explains in a wholly natural way all his
 past mistakes and partially consoles us
 for his present errors4 ,he has gone   
out from animal slavery1 and passing    
through divine slavery1 a temporary     
condition between his animality and his 
humanity1 he is now marching on to the  
conquest and realization of human       
liberty4 ,whence it results that the    

antiquity of a belief1 of an idea1 far  
from proving anything in its favor1     
ought1 on the contrary1 to lead us to   
suspect it4 ,for behind us is our       
animality and before us our humanity2   
human light1 the only thing that can    
warm and enlighten us1 the only thing   
that can emancipate us1 give us dignity1
 freedom1 and happiness1 and realize    
fraternity among us1 is never at the    
beginning1 but1 relatively to the epoch 
in which we live1 always at the end of  
history4 ,let us1 then1 never look back1
 let us look ever forward2 for forward  
is our sunlight1 forward our salvation4 
,if it is justifiable1 and even useful  
and necessary1 to turn back to study our
 past1 it is only in order to establish 
what we have been and what we must no   
longer be1 what we have believed and    
thought and what we must no longer      
believe or think1 what we have done and 
what we must do nevermore4  ,so much for
 antiquity4 ,as for the universality of 
an error1 it proves but one thing--the  

similarity1 if not the perfect identity1
 of human nature in all ages and under  
all skies4 ,and1 since it is established
 that all peoples1 at all periods of    
their life1 have believed and still     
believe in ,god1 we must simply conclude
 that the divine idea1 an outcome of    
ourselves1 is an error historically     
necessary in the development of         
humanity1 and ask why and how it was    
produced in history and why an immense  
majority of the human race still accept 
it as a truth4  ,until we shall account 
to ourselves for the manner in which the
 idea of a supernatural or divine world 
was developed and had to be developed in
 the historical evolution of the human  
conscience1 all our scientific          
conviction of its absurdity will be in  
vain2 until then we shall never succeed 
in destroying it in the opinion of the  
majority1 because we shall never be able
 to attack it in the very depths of the 
human being where it had birth4         
,condemned to a fruitless struggle1     

without issue and without end1 we should
 for ever have to content ourselves with
 fighting it solely on the surface1 in  
its innumerable manifestations1 whose   
absurdity will be scarcely beaten down  
by the blows of common sense before it  
will reappear in a new form no less     
nonsensical4 ,while the root of all the 
absurdities that torment the world1     
belief in ,god1 remains intact1 it will 
never fail to bring forth new offspring4
 ,thus1 at the present time1 in certain 
sections of the highest society1        
,spiritualism tends to establish itself 
upon the ruins of ,christianity4  ,it is
 not only in the interest of the masses1
 it is in that of the health of our own 
minds1 that we should strive to         
understand the historic genesis1 the    
succession of causes which developed and
 produced the idea of ,god in the       
consciousness of men4 ,in vain shall we 
call and believe ourselves ,atheists1   
until we comprehend these causes1 for1  
until then1 we shall always suffer      

ourselves to be more or less governed by
 the clamors of this universal          
conscience whose secret we have not     
discovered2 and1 considering the natural
 weakness of even the strongest         
individual against the all-powerful     
influence of the social surroundings    
that trammel him1 we are always in      
danger of relapsing sooner or later1 in 
one way or another1 into the abyss of   
religious absurdity4 ,examples of these 
shameful conversions are frequent in    
society to-day4         99     99     99
     99     99  ,i have stated the chief
 practical reason of the power still    
exercised to-day over the masses by     
religious beliefs4 ,these mystical      
tendencies do not signify in man so much
 an aberration of mind as a deep        
discontent at heart4 ,they are the      
instinctive and passionate protest of   
the human being against the narrowness1 
the platitudes1 the sorrows1 and the    
shame of a wretched existence4 ,for this
 malady1 ,i have already said1 there is 

but one remedy--,social ,revolution4    
,in the meantime ,i have endeavored to  
show the causes responsible for the     
birth and historical development of     
religious hallucinations in the human   
conscience4 ,here it is my purpose to   
treat this question of the existence of 
a ,god1 or of the divine origin of the  
world and of man1 solely from the       
standpoint of its moral and social      
utility1 and ,i shall say only a few    
words1 to better explain my thought1    
regarding the theoretical grounds of    
this belief4  ,all religions1 with their
 gods1 their demigods1 and their        
prophets1 their messiahs and their      
saints1 were created by the credulous   
fancy of men who had not attained the   
full development and full possession of 
their faculties4 ,consequently1 the     
religious heaven is nothing but a mirage
 in which man1 exalted by ignorance and 
faith1 discovers his own image1 but     
enlarged and reversed--that is1         
divinized4 ,the history of religions1 of

 the birth1 grandeur1 and decline of the
 gods who have succeeded one another in 
human belief1 is nothing1 therefore1 but
 the development of the collective      
intelligence and conscience of mankind4 
,as fast as they discovered1 in the     
course of their historically progressive
 advance1 either in themselves or in    
external nature1 a power1 a quality1 or 
even any great defect whatever1 they    
attributed them to their gods1 after    
having exaggerated and enlarged them    
beyond measure1 after the manner of     
children1 by an act of their religious  
fancy4 ,thanks to this modesty and pious
 generosity of believing and credulous  
men1 heaven has grown rich with the     
spoils of the earth1 and1 by a necessary
 consequence1 the richer heaven became1 
the more wretched became humanity and   
the earth4 ,god once installed1 he was  
naturally proclaimed the cause1 reason1 
arbiter1 and absolute disposer of all   
things3 the world thenceforth was       
nothing1 ,god was all2 and man1 his real

 creator1 after having unknowingly      
extracted him from the void1 bowed down 
before him1 worshipped him1 and avowed  
himself his creature and his slave4     
,christianity is precisely the religion 
par excellence1 because it exhibits and 
manifests1 to the fullest extent1 the   
very nature and essence of every        
religious system1 which is the          
impoverishment1 enslavement1 and        
annihilation of humanity for the benefit
 of divinity4  ,god being everything1   
the real world and man are nothing4 ,god
 being truth1 justice1 goodness1 beauty1
 power1 and life1 man is falsehood1     
iniquity1 evil1 ugliness1 impotence1 and
 death4 ,god being master1 man is the   
slave4 ,incapable of finding justice1   
truth1 and eternal life by his own      
effort1 he can attain them only through 
a divine revelation4 ,but whoever says  
revelation says revealers1 messiahs1    
prophets1 priests1 and legislators      
inspired by ,god himself2 and these1    
once recognized as the representatives  

of divinity on earth1 as the holy       
instructors of humanity1 chosen by ,god 
himself to direct it in the path of     
salvation1 necessarily exercise absolute
 power4 ,all men owe them passive and   
unlimited obedience2 for against the    
divine reason there is no human reason1 
and against the justice of ,god no      
terrestrial justice holds4 ,slaves of   
,god1 men must also be slaves of ,church
 and ,state1 in so far as the ,state is 
consecrated by the ,church4 ,this truth 
,christianity1 better than all other    
religions that exist or have existed1   
understood1 not excepting even the old  
,oriental religions1 which included only
 distinct and privileged nations1 while 
,christianity aspires to embrace entire 
humanity2 and this truth ,roman         
,catholicism1 alone among all the       
,christian sects1 has proclaimed and    
realized with rigorous logic4 ,that is  
why ,christianity is the absolute       
religion1 the final religion2 why the   
,apostolic and ,roman ,church is the    

only consistent1 legitimate1 and divine 
church4  ,with all due respect1 then1 to
 the metaphysicians and religious       
idealists1 philosophers1 politicians1 or
 poets3 ,the idea of ,god implies the   
abdication of human reason and justice2 
it is the most decisive negation of     
human liberty1 and necessarily ends in  
the enslavement of mankind1 both in     
theory and practice4  ,unless1 then1 we 
desire the enslavement and degradation  
of mankind1 as the ,jesuits desire it1  
as the momiers1 pietists1 or ,protestant
 ,methodists desire it1 we may not1 must
 not make the slightest concession      
either to the ,god of theology or to the
 ,god of metaphysics4 ,he who1 in this  
mystical alphabet1 begins with ,a will  
inevitably end with ,z2 he who desires  
to worship ,god must harbor no childish 
allusions about the matter1 but bravely 
renounce his liberty and humanity4  ,if 
,god is1 man is a slave2 now1 man can   
and must be free2 then1 ,god does not   
exist4  ,i defy anyone whomsoever to    

avoid this circle2 now1 therefore1 let  
all choose4  ,is it necessary to point  
out to what extent and in what manner   
religions debase and corrupt the people8
 ,they destroy their reason1 the        
principal instrument of human           
emancipation1 and reduce them to        
imbecility1 the essential condition of  
their slavery4 ,they dishonor human     
labor1 and make it a sign and source of 
servitude4 ,they kill the idea and      
sentiment of human justice1 ever tipping
 the balance to the side of triumphant  
knaves1 privileged objects of divine    
indulgence4 ,they kill human pride and  
dignity1 protecting only the cringing   
and humble4 ,they stifle in the heart of
 nations every feeling of human         
fraternity1 filling it with divine      
cruelty instead4  ,all religions are    
cruel1 all founded on blood2 for all    
rest principally on the idea of         
sacrifice--that is1 on the perpetual    
immolation of humanity to the insatiable
 vengeance of divinity4 ,in this bloody 

mystery man is always the victim1 and   
the priest--a man also1 but a man       
privileged by grace--is the divine      
executioner4 ,that explains why the     
priests of all religions1 the best1 the 
most humane1 the gentlest1 almost always
 have at the bottom of their            
hearts--and1 if not in their hearts1 in 
their imaginations1 in their minds 7and 
we know the fearful influence of either 
on the hearts of men7--something cruel  
and sanguinary4  ,none know all this    
better than our illustrious contemporary
 idealists4 ,they are learned men1 who  
know history by heart2 and1 as they are 
at the same time living men1 great souls
 penetrated with a sincere and profound 
love for the welfare of humanity1 they  
have cursed and branded all these       
misdeeds1 all these crimes of religion  
with an eloquence unparalleled4 ,they   
reject with indignation all solidarity  
with the ,god of positive religions and 
with his representatives1 past1 present1
 and on earth4  ,the ,god whom they     

adore1 or whom they think they adore1 is
 distinguished from the real gods of    
history precisely in this--that he is   
not at all a positive god1 defined in   
any way whatever1 theologically or even 
metaphysically4 ,he is neither the      
supreme being of ,robespierre and ,j4   
,j4 ,rousseau1 nor the pantheistic god  
of ,spinoza1 nor even the at once       
immanent1 transcendental1 and very      
equivocal god of ,hegel4 ,they take good
 care not to give him any positive      
definition whatever1 feeling very       
strongly that any definition would      
subject him to the dissolving power of  
criticism4 ,they will not say whether he
 is a personal or impersonal god1       
whether he created or did not create the
 world2 they will not even speak of his 
divine providence4 ,all that might      
compromise him4 ,they content themselves
 with saying ,god and nothing more4     
,but1 then1 what is their ,god8 ,not    
even an idea2 it is an aspiration4  ,it 
is the generic name of all that seems   

grand1 good1 beautiful1 noble1 human to 
them4 ,but why1 then1 do they not say1  
,man4 ,ah6 because ,king ,william of    
,prussia and ,napoleon ,,iii4 and all   
their compeers are likewise men3 which  
bothers them very much4 ,real humanity  
presents a mixture of all that is most  
sublime and beautiful with all that is  
vilest and most monstrous in the world4 
,how do they get over this8 ,why1 they  
call one divine and the other bestial1  
representing divinity and animality as  
two poles1 between which they place     
humanity4 ,they either will not or      
cannot understand that these three terms
 are really but one1 and that to        
separate them is to destroy them4  ,they
 are not strong on logic1 and one might 
say that they despise it4 ,that is what 
distinguishes them from the             
pantheistical and deistical             
metaphysicians1 and gives their ideas   
the character of a practical idealism1  
drawing its inspiration much less from  
the severe development of a thought than

 from the experiences1 ,i might almost  
say the emotions1 historical and        
collective as well as individual1 of    
life4 ,this gives their propaganda an   
appearance of wealth and vital power1   
but an appearance only2 for life itself 
becomes sterile when paralyzed by a     
logical contradiction4  ,this           
contradiction lies here3 they wish ,god1
 and they wish humanity4 ,they persist  
in connecting two terms which1 once     
separated1 can come together again only 
to destroy each other4 ,they say in a   
single breath3 ,god and the liberty of  
man1 ,god and the dignity1 justice1     
equality1 fraternity1 prosperity of     
men--regardless of the fatal logic by   
virtue of which1 if ,god exists1 all    
these things are condemned to           
non-existence4 ,for1 if ,god is1 he is  
necessarily the eternal1 supreme1       
absolute master1 and1 if such a master  
exists1 man is a slave2 now1 if he is a 
slave1 neither justice1 nor equality1   
nor fraternity1 nor prosperity are      

possible for him4 ,in vain1 flying in   
the face of good sense and all the      
teachings of history1 do they represent 
their ,god as animated by the tenderest 
love of human liberty3 a master1 whoever
 he may be and however liberal he may   
desire to show himself1 remains none the
 less always a master4 ,his existence   
necessarily implies the slavery of all  
that is beneath him4 ,therefore1 if ,god
 existed1 only in one way could he serve
 human liberty--by ceasing to exist4  ,a
 jealous lover of human liberty1 and    
deeming it the absolute condition of all
 that we admire and respect in humanity1
 ,i reverse the phrase of ,voltaire1 and
 say that1 if ,god really existed1 it   
would be necessary to abolish him4  ,the
 severe logic that dictates these words 
is far too evident to require a         
development of this argument4 ,and it   
seems to me impossible that the         
illustrious men1 whose names so         
celebrated and so justly respected ,i   
have cited1 should not have been struck 

by it themselves1 and should not have   
perceived the contradiction in which    
they involve themselves in speaking of  
,god and human liberty at once4 ,to have
 disregarded it1 they must have         
considered this inconsistency or logical
 license practically necessary to       
humanity's well-being4  ,perhaps1 too1  
while speaking of liberty as something  
very respectable and very dear in their 
eyes1 they give the term a meaning quite
 different from the conception          
entertained by us1 materialists and     
,revolutionary ,socialists4 ,indeed1    
they never speak of it without          
immediately adding another word1        
authority--a word and a thing which we  
detest with all our heart4  ,what is    
authority8 ,is it the inevitable power  
of the natural laws which manifest      
themselves in the necessary             
concatenation and succession of         
phenomena in the physical and social    
worlds8 ,indeed1 against these laws     
revolt is not only forbidden--it is even

 impossible4 ,we may misunderstand them 
or not know them at all1 but we cannot  
disobey them2 because they constitute   
the basis and fundamental conditions of 
our existence2 they envelop us1         
penetrate us1 regulate all our          
movements1 thoughts1 and acts2 even when
 we believe that we disobey them1 we    
only show their omnipotence4  ,yes1 we  
are absolutely the slaves of these laws4
 ,but in such slavery there is no       
humiliation1 or1 rather1 it is not      
slavery at all4 ,for slavery supposes an
 external master1 a legislator outside  
of him whom he commands1 while these    
laws are not outside of us2 they are    
inherent in us2 they constitute our     
being1 our whole being1 physically1     
intellectually1 and morally3 we live1 we
 breathe1 we act1 we think1 we wish only
 through these laws4 ,without them we   
are nothing1 we are not4 ,whence1 then1 
could we derive the power and the wish  
to rebel against them8  ,in his relation
 to natural laws but one liberty is     

possible to man--that of recognizing and
 applying them on an ever-extending     
scale in conformity with the object of  
collective and individual emancipation  
or humanization which he pursues4 ,these
 laws1 once recognized1 exercise an     
authority which is never disputed by the
 mass of men4 ,one must1 for instance1  
be at bottom either a fool or a         
theologian or at least a metaphysician1 
jurist1 or bourgeois economist to rebel 
against the law by which twice two make 
four4 ,one must have faith to imagine   
that fire will not burn nor water drown1
 except1 indeed1 recourse be had to some
 subterfuge founded in its turn on some 
other natural law4 ,but these revolts1  
or1 rather1 these attempts at or foolish
 fancies of an impossible revolt1 are   
decidedly the exception2 for1 in        
general1 it may be said that the mass of
 men1 in their daily lives1 acknowledge 
the government of common sense--that is1
 of the sum of the natural laws         
generally recognized--in an almost      

absolute fashion4  ,the great misfortune
 is that a large number of natural laws1
 already established as such by science1
 remain unknown to the masses1 thanks to
 the watchfulness of these tutelary     
governments that exist1 as we know1 only
 for the good of the people4 ,there is  
another difficulty--namely1 that the    
major portion of the natural laws       
connected with the development of human 
society1 which are quite as necessary1  
invariable1 fatal1 as the laws that     
govern the physical world1 have not been
 duly established and recognized by     
science itself4  ,once they shall have  
been recognized by science1 and then    
from science1 by means of an extensive  
system of popular education and         
instruction1 shall have passed into the 
consciousness of all1 the question of   
liberty will be entirely solved4 ,the   
most stubborn authorities must admit    
that then there will be no need either  
of political organization or direction  
or legislation1 three things which1     

whether they emanate from the will of   
the sovereign or from the vote of a     
parliament elected by universal         
suffrage1 and even should they conform  
to the system of natural laws--which has
 never been the case and never will be  
the case--are always equally fatal and  
hostile to the liberty of the masses    
from the very fact that they impose upon
 them a system of external and therefore
 despotic laws4  ,the liberty of man    
consists solely in this3 that he obeys  
natural laws because he has himself     
recognized them as such1 and not because
 they have been externally imposed upon 
him by any extrinsic will whatever1     
divine or human1 collective or          
individual4  ,suppose a learned academy1
 composed of the most illustrious       
representatives of science2 suppose this
 academy charged with legislation for   
and the organization of society1 and    
that1 inspired only by the purest love  
of truth1 it frames none but laws in    
absolute harmony with the latest        

discoveries of science4 ,well1 ,i       
maintain1 for my part1 that such        
legislation and such organization would 
be a monstrosity1 and that for two      
reasons3 first1 that human science is   
always and necessarily imperfect1 and   
that1 comparing what it has discovered  
with what remains to be discovered1 we  
may say that it is still in its cradle4 
,so that were we to try to force the    
practical life of men1 collective as    
well as individual1 into strict and     
exclusive conformity with the latest    
data of science1 we should condemn      
society as well as individuals to suffer
 martyrdom on a bed of ,procrustes1     
which would soon end by dislocating and 
stifling them1 life ever remaining an   
infinitely greater thing than science4  
,the second reason is this3 a society   
which should obey legislation emanating 
from a scientific academy1 not because  
it understood itself the rational       
character of this legislation 7in which 
case the existence of the academy would 

become useless71 but because this       
legislation1 emanating from the academy1
 was imposed in the name of a science   
which it venerated without              
comprehending--such a society would be a
 society1 not of men1 but of brutes4 ,it
 would be a second edition of those     
missions in ,paraguay which submitted so
 long to the government of the ,jesuits4
 ,it would surely and rapidly descend to
 the lowest stage of idiocy4  ,but there
 is still a third reason which would    
render such a government                
impossible--namely that a scientific    
academy invested with a sovereignty1 so 
to speak1 absolute1 even if it were     
composed of the most illustrious men1   
would infallibly and soon end in its own
 moral and intellectual corruption4     
,even to-day1 with the few privileges   
allowed them1 such is the history of all
 academies4 ,the greatest scientific    
genius1 from the moment that he becomes 
an academician1 an officially licensed  
savant1 inevitably lapses into          

sluggishness4 ,he loses his spontaneity1
 his revolutionary hardihood1 and that  
troublesome and savage energy           
characteristic of the grandest geniuses1
 ever called to destroy old tottering   
worlds and lay the foundations of new4  
,he undoubtedly gains in politeness1 in 
utilitarian and practical wisdom1 what  
he loses in power of thought4 ,in a     
word1 he becomes corrupted4  ,it is the 
characteristic of privilege and of every
 privileged position to kill the mind   
and heart of men4 ,the privileged man1  
whether politically or economically1 is 
a man depraved in mind and heart4 ,that 
is a social law which admits of no      
exception1 and is as applicable to      
entire nations as to classes1           
corporations1 and individuals4 ,it is   
the law of equality1 the supreme        
condition of liberty and humanity4 ,the 
principal object of this treatise is    
precisely to demonstrate this truth in  
all the manifestations of human life4   
,a scientific body to which had been    

confided the government of society would
 soon end by devoting itself no longer  
to science at all1 but to quite another 
affair2 and that affair1 as in the case 
of all established powers1 would be its 
own eternal perpetuation by rendering   
the society confided to its care ever   
more stupid and consequently more in    
need of its government and direction4   
,but that which is true of scientific   
academies is also true of all           
constituent and legislative assemblies1 
even those chosen by universal suffrage4
 ,in the latter case they may renew     
their composition1 it is true1 but this 
does not prevent the formation in a few 
years' time of a body of politicians1   
privileged in fact though not in law1   
who1 devoting themselves exclusively to 
the direction of the public affairs of a
 country1 finally form a sort of        
political aristocracy or oligarchy4     
,witness the ,united ,states of ,america
 and ,switzerland4  ,consequently1 no   
external legislation and no             

authority--one1 for that matter1 being  
inseparable from the other1 and both    
tending to the servitude of society and 
the degradation of the legislators      
themselves4  ,does it follow that ,i    
reject all authority8 ,far from me such 
a thought4 ,in the matter of boots1 ,i  
refer to the authority of the bootmaker2
 concerning houses1 canals1 or          
railroads1 ,i consult that of the       
architect or engineer4 ,for such or such
 special knowledge ,i apply to such or  
such a savant4 ,but ,i allow neither the
 bootmaker nor the architect nor the    
savant to impose his authority upon me4 
,i listen to them freely and with all   
the respect merited by their            
intelligence1 their character1 their    
knowledge1 reserving always my          
incontestable right of criticism and    
censure4 ,i do not content myself with  
consulting a single authority in any    
special branch2 ,i consult several2 ,i  
compare their opinions1 and choose that 
which seems to me the soundest4 ,but ,i 

recognize no infallible authority1 even 
in special questions2 consequently1     
whatever respect ,i may have for the    
honesty and the sincerity of such or    
such an individual1 ,i have no absolute 
faith in any person4 ,such a faith would
 be fatal to my reason1 to my liberty1  
and even to the success of my           
undertakings2 it would immediately      
transform me into a stupid slave1 an    
instrument of the will and interests of 
others4  ,if ,i bow before the authority
 of the specialists and avow my         
readiness to follow1 to a certain extent
 and as long as may seem to me          
necessary1 their indications and even   
their directions1 it is because their   
authority is imposed upon me by no one1 
neither by men nor by ,god4 ,otherwise  
,i would repel them with horror1 and bid
 the devil take their counsels1 their   
directions1 and their services1 certain 
that they would make me pay1 by the loss
 of my liberty and self-respect1 for    
such scraps of truth1 wrapped in a      

multitude of lies1 as they might give   
me4  ,i bow before the authority of     
special men because it is imposed upon  
me by my own reason4 ,i am conscious of 
my inability to grasp1 in all its       
details and positive developments1 any  
very large portion of human knowledge4  
,the greatest intelligence would not be 
equal to a comprehension of the whole4  
,thence results1 for science as well as 
for industry1 the necessity of the      
division and association of labor4 ,i   
receive and ,i give--such is human life4
 ,each directs and is directed in his   
turn4 ,therefore there is no fixed and  
constant authority1 but a continual     
exchange of mutual1 temporary1 and1     
above all1 voluntary authority and      
subordination4  ,this same reason       
forbids me1 then1 to recognize a fixed1 
constant1 and universal authority1      
because there is no universal man1 no   
man capable of grasping in that wealth  
of detail1 without which the application
 of science to life is impossible1 all  

the sciences1 all the branches of social
 life4 ,and if such universality could  
ever be realized in a single man1 and if
 he wished to take advantage thereof to 
impose his authority upon us1 it would  
be necessary to drive this man out of   
society1 because his authority would    
inevitably reduce all the others to     
slavery and imbecility4 ,i do not think 
that society ought to maltreat men of   
genius as it has done hitherto2 but     
neither do ,i think it should indulge   
them too far1 still less accord them any
 privileges or exclusive rights         
whatsoever2 and that for three reasons3 
first1 because it would often mistake a 
charlatan for a man of genius2 second1  
because1 through such a system of       
privileges1 it might transform into a   
charlatan even a real man of genius1    
demoralize him1 and degrade him2 and1   
finally1 because it would establish a   
master over itself4  ,to sum up4 ,we    
recognize1 then1 the absolute authority 
of science1 because the sole object of  

science is the mental reproduction1 as  
well-considered and systematic as       
possible1 of the natural laws inherent  
in the material1 intellectual1 and moral
 life of both the physical and the      
social worlds1 these two worlds         
constituting1 in fact1 but one and the  
same natural world4 ,outside of this    
only legitimate authority1 legitimate   
because rational and in harmony with    
human liberty1 we declare all other     
authorities false1 arbitrary and fatal4 
,we recognize the absolute authority of 
science1 but we reject the infallibility
 and universality of the savant4 ,in our
 church--if ,i may be permitted to use  
for a moment an expression which ,i so  
detest3 ,church and ,state are my two   
betes noires--in our church1 as in the  
,protestant church1 we have a chief1 an 
invisible ,christ1 science2 and1 like   
the ,protestants1 more logical even than
 the ,protestants1 we will suffer       
neither pope1 nor council1 nor conclaves
 of infallible cardinals1 nor bishops1  

nor even priests4 ,our ,christ differs  
from the ,protestant and ,christian     
,christ in this--that the latter is a   
personal being1 ours impersonal2 the    
,christian ,christ1 already completed in
 an eternal past1 presents himself as a 
perfect being1 while the completion and 
perfection of our ,christ1 science1 are 
ever in the future3 which is equivalent 
to saying that they will never be       
realized4 ,therefore1 in recognizing    
absolute science as the only absolute   
authority1 we in no way compromise our  
liberty4  ,i mean by the words absolute 
science1 the truly universal science    
which would reproduce ideally1 to its   
fullest extent and in all its infinite  
detail1 the universe1 the system or     
co-ordination of all the natural laws   
manifested by the incessant development 
of the world4 ,it is evident that such a
 science1 the sublime object of all the 
efforts of the human mind1 will never be
 fully and absolutely realized4 ,our    
,christ1 then1 will remain eternally    

unfinished1 which must considerably take
 down the pride of his licensed         
representatives among us4 ,against that 
,god the ,son in whose name they assume 
to impose upon us their insolent and    
pedantic authority1 we appeal to ,god   
the ,father1 who is the real world1 real
 life1 of which he 7the ,son7 is only a 
too imperfect expression1 whilst we real
 beings1 living1 working1 struggling1   
loving1 aspiring1 enjoying1 and         
suffering1 are its immediate            
representatives4  ,but1 while rejecting 
the absolute1 universal1 and infallible 
authority of men of science1 we         
willingly bow before the respectable1   
although relative1 quite temporary1 and 
very restricted authority of the        
representatives of special sciences1    
asking nothing better than to consult   
them by turns1 and very grateful for    
such precious information as they may   
extend to us1 on condition of their     
willingness to receive from us on       
occasions when1 and concerning matters  

about which1 we are more learned than   
they4 ,in general1 we ask nothing better
 than to see men endowed with great     
knowledge1 great experience1 great      
minds1 and1 above all1 great hearts1    
exercise over us a natural and          
legitimate influence1 freely accepted1  
and never imposed in the name of any    
official authority whatsoever1 celestial
 or terrestrial4 ,we accept all natural 
authorities and all influences of fact1 
but none of right2 for every authority  
or every influence of right1 officially 
imposed as such1 becoming directly an   
oppression and a falsehood1 would       
inevitably impose upon us1 as ,i believe
 ,i have sufficiently shown1 slavery and
 absurdity4  ,in a word1 we reject all  
legislation1 all authority1 and all     
privileged1 licensed1 official1 and     
legal influence1 even though arising    
from universal suffrage1 convinced that 
it can turn only to the advantage of a  
dominant minority of exploiters against 
the interests of the immense majority in

 subjection to them4  ,this is the sense
 in which we are really ,anarchists4    
,the modern idealists understand        
authority in quite a different way4     
,although free from the traditional     
superstitions of all the existing       
positive religions1 they nevertheless   
attach to this idea of authority a      
divine1 an absolute meaning4 ,this      
authority is not that of a truth        
miraculously revealed1 nor that of a    
truth rigorously and scientifically     
demonstrated4 ,they base it to a slight 
extent upon quasi-philosophical         
reasoning1 and to a large extent on     
vaguely religious faith1 to a large     
extent also on sentiment1 ideally1      
abstractly poetical4 ,their religion is1
 as it were1 a last attempt to divinize 
all that constitutes humanity in men4   
,this is just the opposite of the work  
that we are doing4 ,in behalf of human  
liberty1 dignity1 and prosperity1 we    
believe it our duty to recover from     
heaven the goods which it has stolen and

 return them to earth4 ,they1 on the    
contrary1 endeavoring to commit a final 
religiously heroic larceny1 would       
restore to heaven1 that divine robber1  
finally unmasked1 the grandest1 finest1 
and noblest of humanity's possessions4  
,it is now the freethinkers' turn to    
pillage heaven by their audacious       
impiety and scientific analysis4  ,the  
idealists undoubtedly believe that human
 ideas and deeds1 in order to exercise  
greater authority among men1 must be    
invested with a divine sanction4 ,how is
 this sanction manifested8 ,not by a    
miracle1 as in the positive religions1  
but by the very grandeur or sanctity of 
the ideas and deeds3 whatever is grand1 
whatever is beautiful1 whatever is      
noble1 whatever is just1 is considered  
divine4 ,in this new religious cult     
every man inspired by these ideas1 by   
these deeds1 becomes a priest1 directly 
consecrated by ,god himself4 ,and the   
proof8 ,he needs none beyond the very   
grandeur of the ideas which he expresses

 and the deeds which he performs4 ,these
 are so holy that they can have been    
inspired only by ,god4  ,such1 in few   
words1 is their whole philosophy3 a     
philosophy of sentiments1 not of real   
thoughts1 a sort of metaphysical        
pietism4 ,this seems harmless1 but it is
 not so at all1 and the very precise1   
very narrow1 and very barren doctrine   
hidden under the intangible vagueness of
 these poetic forms leads to the same   
disastrous results that all the positive
 religions lead to--namely1 the most    
complete negation of human liberty and  
dignity4  ,to proclaim as divine all    
that is grand1 just1 noble1 and         
beautiful in humanity is to tacitly     
admit that humanity of itself would have
 been unable to produce it--that is1    
that1 abandoned to itself1 its own      
nature is miserable1 iniquitous1 base1  
and ugly4 ,thus we come back to the     
essence of all religion--in other words1
 to the disparagement of humanity for   
the greater glory of divinity4 ,and from

 the moment that the natural inferiority
 of man and his fundamental incapacity  
to rise by his own effort1 unaided by   
any divine inspiration1 to the          
comprehension of just and true ideas1   
are admitted1 it becomes necessary to   
admit also all the theological1         
political1 and social consequences of   
the positive religions4 ,from the moment
 that ,god1 the perfect and supreme     
being1 is posited face to face with     
humanity1 divine mediators1 the elect1  
the inspired of ,god spring from the    
earth to enlighten1 direct1 and govern  
in his name the human race4  ,may we not
 suppose that all men are equally       
inspired by ,god8 ,then1 surely1 there  
is no further use for mediators4 ,but   
this supposition is impossible1 because 
it is too clearly contradicted by the   
facts4 ,it would compel us to attribute 
to divine inspiration all the           
absurdities and errors which appear1 and
 all the horrors1 follies1 base deeds1  
and cowardly actions which are          

committed1 in the world4 ,but perhaps1  
then1 only a few men are divinely       
inspired1 the great men of history1 the 
virtuous geniuses1 as the illustrious   
,italian citizen and prophet1 ,giuseppe 
,mazzini1 called them4 ,immediately     
inspired by ,god himself and supported  
upon universal consent expressed by     
popular suffrage--,dio e ,popolo--such  
as these should be called to the        
government of human societies4#c  ,but  
here we are again fallen back under the 
yoke of ,church and ,state4 ,it is true 
that in this new organization1 indebted 
for its existence1 like all the old     
political organizations1 to the grace of
 ,god1 but supported this time--at least
 so far as form is concerned1 as a      
necessary concession to the spirit of   
modern times1 and just as in the        
preambles of the imperial decrees of    
,napoleon ,,iii4--on the 7pretended7    
will of the people1 the ,church will no 
longer call itself ,church2 it will call
 itself ,school4 ,what matters it8 ,on  

the benches of this ,school will be     
seated not children only2 there will be 
found the eternal minor1 the pupil      
confessedly forever incompetent to pass 
his examinations1 rise to the knowledge 
of his teachers1 and dispense with their
 discipline--the people4#d ,the ,state  
will no longer call itself ,monarchy2 it
 will call itself ,republic3 but it will
 be none the less the ,state--that is1 a
 tutelage officially and regularly      
established by a minority of competent  
men1 men of virtuous genius or talent1  
who will watch and guide the conduct of 
this great1 incorrigible1 and terrible  
child1 the people4 ,the professors of   
the ,school and the functionaries of the
 ,state will call themselves            
republicans2 but they will be none the  
less tutors1 shepherds1 and the people  
will remain what they have been hitherto
 from all eternity1 a flock4 ,beware of 
shearers1 for where there is a flock    
there necessarily must be shepherds also
 to shear and devour it4  ,the people1  

in this system1 will be the perpetual   
scholar and pupil4 ,in spite of its     
sovereignty1 wholly fictitious1 it will 
continue to serve as the instrument of  
thoughts1 wills1 and consequently       
interests not its own4 ,between this    
situation and what we call liberty1 the 
only real liberty1 there is an abyss4   
,it will be the old oppression and old  
slavery under new forms2 and where there
 is slavery there is misery1            
brutishness1 real social materialism1   
among the privileged classes as well as 
among the masses4  ,in deifying human   
things the idealists always end in the  
triumph of a brutal materialism4 ,and   
this for a very simple reason3 the      
divine evaporates and rises to its own  
country1 heaven1 while the brutal alone 
remains actually on earth4  ,yes1 the   
necessary consequence of theoretical    
idealism is practically the most brutal 
materialism2 not1 undoubtedly1 among    
those who sincerely preach it--the usual
 result as far as they are concerned    

being that they are constrained to see  
all their efforts struck with           
sterility--but among those who try to   
realize their precepts in life1 and in  
all society so far as it allows itself  
to be dominated by idealistic doctrines4
  ,to demonstrate this general fact1    
which may appear strange at first1 but  
which explains itself naturally enough  
upon further reflection1 historical     
proofs are not lacking4  ,compare the   
last two civilizations of the ancient   
world--the ,greek and the ,roman4 ,which
 is the most materialistic1 the most    
natural1 in its point of departure1 and 
the most humanly ideal in its results8  
,undoubtedly the ,greek civilization4   
,which on the contrary1 is the most     
abstractly ideal in its point of        
departure--sacrificing the material     
liberty of the man to the ideal liberty 
of the citizen1 represented by the      
abstraction of judicial law1 and the    
natural development of human society to 
the abstraction of the ,state--and which

 became nevertheless the most brutal in 
its consequences8 ,the ,roman           
civilization1 certainly4 ,it is true    
that the ,greek civilization1 like all  
the ancient civilizations1 including    
that of ,rome1 was exclusively national 
and based on slavery4 ,but1 in spite of 
these two immense defects1 the former   
none the less conceived and realized the
 idea of humanity2 it ennobled and      
really idealized the life of men2 it    
transformed human herds into free       
associations of free men2 it created    
through liberty the sciences1 the arts1 
a poetry1 an immortal philosophy1 and   
the primary concepts of human respect4  
,with political and social liberty1 it  
created free thought4 ,at the close of  
the ,middle ,ages1 during the period of 
the ,renaissance1 the fact that some    
,greek emigrants brought a few of those 
immortal books into ,italy sufficed to  
resuscitate life1 liberty1 thought1     
humanity1 buried in the dark dungeon of 
,catholicism4 ,human emancipation1 that 

is the name of the ,greek civilization4 
,and the name of the ,roman             
civilization8 ,conquest1 with all its   
brutal consequences4 ,and its last word8
 ,the omnipotence of the ,caesars4      
,which means the degradation and        
enslavement of nations and of men4      
,to-day even1 what is it that kills1    
what is it that crushes brutally1       
materially1 in all ,european countries1 
liberty and humanity8 ,it is the triumph
 of the ,caesarian or ,roman principle4 
,compare now two modern                 
civilizations--the ,italian and the     
,german4 ,the first undoubtedly         
represents1 in its general character1   
materialism2 the second1 on the         
contrary1 represents idealism in its    
most abstract1 most pure1 and most      
transcendental form4 ,let us see what   
are the practical fruits of the one and 
the other4  ,italy has already rendered 
immense services to the cause of human  
emancipation4 ,she was the first to     
resuscitate and widely apply the        

principle of liberty in ,europe1 and to 
restore to humanity its titles to       
nobility3 industry1 commerce1 poetry1   
the arts1 the positive sciences1 and    
free thought4 ,crushed since by three   
centuries of imperial and papal         
despotism1 and dragged in the mud by her
 governing bourgeoisie1 she reappears   
to-day1 it is true1 in a very degraded  
condition in comparison with what she   
once was4 ,and yet how much she differs 
from ,germany6 ,in ,italy1 in spite of  
this decline--temporary let us hope--one
 may live and breathe humanly1          
surrounded by a people which seems to be
 born for liberty4 ,italy1 even         
bourgeois ,italy1 can point with pride  
to men like ,mazzini and ,garibaldi4 ,in
 ,germany one breathes the atmosphere of
 an immense political and social        
slavery1 philosophically explained and  
accepted by a great people with         
deliberate resignation and free will4   
,her heroes--,i speak always of present 
,germany1 not of the ,germany of the    

future2 of aristocratic1 bureaucratic1  
political and bourgeoise ,germany1 not  
of the ,germany of the proletaires--her 
heroes are quite the opposite of        
,mazzini and ,garibaldi3 they are       
,william ,i41 that ferocious and        
ingenuous representative of the         
,protestant ,god1 ,messrs4 ,bismarck and
 ,moltke1 ,generals ,manteuffel and     
,werder4 ,in all her international      
relations ,germany1 from the beginning  
of her existence1 has been slowly1      
systematically invading1 conquering1    
ever ready to extend her own voluntary  
enslavement into the territory of her   
neighbors2 and1 since her definitive    
establishment as a unitary power1 she   
has become a menace1 a danger to the    
liberty of entire ,europe4 ,to-day      
,germany is servility brutal and        
triumphant4  ,to show how theoretical   
idealism incessantly and inevitably     
changes into practical materialism1 one 
needs only to cite the example of all   
the ,christian ,churches1 and1          

naturally1 first of all1 that of the    
,apostolic and ,roman ,church4 ,what is 
there more sublime1 in the ideal sense1 
more disinterested1 more separate from  
all the interests of this earth1 than   
the doctrine of ,christ preached by that
 ,church8 ,and what is there more       
brutally materialistic than the constant
 practice of that same ,church since the
 eighth century1 from which dates her   
definitive establishment as a power8    
,what has been and still is the         
principal object of all her contests    
with the sovereigns of ,europe8 ,her    
temporal goods1 her revenues first1 and 
then her temporal power1 her political  
privileges4 ,we must do her the justice 
to acknowledge that she was the first to
 discover1 in modern history1 this      
incontestable but scarcely ,christian   
truth that wealth and power1 the        
economic exploitation and the political 
oppression of the masses1 are the two   
inseparable terms of the reign of divine
 ideality on earth3 wealth consolidating

 and augmenting power1 power ever       
discovering and creating new sources of 
wealth1 and both assuring1 better than  
the martyrdom and faith of the apostles1
 better than divine grace1 the success  
of the ,christian propagandism4 ,this is
 a historical truth1 and the ,protestant
 ,churches do not fail to recognize it  
either4 ,i speak1 of course1 of the     
independent churches of ,england1       
,america1 and ,switzerland1 not of the  
subjected churches of ,germany4 ,the    
latter have no initiative of their own2 
they do what their masters1 their       
temporal sovereigns1 who are at the same
 time their spiritual chieftains1 order 
them to do4 ,it is well known that the  
,protestant propagandism1 especially in 
,england and ,america1 is very          
intimately connected with the           
propagandism of the material1 commercial
 interests of those two great nations2  
and it is known also that the objects of
 the latter propagandism is not at all  
the enrichment and material prosperity  

of the countries into which it          
penetrates in company with the ,word of 
,god1 but rather the exploitation of    
those countries with a view to the      
enrichment and material prosperity of   
certain classes1 which in their own     
country are very covetous and very pious
 at the same time4  ,in a word1 it is   
not at all difficult to prove1 history  
in hand1 that the ,church1 that all the 
,churches1 ,christian and               
non-,christian1 by the side of their    
spiritualistic propagandism1 and        
probably to accelerate and consolidate  
the success thereof1 have never         
neglected to organize themselves into   
great corporations for the economic     
exploitation of the masses under the    
protection and with the direct and      
special blessing of some divinity or    
other2 that all the ,states1 which      
originally1 as we know1 with all their  
political and judicial institutions and 
their dominant and privileged classes1  
have been only temporal branches of     

these various ,churches1 have likewise  
had principally in view this same       
exploitation for the benefit of lay     
minorities indirectly sanctioned by the 
,church2 finally and in general1 that   
the action of the good ,god and of all  
the divine idealities on earth has ended
 at last1 always and everywhere1 in     
founding the prosperous materialism of  
the few over the fanatical and          
constantly famishing idealism of the    
masses4  ,we have a new proof of this in
 what we see to-day4 ,with the exception
 of the great hearts and great minds    
whom ,i have before referred to as      
misled1 who are to-day the most         
obstinate defenders of idealism8 ,in the
 first place1 all the sovereign courts4 
,in ,france1 until lately1 ,napoleon    
,,iii4 and his wife1 ,madame ,eugenie2  
all their former ministers1 courtiers1  
and ex-marshals1 from ,rouher and       
,bazaine to ,fleury and ,pietri2 the men
 and women of this imperial world1 who  
have so completely idealized and saved  

,france2 their journalists and their    
savants--the ,cassagnacs1 the           
,girardins1 the ,duvernois1 the         
,veuillots1 the ,leverriers1 the ,dumas2
 the black phalanx of ,jesuits and      
,jesuitesses in every garb2 the whole   
upper and middle bourgeoisie of ,france2
 the doctrinaire liberals1 and the      
liberals without doctrine--the ,guizots1
 the ,thiers1 the ,jules ,favres1 the   
,pelletans1 and the ,jules ,simons1 all 
obstinate defenders of the bourgeoise   
exploitation4 ,in ,prussia1 in ,germany1
 ,william ,i41 the present royal        
demonstrator of the good ,god on earth2 
all his generals1 all his officers1     
,pomeranian and other2 all his army1    
which1 strong in its religious faith1   
has just conquered ,france in that ideal
 way we know so well4 ,in ,russia1 the  
,czar and his court2 the ,mouravieffs   
and the ,bergs1 all the butchers and    
pious proselyters of ,poland4           
,everywhere1 in short1 religious or     
philosophical idealism1 the one being   

but the more or less free translation of
 the other1 serves to-day as the flag of
 material1 bloody1 and brutal force1 of 
shameless material exploitation2 while1 
on the contrary1 the flag of theoretical
 materialism1 the red flag of economic  
equality and social justice1 is raised  
by the practical idealism of the        
oppressed and famishing masses1 tending 
to realize the greatest liberty and the 
human right of each in the fraternity of
 all men on the earth4  ,who are the    
real idealists--the idealists not of    
abstraction1 but of life1 not of heaven1
 but of earth--and who are the          
materialists8  ,it is evident that the  
essential condition of theoretical or   
divine idealism is the sacrifice of     
logic1 of human reason1 the renunciation
 of science4 ,we see1 further1 that in  
defending the doctrines of idealism one 
finds himself enlisted perforce in the  
ranks of the oppressors and exploiters  
of the masses4 ,these are two great     
reasons which1 it would seem1 should be 

sufficient to drive every great mind1   
every great heart1 from idealism4 ,how  
does it happen that our illustrious     
contemporary idealists1 who certainly   
lack neither mind1 nor heart1 nor good  
will1 and who have devoted their entire 
existence to the service of             
humanity--how does it happen that they  
persist in remaining among the          
representatives of a doctrine henceforth
 condemned and dishonored8  ,they must  
be influenced by a very powerful motive4
 ,it cannot be logic or science1 since  
logic and science have pronounced their 
verdict against the idealistic doctrine4
 ,no more can it be personal interests1 
since these men are infinitely above    
everything of that sort4 ,it must1 then1
 be a powerful moral motive4 ,which8    
,there can be but one4 ,these           
illustrious men think1 no doubt1 that   
idealistic theories or beliefs are      
essentially necessary to the moral      
dignity and grandeur of man1 and that   
materialistic theories1 on the contrary1

 reduce him to the level of the beasts4 
,and if the truth were just the         
opposite6  ,every development1 ,i have  
said1 implies the negation of its point 
of departure4 ,the basis or point of    
departure1 according to the             
materialistic school1 being material1   
the negation must be necessarily ideal4 
,starting from the totality of the real 
world1 or from what is abstractly called
 matter1 it logically arrives at the    
real idealization--that is1 at the      
humanization1 at the full and complete  
emancipation--of society4 ,per contra   
and for the same reason1 the basis and  
point of departure of the idealistic    
school being ideal1 it arrives          
necessarily at the materialization of   
society1 at the organization of a brutal
 despotism and an iniquitous and ignoble
 exploitation1 under the form of ,church
 and ,state4 ,the historical development
 of man according to the materialistic  
school1 is a progressive ascension2 in  
the idealistic system it can be nothing 

but a continuous fall4  ,whatever human 
question we may desire to consider1 we  
always find this same essential         
contradiction between the two schools4  
,thus1 as ,i have already observed1     
materialism starts from animality to    
establish humanity2 idealism starts from
 divinity to establish slavery and      
condemn the masses to an endless        
animality4 ,materialism denies free will
 and ends in the establishment of       
liberty2 idealism1 in the name of human 
dignity1 proclaims free will1 and on the
 ruins of every liberty founds          
authority4 ,materialism rejects the     
principle of authority1 because it      
rightly considers it as the corollary of
 animality1 and because1 on the         
contrary1 the triumph of humanity1 the  
object and chief significance of        
history1 can be realized only through   
liberty4 ,in a word1 you will always    
find the idealists in the very act of   
practical materialism1 while you will   
see the materialists pursuing and       

realizing the most grandly ideal        
aspirations and thoughts4  ,history1 in 
the system of the idealists1 as ,i have 
said1 can be nothing but a continuous   
fall4 ,they begin by a terrible fall1   
from which they never recover--by the   
salto mortale from the sublime regions  
of pure and absolute idea into matter4  
,and into what kind of matter6 ,not into
 the matter which is eternally active   
and mobile1 full of properties and      
forces1 of life and intelligence1 as we 
see it in the real world2 but into      
abstract matter1 impoverished and       
reduced to absolute misery by the       
regular looting of these ,prussians of  
thought1 the theologians and            
metaphysicians1 who have stripped it of 
everything to give everything to their  
emperor1 to their ,god2 into the matter 
which1 deprived of all action and       
movement of its own1 represents1 in     
opposition to the divine idea1 nothing  
but absolute stupidity1 impenetrability1
 inertia and immobility4  ,the fall is  

so terrible that divinity1 the divine   
person or idea1 is flattened out1 loses 
consciousness of itself1 and never more 
recovers it4 ,and in this desperate     
situation it is still forced to work    
miracles6 ,for from the moment that     
matter becomes inert1 every movement    
that takes place in the world1 even the 
most material1 is a miracle1 can result 
only from a providential intervention1  
from the action of ,god upon matter4    
,and there this poor ,divinity1 degraded
 and half annihilated by its fall1 lies 
some thousands of centuries in this     
swoon1 then awakens slowly1 in vain     
endeavoring to grasp some vague memory  
of itself1 and every move that it makes 
in this direction upon matter becomes a 
creation1 a new formation1 a new        
miracle4 ,in this way it passes through 
all degrees of materiality and          
bestiality--first1 gas1 simple or       
compound chemical substance1 mineral1 it
 then spreads over the earth as         
vegetable and animal organization till  

it concentrates itself in man4 ,here it 
would seem as if it must become itself  
again1 for it lights in every human     
being an angelic spark1 a particle of   
its own divine being1 the immortal soul4
  ,how did it manage to lodge a thing   
absolutely immaterial in a thing        
absolutely material2 how can the body   
contain1 enclose1 limit1 paralyze pure  
spirit8 ,this1 again1 is one of those   
questions which faith alone1 that       
passionate and stupid affirmation of the
 absurd1 can solve4 ,it is the greatest 
of miracles4 ,here1 however1 we have    
only to establish the effects1 the      
practical consequences of this miracle4 
,after thousands of centuries of vain   
efforts to come back to itself1         
,divinity1 lost and scattered in the    
matter which it animates and sets in    
motion1 finds a point of support1 a sort
 of focus for self-concentration4 ,this 
focus is man1 his immortal soul         
singularly imprisoned in a mortal body4 
,but each man considered individually is

 infinitely too limited1 too small1 to  
enclose the divine immensity2 it can    
contain only a very small particle1     
immortal like the whole1 but infinitely 
smaller than the whole4 ,it follows that
 the divine being1 the absolutely       
immaterial being1 mind1 is divisible    
like matter4 ,another mystery whose     
solution must be left to faith4  ,if    
,god entire could find lodgment in each 
man1 then each man would be ,god4 ,we   
should have an immense quantity of      
,gods1 each limited by all the others   
and yet none the less infinite--a       
contradiction which would imply a mutual
 destruction of men1 an impossibility of
 the existence of more than one4 ,as for
 the particles1 that is another matter2 
nothing more rational1 indeed1 than that
 one particle should be limited by      
another and be smaller than the whole4  
,only1 here another contradiction       
confronts us4 ,to be limited1 to be     
greater and smaller are attributes of   
matter1 not of mind4 ,according to the  

materialists1 it is true1 mind is only  
the working of the wholly material      
organism of man1 and the greatness or   
smallness of mind depends absolutely on 
the greater or less material perfection 
of the human organism4 ,but these same  
attributes of relative limitation and   
grandeur cannot be attributed to mind as
 the idealists conceive it1 absolutely  
immaterial mind1 mind existing          
independent of matter4 ,there can be    
neither greater nor smaller nor any     
limit among minds1 for there is only one
 mind--,god4 ,to add that the infinitely
 small and limited particles which      
constitute human souls are at the same  
time immortal is to carry the           
contradiction to a climax4 ,but this is 
a question of faith4 ,let us pass on4   
,here then we have ,divinity torn up and
 lodged1 in infinitely small particles1 
in an immense number of beings of all   
sexes1 ages1 races1 and colors4 ,this is
 an excessively inconvenient and unhappy
 situation1 for the divine particles are

 so little acquainted with each other at
 the outset of their human existence    
that they begin by devouring each other4
 ,moreover1 in the midst of this state  
of barbarism and wholly animal          
brutality1 these divine particles1 human
 souls1 retain as it were a vague       
remembrance of their primitive divinity1
 and are irresistibly drawn towards     
their whole2 they seek each other1 they 
seek their whole4 ,it is ,divinity      
itself1 scattered and lost in the       
natural world1 which looks for itself in
 men1 and it is so demolished by this   
multitude of human prisons in which it  
finds itself strewn1 that1 in looking   
for itself1 it commits folly after      
folly4  ,beginning with fetichism1 it   
searches for and adores itself1 now in a
 stone1 now in a piece of wood1 now in a
 rag4 ,it is quite likely that it would 
never have succeeded in getting out of  
the rag1 if the other divinity which was
 not allowed to fall into matter and    
which is kept in a state of pure spirit 

in the sublime heights of the absolute  
ideal1 or in the celestial regions1 had 
not had pity on it4  ,here is a new     
mystery--that of ,divinity dividing     
itself into two halves1 both equally    
infinite1 of which one--,god the        
,father--stays in the purely immaterial 
regions1 and the other--,god the        
,son--falls into matter4 ,we shall see  
directly1 between these two ,divinities 
separated from each other1 continuous   
relations established1 from above to    
below and from below to above2 and these
 relations1 considered as a single      
eternal and constant act1 will          
constitute the ,holy ,ghost4 ,such1 in  
its veritable theological and           
metaphysical meaning1 is the great1 the 
terrible mystery of the ,christian      
,trinity4  ,but let us lose no time in  
abandoning these heights to see what is 
going on upon earth4  ,god the ,father1 
seeing from the height of his eternal   
splendor that the poor ,god the ,son1   
flattened out and astounded by his fall1

 is so plunged and lost in matter that  
even having reached human state he has  
not yet recovered himself1 decides to   
come to his aid4 ,from this immense     
number of particles at once immortal1   
divine1 and infinitely small1 in which  
,god the ,son has disseminated himself  
so thoroughly that he does not know     
himself1 ,god the ,father chooses those 
most pleasing to him1 picks his inspired
 persons1 his prophets1 his men of      
virtuous genius1 the great benefactors  
and legislators of humanity3 ,zoroaster1
 ,buddha1 ,moses1 ,confucius1 ,lycurgus1
 ,solon1 ,socrates1 the divine ,plato1  
and above all ,jesus ,christ1 the       
complete realization of ,god the ,son1  
at last collected and concentrated in a 
single human person2 all the apostles1  
,saint ,peter1 ,saint ,paul1 and ,saint 
,john before all1 ,constantine the      
,great1 ,mahomet1 then ,charlemagne1    
,gregory ,,vii41 ,dante1 and1 according 
to some1 ,luther also1 ,voltaire and    
,rousseau1 ,robespierre and ,danton1 and

 many other great and holy historical   
personages1 all of whose names it is    
impossible to recapitulate1 but among   
whom ,i1 as a ,russian1 beg that ,saint 
,nicholas may not be forgotten4  ,then  
we have reached at last the             
manifestation of ,god upon earth4 ,but  
immediately ,god appears1 man is reduced
 to nothing4 ,it will be said that he is
 not reduced to nothing1 since he is    
himself a particle of ,god4 ,pardon me6 
,i admit that a particle of a definite1 
limited whole1 however small it be1 is a
 quantity1 a positive greatness4 ,but a 
particle of the infinitely great1       
compared with it1 is necessarily        
infinitely small4 ,multiply milliards of
 milliards by milliards of              
milliards--their product compared to the
 infinitely great1 will be infinitely   
small1 and the infinitely small is equal
 to zero4 ,god is everything2 therefore 
man and all the real world with him1 the
 universe1 are nothing4 ,you will not   
escape this conclusion4  ,god appears1  

man is reduced to nothing2 and the      
greater ,divinity becomes1 the more     
miserable becomes humanity4 ,that is the
 history of all religions2 that is the  
effect of all the divine inspirations   
and legislations4 ,in history the name  
of ,god is the terrible club with which 
all divinely inspired men1 the great    
virtuous geniuses1 have beaten down the 
liberty1 dignity1 reason1 and prosperity
 of man4  ,we had first the fall of     
,god4 ,now we have a fall which         
interests us more--that of man1 caused  
solely by the apparition of ,god        
manifested on earth4  ,see in how       
profound an error our dear and          
illustrious idealists find themselves4  
,in talking to us of ,god they purpose1 
they desire1 to elevate us1 emancipate  
us1 ennoble us1 and1 on the contrary1   
they crush and degrade us4 ,with the    
name of ,god they imagine that they can 
establish fraternity among men1 and1 on 
the contrary1 they create pride1        
contempt2 they sow discord1 hatred1 war2

 they establish slavery4 ,for with ,god 
come the different degrees of divine    
inspiration2 humanity is divided into   
men highly inspired1 less inspired1     
uninspired4 ,all are equally            
insignificant before ,god1 it is true2  
but1 compared with each other1 some are 
greater than others2 not only in        
fact--which would be of no consequence1 
because inequality in fact is lost in   
the collectivity when it cannot cling to
 some legal fiction or institution--but 
by the divine right of inspiration1     
which immediately establishes a fixed1  
constant1 petrifying inequality4 ,the   
highly inspired must be listened to and 
obeyed by the less inspired1 and the    
less inspired by the uninspired4 ,thus  
we have the principle of authority well 
established1 and with it the two        
fundamental institutions of slavery3    
,church and ,state4  ,of all despotisms 
that of the doctrinaires or inspired    
religionists is the worst4 ,they are so 
jealous of the glory of their ,god and  

of the triumph of their idea that they  
have no heart left for the liberty or   
the dignity or even the sufferings of   
living men1 of real men4 ,divine zeal1  
preoccupation with the idea1 finally dry
 up the tenderest souls1 the most       
compassionate hearts1 the sources of    
human love4 ,considering all that is1   
all that happens in the world from the  
point of view of eternity or of the     
abstract idea1 they treat passing       
matters with disdain2 but the whole life
 of real men1 of men of flesh and bone1 
is composed only of passing matters2    
they themselves are only passing beings1
 who1 once passed1 are replaced by      
others likewise passing1 but never to   
return in person4 ,alone permanent or   
relatively eternal in men is humanity1  
which steadily developing1 grows richer 
in passing from one generation to       
another4 ,i say relatively eternal1     
because1 our planet once destroyed--it  
cannot fail to perish sooner or later1  
since everything which has begun must   

necessarily end--our planet once        
decomposed1 to serve undoubtedly as an  
element of some new formation in the    
system of the universe1 which alone is  
really eternal1 who knows what will     
become of our whole human development8  
,nevertheless1 the moment of this       
dissolution being an enormous distance  
in the future1 we may properly consider 
humanity1 relatively to the short       
duration of human life1 as eternal4 ,but
 this very fact of progressive humanity 
is real and living only through its     
manifestations at definite times1 in    
definite places1 in really living men1  
and not through its general idea4  ,the 
general idea is always an abstraction   
and1 for that very reason1 in some sort 
a negation of real life4 ,i have stated 
in the ,appendix that human thought and1
 in consequence of this1 science can    
grasp and name only the general         
significance of real facts1 their       
relations1 their laws--in short1 that   
which is permanent in their continual   

transformations--but never their        
material1 individual side1 palpitating1 
so to speak1 with reality and life1 and 
therefore fugitive and intangible4      
,science comprehends the thought of the 
reality1 not reality itself2 the thought
 of life1 not life4 ,that is its limit1 
its only really insuperable limit1      
because it is founded on the very nature
 of thought1 which is the only organ of 
science4  ,upon this nature are based   
the indisputable rights and grand       
mission of science1 but also its vital  
impotence and even its mischievous      
action whenever1 through its official   
licensed representatives1 it arrogantly 
claims the right to govern life4 ,the   
mission of science is1 by observation of
 the general relations of passing and   
real facts1 to establish the general    
laws inherent in the development of the 
phenomena of the physical and social    
world2 it fixes1 so to speak1 the       
unchangeable landmarks of humanity's    
progressive march by indicating the     

general conditions which it is necessary
 to rigorously observe and always fatal 
to ignore or forget4 ,in a word1 science
 is the compass of life2 but it is not  
life4 ,science is unchangeable1         
impersonal1 general1 abstract1          
insensible1 like the laws of which it is
 but the ideal reproduction1 reflected  
or mental--that is cerebral 7using this 
word to remind us that science itself is
 but a material product of a material   
organ1 the brain74 ,life is wholly      
fugitive and temporary1 but also wholly 
palpitating with reality and            
individuality1 sensibility1 sufferings1 
joys1 aspirations1 needs1 and passions4 
,it alone spontaneously creates real    
things and beings4 ,science creates     
nothing2 it establishes and recognizes  
only the creations of life4 ,and every  
time that scientific men1 emerging from 
their abstract world1 mingle with living
 creation in the real world1 all that   
they propose or create is poor1         
ridiculously abstract1 bloodless and    

lifeless1 still-born1 like the          
homunculus created by ,wagner1 the      
pedantic disciple of the immortal       
,doctor ,faust4 ,it follows that the    
only mission of science is to enlighten 
life1 not to govern it4  ,the government
 of science and of men of science1 even 
be they positivists1 disciples of       
,auguste ,comte1 or1 again1 disciples of
 the doctrinaire school of ,german      
,communism1 cannot fail to be impotent1 
ridiculous1 inhuman1 cruel1 oppressive1 
exploiting1 maleficent4 ,we may say of  
men of science1 as such1 what ,i have   
said of theologians and metaphysicians3 
they have neither sense nor heart for   
individual and living beings4 ,we cannot
 even blame them for this1 for it is the
 natural consequence of their           
profession4 ,in so far as they are men  
of science1 they have to deal with and  
can take interest in nothing except     
generalities2 that do the laws#e 444    
they are not exclusively men of science1
 but are also more or less men of       

life4#f         99     99     99     99 
99  ,nevertheless1 we must not rely too 
much on this4 ,though we may be well    
nigh certain that a savant would not    
dare to treat a man to-day as he treats 
a rabbit1 it remains always to be feared
 that the savants as a body1 if not     
interfered with1 may submit living men  
to scientific experiments1 undoubtedly  
less cruel but none the less            
disagreeable to their victims4 ,if they 
cannot perform experiments upon the     
bodies of individuals1 they will ask    
nothing better than to perform them on  
the social body1 and that is what must  
be absolutely prevented4  ,in their     
existing organization1 monopolizing     
science and remaining thus outside of   
social life1 the savants form a separate
 caste1 in many respects analogous to   
the priesthood4 ,scientific abstraction 
is their ,god1 living and real          
individuals are their victims1 and they 
are the consecrated and licensed        
sacrificers4  ,science cannot go outside

 of the sphere of abstractions4 ,in this
 respect it is infinitely inferior to   
art1 which1 in its turn1 is peculiarly  
concerned also with general types and   
general situations1 but which incarnates
 them by an artifice of its own in forms
 which1 if they are not living in the   
sense of real life1 none the less excite
 in our imagination the memory and      
sentiment of life2 art in a certain     
sense individualizes the types and      
situations which it conceives2 by means 
of the individualities without flesh and
 bone1 and consequently permanent and   
immortal1 which it has the power to     
create1 it recalls to our minds the     
living1 real individualities which      
appear and disappear under our eyes4    
,art1 then1 is as it were the return of 
abstraction to life2 science1 on the    
contrary1 is the perpetual immolation of
 life1 fugitive1 temporary1 but real1 on
 the altar of eternal abstractions4     
,science is as incapable of grasping the
 individuality of a man as that of a    

rabbit1 being equally indifferent to    
both4 ,not that it is ignorant of the   
principle of individuality3 it conceives
 it perfectly as a principle1 but not as
 a fact4 ,it knows very well that all   
the animal species1 including the human 
species1 have no real existence outside 
of an indefinite number of individuals1 
born and dying to make room for new     
individuals equally fugitive4 ,it knows 
that in rising from the animal species  
to the superior species the principle of
 individuality becomes more pronounced2 
the individuals appear freer and more   
complete4 ,it knows that man1 the last  
and most perfect animal of earth1       
presents the most complete and most     
remarkable individuality1 because of his
 power to conceive1 concrete1 personify1
 as it were1 in his social and private  
existence1 the universal law4 ,it knows1
 finally1 when it is not vitiated by    
theological or metaphysical1 political  
or judicial doctrinairisme1 or even by a
 narrow scientific pride1 when it is not

 deaf to the instincts and spontaneous  
aspirations of life--it knows 7and this 
is its last word7 that respect for man  
is the supreme law of ,humanity1 and    
that the great1 the real object of      
history1 its only legitimate object1 is 
the humanization and emancipation1 the  
real liberty1 the prosperity and        
happiness of each individual living in  
society4 ,for1 if we would not fall back
 into the liberticidal fiction of the   
public welfare represented by the       
,state1 a fiction always founded on the 
systematic sacrifice of the people1 we  
must clearly recognize that collective  
liberty and prosperity exist only so far
 as they represent the sum of individual
 liberties and prosperities4  ,science  
knows all these things1 but it does not 
and cannot go beyond them4 ,abstraction 
being its very nature1 it can well      
enough conceive the principle of real   
and living individuality1 but it can    
have no dealings with real and living   
individuals2 it concerns itself with    

individuals in general1 but not with    
,peter or ,james1 not with such or such 
a one1 who1 so far as it is concerned1  
do not1 cannot1 have any existence4 ,its
 individuals1 ,i repeat1 are only       
abstractions4  ,now1 history is made1   
not by abstract individuals1 but by     
acting1 living and passing individuals4 
,abstractions advance only when borne   
forward by real men4 ,for these beings  
made1 not in idea only1 but in reality  
of flesh and blood1 science has no      
heart3 it considers them at most as     
material for intellectual and social    
development4 ,what does it care for the 
particular conditions and chance fate of
 ,peter or ,james8 ,it would make itself
 ridiculous1 it would abdicate1 it would
 annihilate itself1 if it wished to     
concern itself with them otherwise than 
as examples in support of its eternal   
theories4 ,and it would be ridiculous to
 wish it to do so1 for its mission lies 
not there4 ,it cannot grasp the         
concrete2 it can move only in           

abstractions4 ,its mission is to busy   
itself with the situation and the       
general conditions of the existence and 
development1 either of the human species
 in general1 or of such a race1 such a  
people1 such a class or category of     
individuals2 the general causes of their
 prosperity1 their decline1 and the best
 general methods of securing their      
progress in all ways4 ,provided it      
accomplishes this task broadly and      
rationally1 it will do its whole duty1  
and it would be really unjust to expect 
more of it4  ,but it would be equally   
ridiculous1 it would be disastrous to   
entrust it with a mission which it is   
incapable of fulfilling4 ,since its own 
nature forces it to ignore the existence
 of ,peter and ,james1 it must never be 
permitted1 nor must anybody be permitted
 in its name1 to govern ,peter and      
,james4 ,for it were capable of treating
 them almost as it treats rabbits4 ,or  
rather1 it would continue to ignore     
them2 but its licensed representatives1 

men not at all abstract1 but on the     
contrary in very active life and having 
very substantial interests1 yielding to 
the pernicious influence which privilege
 inevitably exercises upon men1 would   
finally fleece other men in the name of 
science1 just as they have been fleeced 
hitherto by priests1 politicians of all 
shades1 and lawyers1 in the name of     
,god1 of the ,state1 of judicial ,right4
  ,what ,i preach then is1 to a certain 
extent1 the revolt of life against      
science1 or rather against the          
government of science1 not to destroy   
science--that would be high treason to  
humanity--but to remand it to its place 
so that it can never leave it again4    
,until now all human history has been   
only a perpetual and bloody immolation  
of millions of poor human beings in     
honor of some pitiless                  
abstraction--,god1 country1 power of    
,state1 national honor1 historical      
rights1 judicial rights1 political      
liberty1 public welfare4 ,such has been 

up to to-day the natural1 spontaneous1  
and inevitable movement of human        
societies4 ,we cannot undo it2 we must  
submit to it so far as the past is      
concerned1 as we submit to all natural  
fatalities4 ,we must believe that that  
was the only possible way to educate the
 human race4 ,for we must not deceive   
ourselves3 even in attributing the      
larger part to the ,machiavellian wiles 
of the governing classes1 we have to    
recognize that no minority would have   
been powerful enough to impose all these
 horrible sacrifices upon the masses if 
there had not been in the masses        
themselves a dizzy spontaneous movement 
which pushed them on to continual       
self-sacrifice1 now to one1 now to      
another of these devouring abstractions1
 the vampires of history1 ever nourished
 upon human blood4  ,we readily         
understand that this is very gratifying 
to the theologians1 politicians1 and    
jurists4 ,priests of these abstractions1
 they live only by the continual        

immolation of the people4 ,nor is it    
more surprising that metaphysics1 too1  
should give its consent4 ,its only      
mission is to justify and rationalize as
 far as possible the iniquitous and     
absurd4 ,but that positive science      
itself should have shown the same       
tendencies is a fact which we must      
deplore while we establish it4 ,that it 
has done so is due to two reasons3 in   
the first place1 because1 constituted   
outside of life1 it is represented by a 
privileged body2 and in the second      
place1 because thus far it has posited  
itself as an absolute and final object  
of all human development4 ,by a         
judicious criticism1 which it can and   
finally will be forced to pass upon     
itself1 it would understand1 on the     
contrary1 that it is only a means for   
the realization of a much higher        
object--that of the complete            
humanization of the real situation of   
all the real individuals who are born1  
who live1 and who die1 on earth4  ,the  

immense advantage of positive science   
over theology1 metaphysics1 politics1   
and judicial right consists in          
this--that1 in place of the false and   
fatal abstractions set up by these      
doctrines1 it posits true abstractions  
which express the general nature and    
logic of things1 their general          
relations1 and the general laws of their
 development4 ,this separates it        
profoundly from all preceding doctrines1
 and will assure it for ever a great    
position in society3 it will constitute 
in a certain sense society's collective 
consciousness4 ,but there is one aspect 
in which it resembles all these         
doctrines3 its only possible object     
being abstractions1 it is forced by its 
very nature to ignore real men1 outside 
of whom the truest abstractions have no 
existence4 ,to remedy this radical      
defect positive science will have to    
proceed by a different method from that 
followed by the doctrines of the past4  
,the latter have taken advantage of the 

ignorance of the masses to sacrifice    
them with delight to their abstractions1
 which1 by the way1 are always very     
lucrative to those who represent them in
 flesh and bone4 ,positive science1     
recognizing its absolute inability to   
conceive real individuals and interest  
itself in their lot1 must definitely and
 absolutely renounce all claim to the   
government of societies2 for if it      
should meddle therein1 it would only    
sacrifice continually the living men    
whom it ignores to the abstractions     
which constitute the sole object of its 
legitimate preoccupations4  ,the true   
science of history1 for instance1 does  
not yet exist2 scarcely do we begin     
to-day to catch a glimpse of its        
extremely complicated conditions4 ,but  
suppose it were definitely developed1   
what could it give us8 ,it would exhibit
 a faithful and rational picture of the 
natural development of the general      
conditions--material and ideal1         
economical1 political and social1       

religious1 philosophical1 aesthetic1 and
 scientific--of the societies which have
 a history4 ,but this universal picture 
of human civilization1 however detailed 
it might be1 would never show anything  
beyond general and consequently abstract
 estimates4 ,the milliards of           
individuals who have furnished the      
living and suffering materials of this  
history at once triumphant and          
dismal--triumphant by its general       
results1 dismal by the immense hecatomb 
of human victims crushed under its      
car--those milliards of obscure         
individuals without whom none of the    
great abstract results of history would 
have been obtained--and who1 bear in    
mind1 have never benefited by any of    
these results--will find no place1 not  
even the slightest1 in our annals4 ,they
 have lived and been sacrificed1 crushed
 for the good of abstract humanity1 that
 is all4  ,shall we blame the science of
 history8 ,that would be unjust and     
ridiculous4 ,individuals cannot be      

grasped by thought1 by reflection1 or   
even by human speech1 which is capable  
of expressing abstractions only2 they   
cannot be grasped in the present day any
 more than in the past4 ,therefore      
social science itself1 the science of   
the future1 will necessarily continue to
 ignore them4 ,all that we have a right 
to demand of it is that it shall point  
us with faithful and sure hand to the   
general causes of individual            
suffering--among these causes it will   
not forget the immolation and           
subordination 7still too frequent1      
alas67 of living individuals to abstract
 generalities--at the same time showing 
us the general conditions necessary to  
the real emancipation of the individuals
 living in society4 ,that is its        
mission2 those are its limits1 beyond   
which the action of social science can  
be only impotent and fatal4 ,beyond     
those limits being the doctrinaire and  
governmental pretentions of its licensed
 representatives1 its priests4 ,it is   

time to have done with all popes and    
priests2 we want them no longer1 even if
 they call themselves ,social           
,democrats4  ,once more1 the sole       
mission of science is to light the road4
 ,only ,life1 delivered from all its    
governmental and doctrinaire barriers1  
and given full liberty of action1 can   
create4  ,how solve this antinomy8  ,on 
the one hand1 science is indispensable  
to the rational organization of society2
 on the other1 being incapable of       
interesting itself in that which is real
 and living1 it must not interfere with 
the real or practical organization of   
society4  ,this contradiction can be    
solved only in one way3 by the          
liquidation of science as a moral being 
existing outside the life of all1 and   
represented by a body of breveted       
savants2 it must spread among the       
masses4 ,science1 being called upon to  
henceforth represent society's          
collective consciousness1 must really   
become the property of everybody4       

,thereby1 without losing anything of its
 universal character1 of which it can   
never divest itself without ceasing to  
be science1 and while continuing to     
concern itself exclusively with general 
causes1 the conditions and fixed        
relations of individuals and things1 it 
will become one in fact with the        
immediate and real life of all          
individuals4 ,that will be a movement   
analogous to that which said to the     
,protestants at the beginning of the    
,reformation that there was no further  
need of priests for man1 who would      
henceforth be his own priest1 every man1
 thanks to the invisible intervention of
 the ,lord ,jesus ,christ alone1 having 
at last succeeded in swallowing his good
 ,god4 ,but here the question is not of 
,jesus ,christ1 nor good ,god1 nor of   
political liberty1 nor of judicial      
right--things all theologically or      
metaphysically revealed1 and all alike  
indigestible4 ,the world of scientific  
abstractions is not revealed2 it is     

inherent in the real world1 of which it 
is only the general or abstract         
expression and representation4 ,as long 
as it forms a separate region1 specially
 represented by the savants as a body1  
this ideal world threatens to take the  
place of a good ,god to the real world1 
reserving for its licensed              
representatives the office of priests4  
,that is the reason why it is necessary 
to dissolve the special social          
organization of the savants by general  
instruction1 equal for all in all       
things1 in order that the masses1       
ceasing to be flocks led and shorn by   
privileged priests1 may take into their 
own hands the direction of their        
destinies4#g  ,but until the masses     
shall have reached this degree of       
instruction1 will it be necessary to    
leave them to the government of         
scientific men8 ,certainly not4 ,it     
would be better for them to dispense    
with science than allow themselves to be
 governed by savants4 ,the first        

consequence of the government of these  
men would be to render science          
inaccessible to the people1 and such a  
government would necessarily be         
aristocratic1 because the existing      
scientific institutions are essentially 
aristocratic4 ,an aristocracy of        
learning6 from the practical point of   
view the most implacable1 and from the  
social point of view the most haughty   
and insulting--such would be the power  
established in the name of science4     
,this regime would be capable of        
paralyzing the life and movement of     
society4 ,the savants always            
presumptuous1 ever self-sufficient and  
ever impotent1 would desire to meddle   
with everything1 and the sources of life
 would dry up under the breath of their 
abstractions4  ,once more1 ,life1 not   
science1 creates life2 the spontaneous  
action of the people themselves alone   
can create liberty4 ,undoubtedly it     
would be a very fortunate thing if      
science could1 from this day forth1     

illuminate the spontaneous march of the 
people towards their emancipation4 ,but 
better an absence of light than a false 
and feeble light1 kindled only to       
mislead those who follow it4 ,after all1
 the people will not lack light4 ,not in
 vain have they traversed a long        
historic career1 and paid for their     
errors by centuries of misery4 ,the     
practical summary of their painful      
experiences constitutes a sort of       
traditional science1 which in certain   
respects is worth as much as theoretical
 science4 ,last of all1 a portion of the
 youth--those of the bourgeois students 
who feel hatred enough for the          
falsehood1 hypocrisy1 injustice1 and    
cowardice of the bourgeoisie to find    
courage to turn their backs upon it1 and
 passion enough to unreservedly embrace 
the just and human cause of the         
proletariat--those will be1 as ,i have  
already said1 fraternal instructors of  
the people2 thanks to them1 there will  
be no occasion for the government of the

 savants4  ,if the people should beware 
of the government of the savants1 all   
the more should they provide against    
that of the inspired idealists4 ,the    
more sincere these believers and poets  
of heaven1 the more dangerous they      
become4 ,the scientific abstraction1 ,i 
have said1 is a rational abstraction1   
true in its essence1 necessary to life1 
of which it is the theoretical          
representation1 or1 if one prefers1 the 
conscience4 ,it may1 it must be1        
absorbed and digested by life4 ,the     
idealistic abstraction1 ,god1 is a      
corrosive poison1 which destroys and    
decomposes life1 falsifies and kills it4
 ,the pride of the idealists1 not being 
personal but divine1 is invincible and  
inexorable3 it may1 it must1 die1 but it
 will never yield1 and while it has a   
breath left it will try to subject men  
to its ,god1 just as the lieutenants of 
,prussia1 these practical idealists of  
,germany1 would like to see the people  
crushed under the spurred boot of their 

emperor4 ,the faith is the same1 the end
 but little different1 and the result1  
as that of faith1 is slavery4  ,it is at
 the same time the triumph of the       
ugliest and most brutal materialism4    
,there is no need to demonstrate this in
 the case of ,germany2 one would have to
 be blind to avoid seeing it at the     
present hour4 ,but ,i think it is still 
necessary to demonstrate it in the case 
of divine idealism4  ,man1 like all the 
rest of nature1 is an entirely material 
being4 ,the mind1 the facility of       
thinking1 of receiving and reflecting   
upon different external and internal    
sensations1 of remembering them when    
they have passed and reproducing them by
 the imagination1 of comparing and      
distinguishing them1 of abstracting     
determinations common to them and thus  
creating general concepts1 and finally  
of forming ideas by grouping and        
combining concepts according to         
different methods--intelligence1 in a   
word1 sole creator of our whole ideal   

world1 is a property of the animal body 
and especially of the quite material    
organism of the brain4  ,we know this   
certainly1 by the experience of all1    
which no fact has ever contradicted and 
which any man can verify at any moment  
of his life4 ,in all animals1 without   
excepting the wholly inferior species1  
we find a certain degree of             
intelligence1 and we see that1 in the   
series of species1 animal intelligence  
develops in proportion as the           
organization of a species approaches    
that of man1 but that in man alone it   
attains to that power of abstraction    
which properly constitutes thought4     
,universal experience1#h which is the   
sole origin1 the source of all our      
knowledge1 shows us1 therefore1 that all
 intelligence is always attached to some
 animal body1 and that the intensity1   
the power1 of this animal function      
depends upon the relative perfection of 
the organism4 ,the latter of these      
results of universal experience is not  

applicable only to the different animal 
species2 we establish it likewise in    
men1 whose intellectual and moral power 
depends so clearly upon the greater or  
less perfection of their organism as a  
race1 as a nation1 as a class1 and as   
individuals1 that it is not necessary to
 insist upon this point4#i  ,on the     
other hand1 it is certain that no man   
has ever seen or can see pure mind1     
detached from all material form1        
existing separately from any animal body
 whatsoever4 ,but if no person has seen 
it1 how is it that men have come to     
believe in its existence8 ,the fact of  
this belief is certain1 and if not      
universal1 as all the idealists pretend1
 at least very general1 and as such it  
is entirely worthy of our closest       
attention1 for a general belief1 however
 foolish it may be1 exercises too potent
 a sway over the destiny of men to      
warrant us in ignoring it or putting it 
aside4  ,the explanation of this belief1
 moreover1 is rational enough4 ,the     

example afforded us by children and     
young people1 and even by many men long 
past the age of majority1 shows us that 
man may use his mental faculties for a  
long time before accounting to himself  
for the way in which he uses them1      
before becoming clearly conscious of it4
 ,during this working of the mind       
unconscious of itself1 during this      
action of innocent or believing         
intelligence1 man1 obsessed by the      
external world1 pushed on by that       
internal goad called life and its       
manifold necessities1 creates a quantity
 of imaginations1 concepts1 and ideas   
necessarily very imperfect at first and 
conforming but slightly to the reality  
of the things and facts which they      
endeavor to express4 ,not having yet the
 consciousness of his own intelligent   
action1 not knowing yet that he himself 
has produced and continues to produce   
these imaginations1 these concepts1     
these ideas1 ignoring their wholly      
subjective--that is1 human--origin1 he  

must naturally consider them as         
objective beings1 as real beings1 wholly
 independent of him1 existing by        
themselves and in themselves4  ,it was  
thus that primitive peoples1 emerging   
slowly from their animal innocence1     
created their gods4 ,having created     
them1 not suspecting that they          
themselves were the real creators1 they 
worshipped them2 considering them as    
real beings infinitely superior to      
themselves1 they attributed omnipotence 
to them1 and recognized themselves as   
their creatures1 their slaves4 ,as fast 
as human ideas develop1 the gods1 who1  
as ,i have already stated1 were never   
anything more than a fantastic1 ideal1  
poetical reverberation or an inverted   
image1 become idealized also4 ,at first 
gross fetiches1 they gradually become   
pure spirits1 existing outside of the   
visible world1 and at last1 in the      
course of a long historic evolution1 are
 confounded in a single ,divine ,being1 
pure1 eternal1 absolute ,spirit1 creator

 and master of the worlds4  ,in every   
development1 just or false1 real or     
imaginary1 collective or individual1 it 
is always the first step1 the first act 
that is the most difficult4 ,that step  
once taken1 the rest follows naturally  
as a necessary consequence4 ,the        
difficult step in the historical        
development of this terrible religious  
insanity which continues to obsess and  
crush us was to posit a divine world as 
such1 outside the world4 ,this first act
 of madness1 so natural from the        
physiological point of view and         
consequently necessary in the history of
 humanity1 was not accomplished at a    
single stroke4 ,i know not how many     
centuries were needed to develop this   
belief and make it a governing influence
 upon the mental customs of men4 ,but1  
once established1 it became omnipotent1 
as each insane notion necessarily       
becomes when it takes possession of     
man's brain4 ,take a madman1 whatever   
the object of his madness--you will find

 that obscure and fixed idea which      
obsesses him seems to him the most      
natural thing in the world1 and that1 on
 the contrary1 the real things which    
contradict this idea seem to him        
ridiculous and odious follies4 ,well1   
religion is a collective insanity1 the  
more powerful because it is traditional 
folly1 and because its origin is lost in
 the most remote antiquity4 ,as         
collective insanity it has penetrated to
 the very depths of the public and      
private existence of the peoples2 it is 
incarnate in society2 it has become1 so 
to speak1 the collective soul and       
thought4 ,every man is enveloped in it  
from his birth2 he sucks it in with his 
mother's milk1 absorbs it with all that 
he touches1 all that he sees4 ,he is so 
exclusively fed upon it1 so poisoned and
 penetrated by it in all his being1 that
 later1 however powerful his natural    
mind1 he has to make unheard-of efforts 
to deliver himself from it1 and even    
then never completely succeeds4 ,we have

 one proof of this in our modern        
idealists1 and another in our           
doctrinaire materialists--the ,german   
,communists4 ,they have found no way to 
shake off the religion of the ,state4   
,the supernatural world1 the divine     
world1 once well established in the     
imagination of the peoples1 the         
development of the various religious    
systems has followed its natural and    
logical course1 conforming1 moreover1 in
 all things to the contemporary         
development of economical and political 
relations of which it has been in all   
ages1 in the world of religious fancy1  
the faithful reproduction and divine    
consecration4 ,thus has the collective  
and historical insanity which calls     
itself religion been developed since    
fetichism1 passing through all the      
stages from polytheism to ,christian    
monotheism4  ,the second step in the    
development of religious beliefs1       
undoubtedly the most difficult next to  
the establishment of a separate divine  

world1 was precisely this transition    
from polytheism to monotheism1 from the 
religious materialism of the pagans to  
the spiritualistic faith of the         
,christians4 ,the pagan gods--and this  
was their principal characteristic--were
 first of all exclusively national gods4
 ,very numerous1 they necessarily       
retained a more or less material        
character1 or1 rather1 they were so     
numerous because they were material1    
diversity being one of the principal    
attributes of the real world4 ,the pagan
 gods were not yet strictly the negation
 of real things2 they were only a       
fantastic exaggeration of them4  ,we    
have seen how much this transition cost 
the ,jewish people1 constituting1 so to 
speak1 its entire history4 ,in vain did 
,moses and the prophets preach the one  
god2 the people always relapsed into    
their primitive idolatry1 into the      
ancient and comparatively much more     
natural and convenient faith in many    
good gods1 more material1 more human1   

and more palpable4 ,jehovah himself1    
their sole ,god1 the ,god of ,moses and 
the prophets1 was still an extremely    
national ,god1 who1 to reward and punish
 his faithful followers1 his chosen     
people1 used material arguments1 often  
stupid1 always gross and cruel4 ,it does
 not even appear that faith in his      
existence implied a negation of the     
existence of earlier gods4 ,the ,jewish 
,god did not deny the existence of these
 rivals2 he simply did not want his     
people to worship them side by side with
 him1 because before all ,jehovah was a 
very jealous ,god4 ,his first           
commandment was this3  ,i am the ,lord  
thy ,god1 and thou shalt have no other  
gods before me4  ,jehovah1 then1 was    
only a first draft1 very material and   
very rough1 of the supreme deity of     
modern idealism4 ,moreover1 he was only 
a national ,god1 like the ,russian ,god 
worshipped by the ,german generals1     
subjects of the ,czar and patriots of   
the empire of all the ,russias2 like the

 ,german ,god1 whom the pietists and the
 ,german generals1 subjects of ,william 
,i4 at ,berlin1 will no doubt soon      
proclaim4 ,the supreme being cannot be a
 national ,god2 he must be the ,god of  
entire ,humanity4 ,nor can the supreme  
being be a material being2 he must be   
the negation of all matter--pure spirit4
 ,two things have proved necessary to   
the realization of the worship of the   
supreme being3 7#a7 a realization1 such 
as it is1 of ,humanity by the negation  
of nationalities and national forms of  
worship2 7#b7 a development1 already far
 advanced1 of metaphysical ideas in     
order to spiritualize the gross ,jehovah
 of the ,jews4  ,the first condition was
 fulfilled by the ,romans1 though in a  
very negative way no doubt1 by the      
conquest of most of the countries known 
to the ancients and by the destruction  
of their national institutions4 ,the    
gods of all the conquered nations1      
gathered in the ,pantheon1 mutually     
cancelled each other4 ,this was the     

first draft of humanity1 very gross and 
quite negative4  ,as for the second     
condition1 the spiritualization of      
,jehovah1 that was realized by the      
,greeks long before the conquest of     
their country by the ,romans4 ,they were
 the creators of metaphysics4 ,greece1  
in the cradle of her history1 had       
already found from the ,orient a divine 
world which had been definitely         
established in the traditional faith of 
her peoples2 this world had been left   
and handed over to her by the ,orient4  
,in her instinctive period1 prior to her
 political history1 she had developed   
and prodigiously humanized this divine  
world through her poets2 and when she   
actually began her history1 she already 
had a religion ready-made1 the most     
sympathetic and noble of all the        
religions which have existed1 so far at 
least as a religion--that is1 a lie--can
 be noble and sympathetic4 ,her great   
thinkers--and no nation has had greater 
than ,greece--found the divine world    

established1 not only outside of        
themselves in the people1 but also in   
themselves as a habit of feeling and    
thought1 and naturally they took it as a
 point of departure4 ,that they made no 
theology--that is1 that they did not    
wait in vain to reconcile dawning reason
 with the absurdities of such a god1 as 
did the scholastics of the ,middle      
,ages--was already much in their favor4 
,they left the gods out of their        
speculations and attached themselves    
directly to the divine idea1 one1       
invisible1 omnipotent1 eternal1 and     
absolutely spiritualistic but           
impersonal4 ,as concerns ,spiritualism1 
then1 the ,greek metaphysicians1 much   
more than the ,jews1 were the creators  
of the ,christian god4 ,the ,jews only  
added to it the brutal personality of   
their ,jehovah4  ,that a sublime genius 
like the divine ,plato could have been  
absolutely convinced of the reality of  
the divine idea shows us how contagious1
 how omnipotent1 is the tradition of the

 religious mania even on the greatest   
minds4 ,besides1 we should not be       
surprised at it1 since1 even in our day1
 the greatest philosophical genius which
 has existed since ,aristotle and       
,plato1 ,hegel--in spite even of ,kant's
 criticism1 imperfect and too           
metaphysical though it be1 which had    
demolished the objectivity or reality of
 the divine ideas--tried to replace     
these divine ideas upon their           
transcendental or celestial throne4 ,it 
is true that ,hegel went about his work 
of restoration in so impolite a manner  
that he killed the good ,god for ever4  
,he took away from these ideas their    
divine halo1 by showing to whoever will 
read him that they were never anything  
more than a creation of the human mind  
running through history in search of    
itself4 ,to put an end to all religious 
insanities and the divine mirage1 he    
left nothing lacking but the utterance  
of those grand words which were said    
after him1 almost at the same time1 by  

two great minds who had never heard of  
each other--,ludwig ,feuerbach1 the     
disciple and demolisher of ,hegel1 in   
,germany1 and ,auguste ,comte1 the      
founder of positive philosophy1 in      
,france4 ,these words were as follows3  
,metaphysics are reduced to psychology4 
,all the metaphysical systems have been 
nothing else than human psychology      
developing itself in history4  ,to-day  
it is no longer difficult to understand 
how the divine ideas were born1 how they
 were created in succession by the      
abstractive faculty of man4 ,man made   
the gods4 ,but in the time of ,plato    
this knowledge was impossible4 ,the     
collective mind1 and consequently the   
individual mind as well1 even that of   
the greatest genius1 was not ripe for   
that4 ,scarcely had it said with        
,socrates3 ,know thyself6 ,this         
self-knowledge existed only in a state  
of intuition2 in fact1 it amounted to   
nothing4 ,hence it was impossible for   
the human mind to suspect that it was   

itself the sole creator of the divine   
world4 ,it found the divine world before
 it2 it found it as history1 as         
tradition1 as a sentiment1 as a habit of
 thought2 and it necessarily made it the
 object of its loftiest speculations4   
,thus was born metaphysics1 and thus    
were developed and perfected the divine 
ideas1 the basis of ,spiritualism4  ,it 
is true that after ,plato there was a   
sort of inverse movement in the         
development of the mind4 ,aristotle1 the
 true father of science and positive    
philosophy1 did not deny the divine     
world1 but concerned himself with it as 
little as possible4 ,he was the first to
 study1 like the analyst and            
experimenter that he was1 logic1 the    
laws of human thought1 and at the same  
time the physical world1 not in its     
ideal1 illusory essence1 but in its real
 aspect4 ,after him the ,greeks of      
,alexandria established the first school
 of the positive scientists4 ,they were 
atheists4 ,but their atheism left no    

mark on their contemporaries4 ,science  
tended more and more to separate itself 
from life4 ,after ,plato1 divine ideas  
were rejected in metaphysics themselves2
 this was done by the ,epicureans and   
,skeptics1 two sects who contributed    
much to the degradation of human        
aristocracy1 but they had no effect upon
 the masses4  ,another school1          
infinitely more influential1 was formed 
at ,alexandria4 ,this was the school of 
neo-,platonists4 ,these1 confounding in 
an impure mixture the monstrous         
imaginations of the ,orient with the    
ideas of ,plato1 were the true          
originators1 and later the elaborators1 
of the ,christian dogmas4  ,thus the    
personal and gross egoism of ,jehovah1  
the not less brutal and gross ,roman    
conquest1 and the metaphysical ideal    
speculation of the ,greeks1 materialized
 by contact with the ,orient1 were the  
three historical elements which made up 
the spiritualistic religion of the      
,christians4         99     99     99   

99     99  ,before the altar of a unique
 and supreme ,god was raised on the     
ruins of the numerous altars of the     
pagan gods1 the autonomy of the various 
nations composing the pagan or ancient  
world had to be destroyed first4 ,this  
was very brutally done by the ,romans   
who1 by conquering the greatest part of 
the globe known to the ancients1 laid   
the first foundations1 quite gross and  
negative ones no doubt1 of humanity4 ,a 
,god thus raised above the national     
differences1 material and social1 of all
 countries1 and in a certain sense the  
direct negation of them1 must           
necessarily be an immaterial and        
abstract being4 ,but faith in the       
existence of such a being1 so difficult 
a matter1 could not spring into         
existence suddenly4 ,consequently1 as ,i
 have demonstrated in the ,appendix1 it 
went through a long course of           
preparation and development at the hands
 of ,greek metaphysics1 which were the  
first to establish in a philosophical   

manner the notion of the divine idea1 a 
model eternally creative and always     
reproduced by the visible world4 ,but   
the divinity conceived and created by   
,greek philosophy was an impersonal     
divinity4 ,no logical and serious       
metaphysics being able to rise1 or1     
rather1 to descend1 to the idea of a    
personal ,god1 it became necessary1     
therefore1 to imagine a ,god who was one
 and very personal at once4 ,he was     
found in the very brutal1 selfish1 and  
cruel person of ,jehovah1 the national  
,god of the ,jews4 ,but the ,jews1 in   
spite of that exclusive national spirit 
which distinguishes them even to-day1   
had become in fact1 long before the     
birth of ,christ1 the most international
 people of the world4 ,some of them     
carried away as captives1 but many more 
even urged on by that mercantile passion
 which constitutes one of the principal 
traits of their character1 they had     
spread through all countries1 carrying  
everywhere the worship of their         

,jehovah1 to whom they remained all the 
more faithful the more he abandoned     
them4  ,in ,alexandria this terrible god
 of the ,jews made the personal         
acquaintance of the metaphysical        
divinity of ,plato1 already much        
corrupted by ,oriental contact1 and     
corrupted her still more by his own4 ,in
 spite of his national1 jealous1 and    
ferocious exclusivism1 he could not long
 resist the graces of this ideal and    
impersonal divinity of the ,greeks4 ,he 
married her1 and from this marriage was 
born the spiritualistic--but not        
spirited--,god of the ,christians4 ,the 
neo-,platonists of ,alexandria are known
 to have been the principal creators of 
the ,christian theology4  ,nevertheless 
theology alone does not make a religion1
 any more than historical elements      
suffice to create history4 ,by          
historical elements ,i mean the general 
conditions of any real development      
whatsoever--for example in this case the
 conquest of the world by the ,romans   

and the meeting of the ,god of the ,jews
 with the ideal of divinity of the      
,greeks4 ,to impregnate the historical  
elements1 to cause them to run through a
 series of new historical               
transformations1 a living1 spontaneous  
fact was needed1 without which they     
might have remained many centuries      
longer in the state of unproductive     
elements4 ,this fact was not lacking in 
,christianity3 it was the propagandism1 
martyrdom1 and death of ,jesus ,christ4 
,we know almost nothing of this great   
and saintly personage1 all that the     
gospels tell us being contradictory1 and
 so fabulous that we can scarcely seize 
upon a few real and vital traits4 ,but  
it is certain that he was the preacher  
of the poor1 the friend and consoler of 
the wretched1 of the ignorant1 of the   
slaves1 and of the women1 and that by   
these last he was much loved4 ,he       
promised eternal life to all who are    
oppressed1 to all who suffer here below2
 and the number is immense4 ,he was     

hanged1 as a matter of course1 by the   
representatives of the official morality
 and public order of that period4 ,his  
disciples and the disciples of his      
disciples succeeded in spreading1 thanks
 to the destruction of the national     
barriers by the ,roman conquest1 and    
propagated the ,gospel in all the       
countries known to the ancients4        
,everywhere they were received with open
 arms by the slaves and the women1 the  
two most oppressed1 most suffering1 and 
naturally also the most ignorant classes
 of the ancient world4 ,for even such   
few proselytes as they made in the      
privileged and learned world they were  
indebted in great part to the influence 
of women4 ,their most extensive         
propagandism was directed almost        
exclusively among the people1           
unfortunate and degraded by slavery4    
,this was the first awakening1 the first
 intellectual revolt of the proletariat4
         99     99     99     99     99 
,the great honor of ,christianity1 its  

incontestable merit1 and the whole      
secret of its unprecedented and yet     
thoroughly legitimate triumph1 lay in   
the fact that it appealed to that       
suffering and immense public to which   
the ancient world1 a strict and cruel   
intellectual and political aristocracy1 
denied even the simplest rights of      
humanity4 ,otherwise it never could have
 spread4 ,the doctrine taught by the    
apostles of ,christ1 wholly consoling as
 it may have seemed to the unfortunate1 
was too revolting1 too absurd from the  
standpoint of human reason1 ever to have
 been accepted by enlightened men4      
,according with what joy the apostle    
,paul speaks of the scandale de la foi  
and of the triumph of that divine folie 
rejected by the powerful and wise of the
 century1 but all the more passionately 
accepted by the simple1 the ignorant1   
and the weak-minded6  ,indeed there must
 have been a very deep-seated           
dissatisfaction with life1 a very       
intense thirst of heart1 and an almost  

absolute poverty of thought1 to secure  
the acceptance of the ,christian        
absurdity1 the most audacious and       
monstrous of all religious absurdities4 
,this was not only the negation of all  
the political1 social1 and religious    
institutions of antiquity3 it was the   
absolute overturn of common sense1 of   
all human reason4 ,the living being1 the
 real world1 were considered thereafter 
as nothing2 whereas the product of man's
 abstractive faculty1 the last and      
supreme abstraction in which this       
faculty1 far beyond existing things1    
even beyond the most general            
determinations of the living being1 the 
ideas of space and time1 having nothing 
left to advance beyond1 rests in        
contemplation of his emptiness and      
absolute immobility4  ,that abstraction1
 that caput mortuum1 absolutely void of 
all contents1 the true nothing1 ,god1 is
 proclaimed the only real1 eternal1     
all-powerful being4 ,the real ,all is   
declared nothing1 and the absolute      

nothing the ,all4 ,the shadow becomes   
the substance1 and the substance        
vanishes like a shadow4#aj  ,all this   
was audacity and absurdity unspeakable1 
the true scandale de la foi1 the triumph
 of credulous stupidity over the mind   
for the masses2 and--for a few--the     
triumphant irony of a mind wearied1     
corrupted1 disillusioned1 and disgusted 
in honest and serious search for truth2 
it was that necessity of shaking off    
thought and becoming brutally stupid so 
frequently felt by surfeited minds3     
,credo quod absurdum4  ,i believe in the
 absurd2 ,i believe in it1 precisely and
 mainly1 because it is absurd4 ,in the  
same way many distinguished and         
enlightened minds in our day believe in 
animal magnetism1 spiritualism1 tipping 
tables1 and--why go so far8--believe    
still in ,christianity1 in idealism1 in 
,god4  ,the belief of the ancient       
proletariat1 like that of the modern1   
was more robust and simple1 less haut   
gout4 ,the ,christian propagandism      

appealed to its heart1 not to its mind2 
to its eternal aspirations1 its         
necessities1 its sufferings1 its        
slavery1 not to its reason1 which still 
slept and therefore could know nothing  
about logical contradictions and the    
evidence of the absurd4 ,it was         
interested solely in knowing when the   
hour of promised deliverance would      
strike1 when the kingdom of ,god would  
come4 ,as for theological dogmas1 it did
 not trouble itself about them because  
it understood nothing about them4 ,the  
proletariat converted to ,christianity  
constituted its growing material but not
 its intellectual strength4  ,as for the
 ,christian dogmas1 it is known that    
they were elaborated in a series of     
theological and literary works and in   
the ,councils1 principally by the       
converted neo-,platonists of the        
,orient4 ,the ,greek mind had fallen so 
low that1 in the fourth century of the  
,christian era1 the period of the first 
,council1 the idea of a personal ,god1  

pure1 eternal1 absolute mind1 creator   
and supreme master1 existing outside of 
the world1 was unanimously accepted by  
the ,church ,fathers2 as a logical      
consequence of this absolute absurdity1 
it then became natural and necessary to 
believe in the immateriality and        
immortality of the human soul1 lodged   
and imprisoned in a body only partially 
mortal1 there being in this body itself 
a portion which1 while material1 is     
immortal like the soul1 and must be     
resurrected with it4 ,we see how        
difficult it was1 even for the ,church  
,fathers1 to conceive pure minds outside
 of any material form4 ,it should be    
added that1 in general1 it is the       
character of every metaphysical and     
theological argument to seek to explain 
one absurdity by another4  ,it was very 
fortunate for ,christianity that it met 
a world of slaves4 ,it had another piece
 of good luck in the invasion of the    
,barbarians4 ,the latter were worthy    
people1 full of natural force1 and1     

above all1 urged on by a great necessity
 of life and a great capacity for it2   
brigands who had stood every test1      
capable of devastating and gobbling up  
anything1 like their successors1 the    
,germans of to-day2 but they were much  
less systematic and pedantic than these 
last1 much less moralistic1 less        
learned1 and on the other hand much more
 independent and proud1 capable of      
science and not incapable of liberty1 as
 are the bourgeois of modern ,germany4  
,but1 in spite of all their great       
qualities1 they were nothing but        
barbarians--that is1 as indifferent to  
all questions of theology and           
metaphysics as the ancient slaves1 a    
great number of whom1 moreover1 belonged
 to their race4 ,so that1 their         
practical repugnance once overcome1 it  
was not difficult to convert them       
theoretically to ,christianity4  ,for   
ten centuries ,christianity1 armed with 
the omnipotence of ,church and ,state   
and opposed by no competition1 was able 

to deprave1 debase1 and falsify the mind
 of ,europe4 ,it had no competitors1    
because outside of the ,church there    
were neither thinkers nor educated      
persons4 ,it alone thought1 it alone    
spoke and wrote1 it alone taught4       
,though heresies arose in its bosom1    
they affected only the theological or   
practical developments of the           
fundamental dogma1 never that dogma     
itself4 ,the belief in ,god1 pure spirit
 and creator of the world1 and the      
belief in the immateriality of the soul 
remained untouched4 ,this double belief 
became the ideal basis of the whole     
,occidental and ,oriental civilization  
of ,europe2 it penetrated and became    
incarnate in all the institutions1 all  
the details of the public and private   
life of all classes1 and the masses as  
well4  ,after that1 is it surprising    
that this belief has lived until the    
present day1 continuing to exercise its 
disastrous influence even upon select   
minds1 such as those of ,mazzini1       

,michelet1 ,quinet1 and so many others8 
,we have seen that the first attack upon
 it came from the renaissance of the    
free mind in the fifteenth century1     
which produced heroes and martyrs like  
,vanini1 ,giordano ,bruno1 and ,galileo4
 ,although drowned in the noise1 tumult1
 and passions of the ,reformation1 it   
noiselessly continued its invisible     
work1 bequeathing to the noblest minds  
of each generation its task of human    
emancipation by the destruction of the  
absurd1 until at last1 in the latter    
half of the eighteenth century1 it again
 reappeared in broad day1 boldly waving 
the flag of atheism and materialism4    
,the human mind1 then1 one might have   
supposed1 was at last about to deliver  
itself from all the divine obsessions4  
,not at all4 ,the divine falsehood upon 
which humanity had been feeding for     
eighteen centuries 7speaking of         
,christianity only7 was once more to    
show itself more powerful than human    
truth4 ,no longer able to make use of   

the black tribe1 of the ravens          
consecrated by the ,church1 of the      
,catholic or ,protestant priests1 all   
confidence in whom had been lost1 it    
made use of lay priests1 short-robed    
liars and sophists1 among whom the      
principal roles devolved upon two fatal 
men1 one the falsest mind1 the other the
 most doctrinally despotic will1 of the 
last century--,j4 ,j4 ,rousseau and     
,robespierre4  ,the first is the perfect
 type of narrowness and suspicious      
meanness1 of exaltation without other   
object than his own person1 of cold     
enthusiasm and hypocrisy at once        
sentimental and implacable1 of the      
falsehood of modern idealism4 ,he may be
 considered as the real creator of      
modern reaction4 ,to all appearance the 
most democratic writer of the eighteenth
 century1 he bred within himself the    
pitiless despotism of the statesman4 ,he
 was the prophet of the doctrinaire     
,state1 as ,robespierre1 his worthy and 
faithful disciple1 tried to become its  

high priest4 ,having heard the saying of
 ,voltaire that1 if ,god did not exist1 
it would be necessary to invent him1 ,j4
 ,j4 ,rousseau invented the ,supreme    
,being1 the abstract and sterile ,god of
 the deists4 ,and it was in the name of 
the ,supreme ,being1 and of the         
hypocritical virtue commanded by this   
,supreme ,being1 that ,robespierre      
guillotined first the ,hebertists and   
then the very genius of the ,revolution1
 ,danton1 in whose person he            
assassinated the ,republic1 thus        
preparing the way for the thenceforth   
necessary triumph of the dictatorship of
 ,bonaparte ,i4 ,after this great       
triumph1 the idealistic reaction sought 
and found servants less fanatical1 less 
terrible1 nearer to the diminished      
stature of the actual bourgeoisie4 ,in  
,france1 ,chateaubriand1 ,lamartine1    
and--shall ,i say it8 ,why not8 ,all    
must be said if it is truth--,victor    
,hugo himself1 the democrat1 the        
republican1 the quasi-socialist of      

to-day6 and after them the whole        
melancholy and sentimental company of   
poor and pallid minds who1 under the    
leadership of these masters1 established
 the modern romantic school2 in         
,germany1 the ,schlegels1 the ,tiecks1  
the ,novalis1 the ,werners1 the         
,schellings1 and so many others besides1
 whose names do not even deserve to be  
recalled4  ,the literature created by   
this school was the very reign of ghosts
 and phantoms4 ,it could not stand the  
sunlight2 the twilight alone permitted  
it to live4 ,no more could it stand the 
brutal contact of the masses4 ,it was   
the literature of the tender1 delicate1 
distinguished souls1 aspiring to heaven1
 and living on earth as if in spite of  
themselves4 ,it had a horror and        
contempt for the politics and questions 
of the day2 but when perchance it       
referred to them1 it showed itself      
frankly reactionary1 took the side of   
the ,church against the insolence of the
 freethinkers1 of the kings against the 

peoples1 and of all the aristocrats     
against the vile rabble of the streets4 
,for the rest1 as ,i have just said1 the
 dominant feature of the school of      
romanticism was a quasi-complete        
indifference to politics4 ,amid the     
clouds in which it lived could be       
distinguished two real points--the rapid
 development of bourgeois materialism   
and the ungovernable outburst of        
individual vanities4  ,to understand    
this romantic literature1 the reason for
 its existence must be sought in the    
transformation which had been effected  
in the bosom of the bourgeois class     
since the revolution of #agic4  ,from   
the ,renaissance and the ,reformation   
down to the ,revolution1 the            
bourgeoisie1 if not in ,germany1 at     
least in ,italy1 in ,france1 in         
,switzerland1 in ,england1 in ,holland1 
was the hero and representative of the  
revolutionary genius of history4 ,from  
its bosom sprang most of the            
freethinkers of the fifteenth century1  

the religious reformers of the two      
following centuries1 and the apostles of
 human emancipation1 including this time
 those of ,germany1 of the past century4
 ,it alone1 naturally supported by the  
powerful arm of the people1 who had     
faith in it1 made the revolution of     
#aghi and '#ic4 ,it proclaimed the      
downfall of royalty and of the ,church1 
the fraternity of the peoples1 the      
rights of man and of the citizen4 ,those
 are its titles to glory2 they are      
immortal6  ,soon it split4 ,a           
considerable portion of the purchasers  
of national property having become rich1
 and supporting themselves no longer on 
the proletariat of the cities1 but on   
the major portion of the peasants of    
,france1 these also having become landed
 proprietors1 had no aspiration left but
 for peace1 the re-establishment of     
public order1 and the foundation of a   
strong and regular government4 ,it      
therefore welcomed with joy the         
dictatorship of the first ,bonaparte1   

and1 although always ,voltairean1 did   
not view with displeasure the ,concordat
 with the ,pope and the re-establishment
 of the official ,church in ,france3    
,religion is so necessary to the people6
 ,which means that1 satiated themselves1
 this portion of the bourgeoisie then   
began to see that it was needful to the 
maintenance of their situation and the  
preservation of their newly-acquired    
estates to appease the unsatisfied      
hunger of the people by promises of     
heavenly manna4 ,then it was that       
,chateaubriand began to preach4#aa      
,napoleon fell and the ,restoration     
brought back into ,france the legitimate
 monarchy1 and with it the power of the 
,church and of the nobles1 who regained1
 if not the whole1 at least a           
considerable portion of their former    
influence4 ,this reaction threw the     
bourgeoisie back into the ,revolution1  
and with the revolutionary spirit that  
of skepticism also was re-awakened in   
it4 ,it set ,chateaubriand aside and    

began to read ,voltaire again2 but it   
did not go so far as ,diderot3 its      
debilitated nerves could not stand      
nourishment so strong4 ,voltaire1 on the
 contrary1 at once a freethinker and a  
deist1 suited it very well4 ,beranger   
and ,p4 ,l4 ,courier expressed this new 
tendency perfectly4 ,the ,god of the    
good people and the ideal of the        
bourgeois king1 at once liberal and     
democratic1 sketched against the        
majestic and thenceforth inoffensive    
background of the ,empire's gigantic    
victories--such was at that period the  
daily intellectual food of the          
bourgeoisie of ,france4  ,lamartine1 to 
be sure1 excited by a vain and          
ridiculously envious desire to rise to  
the poetic height of the great ,byron1  
had begun his coldly delirious hymns in 
honor of the ,god of the nobles and of  
the legitimate monarchy4 ,but his songs 
resounded only in aristocratic salons4  
,the bourgeoisie did not hear them4     
,beranger was its poet and ,courier was 

its political writer4  ,the revolution  
of ,july resulted in lifting its tastes4
 ,we know that every bourgeois in       
,france carries within him the          
imperishable type of the bourgeois      
gentleman1 a type which never fails to  
appear immediately the parvenu acquires 
a little wealth and power4 ,in #ahcj the
 wealthy bourgeoisie had definitely     
replaced the old nobility in the seats  
of power4 ,it naturally tended to       
establish a new aristocracy4 ,an        
aristocracy of capital first of all1 but
 also an aristocracy of intellect1 of   
good manners and delicate sentiments4   
,it began to feel religious4  ,this was 
not on its part simply an aping of      
aristocratic customs4 ,it was also a    
necessity of its position4 ,the         
proletariat had rendered it a final     
service in once more aiding it to       
overthrow the nobility4 ,the bourgeoisie
 now had no further need of its         
co-operation1 for it felt itself firmly 
seated in the shadow of the throne of   

,july1 and the alliance with the people1
 thenceforth useless1 began to become   
inconvenient4 ,it was necessary to      
remand it to its place1 which naturally 
could not be done without provoking     
great indignation among the masses4 ,it 
became necessary to restrain this       
indignation4 ,in the name of what8 ,in  
the name of the bourgeois interest      
bluntly confessed8 ,that would have been
 much too cynical4 ,the more unjust and 
inhuman an interest is1 the greater need
 it has of sanction4 ,now1 where find it
 if not in religion1 that good          
protectress of all the well-fed and the 
useful consoler of the hungry8 ,and more
 than ever the triumphant bourgeoisie   
saw that religion was indispensable to  
the people4  ,after having won all its  
titles to glory in religious1           
philosophical1 and political opposition1
 in protest and in revolution1 it at    
last became the dominant class and      
thereby even the defender and preserver 
of the ,state1 thenceforth the regular  

institution of the exclusive power of   
that class4 ,the ,state is force1 and   
for it1 first of all1 is the right of   
force1 the triumphant argument of the   
needle-gun1 of the chassepot4 ,but man  
is so singularly constituted that this  
argument1 wholly eloquent as it may     
appear1 is not sufficient in the long   
run4 ,some moral sanction or other is   
absolutely necessary to enforce his     
respect4 ,further1 this sanction must be
 at once so simple and so plain that it 
may convince the masses1 who1 after     
having been reduced by the power of the 
,state1 must also be induced to morally 
recognize its right4  ,there are only   
two ways of convincing the masses of the
 goodness of any social institution     
whatever4 ,the first1 the only real one1
 but also the most difficult to         
adopt--because it implies the abolition 
of the ,state1 or1 in other words1 the  
abolition of the organized political    
exploitation of the majority by any     
minority whatsoever--would be the direct

 and complete satisfaction of the needs 
and aspirations of the people1 which    
would be equivalent to the complete     
liquidation of the political and        
economical existence of the bourgeois   
class1 or1 again1 to the abolition of   
the ,state4 ,beneficial means for the   
masses1 but detrimental to bourgeois    
interests2 hence it is useless to talk  
about them4  ,the only way1 on the      
contrary1 harmful only to the people1   
precious in its salvation of bourgeois  
privileges1 is no other than religion4  
,that is the eternal mirage which leads 
away the masses in a search for divine  
treasures1 while1 much more reserved1   
the governing class contents itself with
 dividing among all its members--very   
unequally1 moreover1 and always giving  
most to him who possesses most--the     
miserable goods of earth and the plunder
 taken from the people1 including their 
political and social liberty4  ,there is
 not1 there cannot be1 a ,state without 
religion4 ,take the freest ,states in   

the world--the ,united ,states of       
,america or the ,swiss ,confederation1  
for instance--and see what an important 
part is played in all official          
discourses by divine ,providence1 that  
supreme sanction of all ,states4  ,but  
whenever a chief of ,state speaks of    
,god1 be he ,william ,i41 the           
,knouto-,germanic emperor1 or ,grant1   
the president of the great republic1 be 
sure that he is getting ready to shear  
once more his people-flock4  ,the       
,french liberal and ,voltairean         
bourgeoisie1 driven by temperament to a 
positivism 7not to say a materialism7   
singularly narrow and brutal1 having    
become the governing class of the ,state
 by its triumph of #ahcj1 had to give   
itself an official religion4 ,it was not
 an easy thing4 ,the bourgeoisie could  
not abruptly go back under the yoke of  
,roman ,catholicism4 ,between it and the
 ,church of ,rome was an abyss of blood 
and hatred1 and1 however practical and  
wise one becomes1 it is never possible  

to repress a passion developed by       
history4 ,moreover1 the ,french         
bourgeoisie would have covered itself   
with ridicule if it had gone back to the
 ,church to take part in the pious      
ceremonies of its worship1 an essential 
condition of a meretorious and sincere  
conversion4 ,several attempted it1 it is
 true1 but their heroism was rewarded by
 no other result than a fruitless       
scandal4 ,finally1 a return to          
,catholicism was impossible on account  
of the insolvable contradiction which   
separates the invariable politics of    
,rome from the development of the       
economical and political interests of   
the middle class4  ,in this respect     
,protestantism is much more             
advantageous4 ,it is the bourgeois      
religion par excellence4 ,it accords    
just as much liberty as is necessary to 
the bourgeois1 and finds a way of       
reconciling celestial aspirations with  
the respect which terrestrial conditions
 demand4 ,consequently it is especially 

in ,protestant countries that commerce  
and industry have been developed4 ,but  
it was impossible for the ,french       
bourgeoisie to become ,protestant4 ,to  
pass from one religion to               
another--unless it be done deliberately1
 as sometimes in the case of the ,jews  
of ,russia and ,poland1 who get baptised
 three or four times in order to receive
 each time the remuneration allowed     
them--to seriously change one's         
religion1 a little faith is necessary4  
,now1 in the exclusive positive heart of
 the ,french bourgeois1 there is no room
 for faith4 ,he professes the most      
profound indifference for all questions 
which touch neither his pocket first nor
 his social vanity afterwards4 ,he is as
 indifferent to ,protestantism as to    
,catholicism4 ,on the other hand1 the   
,french bourgeois could not go over to  
,protestantism without putting himself  
in conflict with the ,catholic routine  
of the majority of the ,french people1  
which would have been great imprudence  

on the part of a class pretending to    
govern the nation4  ,there was still one
 way left--to return to the humanitarian
 and revolutionary religion of the      
eighteenth century4 ,but that would have
 led too far4 ,so the bourgeoisie was   
obliged1 in order to sanction its new   
,state1 to create a new religion which  
might be boldly proclaimed1 without too 
much ridicule and scandal1 by the whole 
bourgeois class4  ,thus was born        
doctrinaire ,deism4  ,others have told1 
much better than ,i could tell it1 the  
story of the birth and development of   
this school1 which had so decisive      
and--we may well add--so fatal an       
influence on the political1             
intellectual1 and moral education of the
 bourgeois youth of ,france4 ,it dates  
from ,benjamin ,constant and ,madame de 
,stael2 its real founder was            
,royer-,collard2 its apostles1 ,guizot1 
,cousin1 ,villemain1 and many others4   
,its boldly avowed object was the       
reconciliation of ,revolution with      

,reaction1 or1 to use the language of   
the school1 of the principle of liberty 
with that of authority1 and naturally to
 the advantage of the latter4  ,this    
reconciliation signified3 in politics1  
the taking away of popular liberty for  
the benefit of bourgeois rule1          
represented by the monarchical and      
constitutional ,state2 in philosophy1   
the deliberate submission of free reason
 to the eternal principles of faith4 ,we
 have only to deal here with the latter4
  ,we know that this philosophy was     
specially elaborated by ,m4 ,cousin1 the
 father of ,french eclecticism4 ,a      
superficial and pedantic talker1        
incapable of any original conception1 of
 any idea peculiar to himself1 but very 
strong on commonplace1 which he         
confounded with common sense1 this      
illustrious philosopher learnedly       
prepared1 for the use of the studious   
youth of ,france1 a metaphysical dish of
 his own making1 the use of which1 made 
compulsory in all schools of the ,state 

under the ,university1 condemned several
 generations one after the other to a   
cerebral indigestion4 ,imagine a        
philosophical vinegar sauce of the most 
opposed systems1 a mixture of ,fathers  
of the ,church1 scholastic philosophers1
 ,descartes and ,pascal1 ,kant and      
,scotch psychologists1 all this a       
superstructure on the divine and innate 
ideas of ,plato1 and covered up with a  
layer of ,hegelian immanence1           
accompanied1 of course1 by an ignorance1
 as contemptuous as it is complete1 of  
natural science1 and proving1 just as   
two times two make five1 the existence  
of a personal ,god4444     ,,footnotes3 
#a ,i call it iniquitous because1 as ,i 
believe ,i have proved in the ,appendix 
alluded to1 this mystery has been and   
still continues to be the consecration  
of all the horrors which have been and  
are being committed in the world2 ,i    
call it unique1 because all the other   
theological and metaphysical absurdities
 which debase the human mind are but its

 necessary consequences4  #b ,mr4       
,stuart ,mill is perhaps the only one   
whose serious idealism may be fairly    
doubted1 and that for two reasons3      
first1 that1 if not absolutely the      
disciple1 he is a passionate admirer1 an
 adherent of the positive philosophy of 
,auguste ,comte1 a philosophy which1 in 
spite of its numerous reservations1 is  
really ,atheistic2 second1 that ,mr4    
,stuart ,mill is ,english1 and in       
,england to proclaim oneself an ,atheist
 is to ostracise oneself1 even at this  
late day4  #c ,in ,london ,i once heard 
,m4 ,louis ,blanc express almost the    
same idea4 ,the best form of government1
 said he to me1 would be that which     
would invariably call men of virtuous   
genius to the control of affairs4  #d   
,one day ,i asked ,mazzini what measures
 would be taken for the emancipation of 
the people1 once his triumphant unitary 
republic had been definitely            
established4 ,the first measure1 he     
answered1 will be the foundation of     

schools for the people4 ,and what will  
the people be taught in these schools8  
,the duties of man--sacrifice and       
devotion4 ,but where will you find a    
sufficient number of professors to teach
 these things1 which no one has the     
right or power to teach1 unless he      
preaches by example8 ,is not the number 
of men who find supreme enjoyment in    
sacrifice and devotion exceedingly      
limited8 ,those who sacrifice themselves
 in the service of a great idea obey a  
lofty passion1 and1 satisfying this     
personal passion1 outside of which life 
itself loses all value in their eyes1   
they generally think of something else  
than building their action into         
doctrine1 while those who teach doctrine
 usually forget to translate it into    
action1 for the simple reason that      
doctrine kills the life1 the living     
spontaneity1 of action4 ,men like       
,mazzini1 in whom doctrine and action   
form an admirable unity1 are very rare  
exceptions4 ,in ,christianity also there

 have been great men1 holy men1 who have
 really practised1 or who1 at least1    
have passionately tried to practice all 
that they preached1 and whose hearts1   
overflowing with love1 were full of     
contempt for the pleasures and goods of 
this world4 ,but the immense majority of
 ,catholic and ,protestant priests who1 
by trade1 have preached and still preach
 the doctrines of chastity1 abstinence1 
and renunciation belie their teachings  
by their example4 ,it is not without    
reason1 but because of several          
centuries' experience1 that among the   
people of all countries these phrases   
have become by-words3 ,as licentious as 
a priest2 as gluttonous as a priest2 as 
ambitious as a priest2 as greedy1       
selfish1 and grasping as a priest4 ,it  
is1 then1 established that the          
professors of the ,christian virtues1   
consecrated by the ,church1 the priests1
 in the immense majority of cases1 have 
practised quite the contrary of what    
they have preached4 ,this very majority1

 the universality of this fact1 show    
that the fault is not to be attributed  
to them as individuals1 but to the      
social position1 impossible and         
contradictory in itself1 in which these 
individuals are placed4 ,the position of
 the ,christian priest involves a double
 contradiction4 ,in the first place1    
that between the doctrine of abstinence 
and renunciation and the positive       
tendencies and needs of human           
nature--tendencies and needs which1 in  
some individual cases1 always very rare1
 may indeed be continually held back1   
suppressed1 and even entirely           
annihilated by the constant influence of
 some potent intellectual and moral     
passion2 which at certain moments of    
collective exaltation1 may be forgotten 
and neglected for some time by a large  
mass of men at once2 but which are so   
fundamentally inherent in our nature    
that sooner or later they always resume 
their rights3 so that1 when they are not
 satisfied in a regular and normal way1 

they are always replaced at last by     
unwholesome and monstrous satisfaction4 
,this is a natural and consequently     
fatal and irresistible law1 under the   
disastrous action of which inevitably   
fall all ,christian priests and         
especially those of the ,roman ,catholic
 ,church4 ,it cannot apply to the       
professors1 that is to the priests of   
the modern ,church1 unless they are also
 obliged to preach ,christian abstinence
 and renunciation4  ,but there is       
another contradiction common to the     
priests of both sects4 ,this            
contradiction grows out of the very     
title and position of master4 ,a master 
who commands1 oppresses1 and exploits is
 a wholly logical and quite natural     
personage4 ,but a master who sacrifices 
himself to those who are subordinated to
 him by his divine or human privilege is
 a contradictory and quite impossible   
being4 ,this is the very constitution of
 hypocrisy1 so well personified by the  
,pope1 who1 while calling himself the   

lowest servant of the servants of       
,god--in token whereof1 following the   
example of ,christ1 he even washes once 
a year the feet of twelve ,roman        
beggars--proclaims himself at the same  
time vicar of ,god1 absolute and        
infallible master of the world4 ,do ,i  
need to recall that the priests of all  
churches1 far from sacrificing          
themselves to the flocks confided to    
their care1 have always sacrificed them1
 exploited them1 and kept them in the   
condition of a flock1 partly to satisfy 
their own personal passions and partly  
to serve the omnipotence of the ,church8
 ,like conditions1 like causes1 always  
produce like effects4 ,it will1 then1 be
 the same with the professors of the    
modern ,school divinely inspired and    
licensed by the ,state4 ,they will      
necessarily become1 some without knowing
 it1 others with full knowledge of the  
cause1 teachers of the doctrine of      
popular sacrifice to the power of the   
,state and to the profit of the         

privileged classes4  ,must we1 then1    
eliminate from society all instruction  
and abolish all schools8 ,far from it6  
,instruction must be spread among the   
masses without stint1 transforming all  
the churches1 all those temples         
dedicated to the glory of ,god and to   
the slavery of men1 into so many schools
 of human emancipation4 ,but1 in the    
first place1 let us understand each     
other2 schools1 properly speaking1 in a 
normal society founded on equality and  
on respect for human liberty1 will exist
 only for children and not for adults2  
and1 in order that they may become      
schools of emancipation and not of      
enslavement1 it will be necessary to    
eliminate1 first of all1 this fiction of
 ,god1 the eternal and absolute         
enslaver4 ,the whole education of       
children and their instruction must be  
founded on the scientific development of
 reason1 not on that of faith2 on the   
development of personal dignity and     
independence1 not on that of piety and  

obedience2 on the worship of truth and  
justice at any cost1 and above all on   
respect for humanity1 which must replace
 always and everywhere the worship of   
divinity4 ,the principle of authority1  
in the education of children1           
constitutes the natural point of        
departure2 it is legitimate1 necessary1 
when applied to children of a tender    
age1 whose intelligence has not yet     
openly developed itself4 ,but as the    
development of everything1 and          
consequently of education1 implies the  
gradual negation of the point of        
departure1 this principle must diminish 
as fast as education and instruction    
advance1 giving place to increasing     
liberty4 ,all rational education is at  
bottom nothing but this progressive     
immolation of authority for the benefit 
of liberty1 the final object of         
education necessarily being the         
formation of free men full of respect   
and love for the liberty of others4     
,therefore the first day of the pupils' 

life1 if the school takes infants       
scarcely able as yet to stammer a few   
words1 should be that of the greatest   
authority and an almost entire absence  
of liberty2 but its last day should be  
that of the greatest liberty and the    
absolute abolition of every vestige of  
the animal or divine principle of       
authority4  ,the principle of authority1
 applied to men who have surpassed or   
attained their majority1 becomes a      
monstrosity1 a flagrant denial of       
humanity1 a source of slavery and       
intellectual and moral depravity4       
,unfortunately1 paternal governments    
have left the masses to wallow in an    
ignorance so profound that it will be   
necessary to establish schools not only 
for the people's children1 but for the  
people themselves4 ,from these schools  
will be absolutely eliminated the       
smallest applications or manifestations 
of the principle of authority4 ,they    
will be schools no longer2 they will be 
popular academies1 in which neither     

pupils nor masters will be known1 where 
the people will come freely to get1 if  
they need it1 free instruction1 and in  
which1 rich in their own experience1    
they will teach in their turn many      
things to the professors who shall bring
 them knowledge which they lack4 ,this1 
then1 will be a mutual instruction1 an  
act of intellectual fraternity between  
the educated youth and the people4  ,the
 real school for the people and for all 
grown men is life4 ,the only grand and  
omnipotent authority1 at once natural   
and rational1 the only one which we may 
respect1 will be that of the collective 
and public spirit of a society founded  
on equality and solidarity and the      
mutual human respect of all its members4
 ,yes1 this is an authority which is not
 at all divine1 wholly human1 but before
 which we shall bow willingly1 certain  
that1 far from enslaving them1 it will  
emancipate men4 ,it will be a thousand  
times more powerful1 be sure of it1 than
 all your divine1 theological1          

metaphysical1 political1 and judicial   
authorities1 established by the ,church 
and by the ,state2 more powerful than   
your criminal codes1 your jailers1 and  
your executioners4  ,the power of       
collective sentiment or public spirit is
 even now a very serious matter4 ,the   
men most ready to commit crimes rarely  
dare to defy it1 to openly affront it4  
,they will seek to deceive it1 but will 
take care not to be rude with it unless 
they feel the support of a minority     
larger or smaller4 ,no man1 however     
powerful he believes himself1 will ever 
have the strength to bear the unanimous 
contempt of society2 no one can live    
without feeling himself sustained by the
 approval and esteem of at least some   
portion of society4 ,a man must be urged
 on by an immense and very sincere      
conviction in order to find courage to  
speak and act against the opinion of    
all1 and never will a selfish1 depraved1
 and cowardly man have such courage4    
,nothing proves more clearly than this  

fact the natural and inevitable         
solidarity--this law of                 
sociability--which binds all men        
together1 as each of us can verify      
daily1 both on himself and on all the   
men whom he knows4 ,but1 if this social 
power exists1 why has it not sufficed   
hitherto to moralize1 to humanize men8  
,simply because hitherto this power has 
not been humanized itself2 it has not   
been humanized because the social life  
of which it is ever the faithful        
expression is based1 as we know1 on the 
worship of divinity1 not on respect for 
humanity2 on authority1 not on liberty2 
on privilege1 not on equality2 on the   
exploitation1 not on the brotherhood of 
men2 on iniquity and falsehood1 not on  
justice and truth4 ,consequently its    
real action1 always in contradiction of 
the humanitarian theories which it      
professes1 has constantly exercised a   
disastrous and depraving influence4 ,it 
does not repress vices and crimes2 it   
creates them4 ,its authority is         

consequently a divine1 anti-human       
authority2 its influence is mischievous 
and baleful4 ,do you wish to render its 
authority and influence beneficent and  
human8 ,achieve the social revolution4  
,make all needs really solidary1 and    
cause the material and social interests 
of each to conform to the human duties  
of each4 ,and to this end there is but  
one means3 ,destroy all the institutions
 of ,inequality2 establish the economic 
and social equality of all1 and on this 
basis will arise the liberty1 the       
morality1 the solidary humanity of all4 
,i shall return to this1 the most       
important question of ,socialism4  #e   
,here three pages of ,bakunin's         
manuscript are missing4  #f ,the lost   
part of this sentence perhaps said3 ,if 
men of science1 in their researches and 
experiments are not treating men        
actually as they treat animals1 the     
reason is that they are not exclusively 
men of science1 but are also more or    
less men of life4  #g ,science1 in      

becoming the patrimony of everybody1    
will wed itself in a certain sense to   
the immediate and real life of each4 ,it
 will gain in utility and grace what it 
loses in pride1 ambition1 and           
doctrinaire pedantry4 ,this1 however1   
will not prevent men of genius1 better  
organized for scientific speculation    
than the majority of their fellows1 from
 devoting themselves exclusively to the 
cultivation of the sciences1 and        
rendering great services to humanity4   
,only1 they will be ambitious for no    
other social influence than the natural 
influence exercised upon its            
surroundings by every superior          
intelligence1 and for no other reward   
than the high delight which a noble mind
 always finds in the satisfaction of a  
noble passion4  #h ,universal           
experience1 on which all science rests1 
must be clearly distinguished from      
universal faith1 on which the idealists 
wish to support their beliefs3 the first
 is a real authentication of facts2 the 

second is only a supposition of facts   
which nobody has seen1 and which        
consequently are at variance with the   
experience of everybody4  #i ,the       
idealists1 all those who believe in the 
immateriality and immortality of the    
human soul1 must be excessively         
embarrassed by the difference in        
intelligence existing between races1    
peoples1 and individuals4 ,unless we    
suppose that the various divine         
particles have been irregularly         
distributed1 how is this difference to  
be explained8 ,unfortunately there is a 
considerable number of men wholly       
stupid1 foolish even to idiocy4 ,could  
they have received in the distribution a
 particle at once divine and stupid8 ,to
 escape this embarrassment the idealists
 must necessarily suppose that all human
 souls are equal1 but that the prisons  
in which they find themselves           
necessarily confined1 human bodies1 are 
unequal1 some more capable than others  
of serving as an organ for the pure     

intellectuality of soul4 ,according to  
this1 such a one might have very fine   
organs at his disposition1 such another 
very gross organs4 ,but these are       
distinctions which idealism has not the 
power to use without falling into       
inconsistency and the grossest          
materialism2 for in the presence of     
absolute immateriality of soul all      
bodily differences disappear1 all that  
is corporeal1 material1 necessarily     
appearing indifferent1 equally and      
absolutely gross4 ,the abyss which      
separates soul from body1 absolute      
immateriality from absolute materiality1
 is infinite4 ,consequently all         
differences1 by the way inexplicable and
 logically impossible1 which may exist  
on the other side of the abyss1 in      
matter1 should be to the soul null and  
void1 and neither can nor should        
exercise any influence over it4 ,in a   
word1 the absolutely immaterial cannot  
be constrained1 imprisoned1 and much    
less expressed in any degree whatsoever 

by the absolutely material4 ,of all the 
gross and materialistic 7using the word 
in the sense attached to it by the      
idealists7 imaginations which were      
engendered by the primitive ignorance   
and stupidity of men1 that of an        
immaterial soul imprisoned in a material
 body is certainly the grossest1 the    
most stupid1 and nothing better proves  
the omnipotence exercised by ancient    
prejudices even over the best minds than
 the deplorable sight of men endowed    
with lofty intelligence still talking of
 it in our days4  #aj ,i am well aware  
that in the theological and metaphysical
 systems of the ,orient1 and especially 
in those of ,india1 including ,buddhism1
 we find the principle of the           
annihilation of the real world in favor 
of the ideal and of absolute            
abstraction4 ,but it has not the added  
character of voluntary and deliberate   
negation which distinguishes            
,christianity2 when those systems were  
conceived1 the world of human thought1  

of will and of liberty1 had not reached 
that stage of development which was     
afterwards seen in the ,greek and ,roman
 civilization4  #aa ,it seems to me     
useful to recall at this point an       
anecdote--one1 by the way1 well known   
and thoroughly authentic--which sheds a 
very clear light on the personal value  
of this warmer-over of the ,catholic    
beliefs and on the religious sincerity  
of that period4 ,chateaubriand submitted
 to a publisher a work attacking faith4 
,the publisher called his attention to  
the fact that atheism had gone out of   
fashion1 that the reading public cared  
no more for it1 and that the demand1 on 
the contrary1 was for religious works4  
,chateaubriand withdrew1 but a few      
months later came back with his ,genius 
of ,christianity4                       
99     99     99     99     99          
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,,mother                                
,,earth   ,paragraph sign ,a            

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economics1 education1 and life4         
,paragraph sign ,articles by leading    
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a summary of the revolutionary          
activities in various                   
countries4--,reviews of modern books and
 the drama4                             
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,,emma ,,goldman1                       
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,,anarchism  ,the philosophy of a new   
social order based on liberty           
unrestricted by man-made law2 the theory
 that all forms of government rest on   
violence1 and are therefore wrong and   
harmful1 as well as unnecessary4        
,,free ,,communism  ,voluntary economic 

cooperation2 a social arrangement based 
on the principle3 ,to each according to 
his needs2 from each according to his   
ability4                 ,,headquarters 
,,for ,,anarchist ,,literature          
,,library                               
,,of                                    
,,anarchism  ,the literature of         
,anarchism is very extensive4 ,numerous 
books and pamphlets have been written1  
treating of the various phases of       
,anarchist thought1 and many            
publications1 both here and abroad1 are 
devoted to this philosophy of life4 ,no 
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,,anarchism                             
,and ,other ,essays                     
,by ,,emma ,,goldman  ,paragraph sign   
,including a biographic ,,sketch of the 
author's interesting career1 a splendid 
,,portrait1 and twelve of her most      
important lectures1 some of which have  
been suppressed by the police           
authorities of various cities4 ,this    
book expresses the most advanced ideas  
on social questions--economics1         
politics1 education and sex4            
,second ,revised ,edition  ,emma        
,goldman--the notorious1 insistent1     
rebellious1 enigmatical ,emma           
,goldman--has published her first book1 
,anarchism and ,other ,essays4 ,in it   
she records the mental and soul         
struggles of twenty-one years1 and      
recites all the articles of that strange
 and subversive creed in behalf of which
 she has suffered imprisonment1         
contumely and every kind of persecution4
 ,the book is a vivid revelation of a   
unique personality4 ,it appears at a    

time when ,anarchistic ideas are        
undoubtedly in the ascendant throughout 
the world4--,current ,literature4  ,emma
 ,goldman's book on ,anarchism and      
,other ,essays ought to be read by all  
so-called respectable women1 and adopted
 as a text-book by women's clubs        
throughout the country4444 ,for courage1
 persistency1 self-effacement1          
self-sacrifice in the pursuit of her    
object1 she has hitherto been           
unsurpassed among the world's women4444 
,repudiating as she does practically    
every tenet of what the modern ,state   
holds good1 she stands for some of the  
noblest traits in human nature4--,life4 
,every thoughtful person ought to read  
this volume of papers by the foremost   
,american ,anarchist4 ,in whatever way  
the book may modify or strengthen the   
opinion already held by its readers1    
there is no doubt that a careful reading
 of it will tend to bring about greater 
social sympathy4 ,it will help the      
public to understand a group of         

serious-minded and morally strenuous    
individuals1 and also to feel the spirit
 that underlies the most radical        
tendencies of the great labor movement  
of our day4--,hutchins ,hapgood in ,the 
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                       99     99     99 
99     99                               
,the ,modern ,drama              ,its   
,social and ,revolutionary ,significance
                                 ,by    
,,emma ,,goldman  ,this volume contains 
a critical analysis of the ,modern      
,drama1 in its relation to the social   
and revolutionary tendencies of the age4
 ,it embraces fifty plays of twenty-four
 of the foremost dramatists of six      
different countries1 dealing with them  
not from the technical point of view1   
but from the standpoint of their        

universal and dynamic appeal to the     
human race4                             
,,contents  ,,preface  ,,the            
,,scandinavian ,,drama3 ,ibsen1         
,strindberg1 ,bjornson  ,,the ,,german  
,,drama3 ,hauptmann1 ,sudermann1        
,wedekind  ,,the ,,english ,,drama3     
,shaw1 ,pinero1 ,galsworthy1 ,kennedy1  
,sowerby  ,,the ,,irish ,,drama3 ,yeats1
 ,lady ,gregory1 ,robinson  ,,the       
,,russian ,,drama3 ,tolstoy1 ,tchekhov1 
,gorki1 ,tchirikov1 ,andreyev  ,,index  
,price #a4jj net4            ,by mail   
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,the ,selected ,works                   
of                       ,voltairine de 
,cleyre  ,this volume of ,america's     
foremost literary rebel and ,anarchist  
propagandist contains a choice selection
 of her poems1 essays1 sociological     
discourses1 sketches and stories1 which 

have proved a source of great           
inspiration to the revolutionary        
movement during the last twenty years4  
,edited by ,alexander ,berkman          
,biographical ,sketch of ,hippolyte     
,havel           ,over #ejj pp41 cloth1 
with portrait of the author4            
,tastefully printed and bound4          
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,an ,important ,human ,document         
,,prison ,,memoirs                      
,,of                           ,,an     
,,anarchist                             
,,by                         ,,alexander
 ,,berkman  ,an earnest portrayal of the
 revolutionary psychology of the author1
 as manifested by his ,attentat during  
the great labor struggle of ,homestead1 
in #ahib4  ,the whole truth about       

prisons has never before been told as   
this book tells it4 ,the ,,memoirs deal 
frankly and intimately with prison life 
in its various phases4                  
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,ideals and ,realities                  
,in ,russian ,literature                
,,by                          ,,peter   
,,kropotkin   ,a book indispensable to  
every student and lover of ,russian     
literature4 ,kropotkin not only makes us
 acquainted with the works and          
personalities of the authors1 we also   
learn much about the deep-rooted        
sympathetic connections between the     
writers and the people1 more pronounced 
in ,russia than in any other country4   
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,the ,works of ,friedrich ,nietzsche    
,beyond ,good and ,evil                 
#a4be    ,the ,birth of ,tragedy        
#a4jj    ,case of ,wagner2 ,we          
,philologists1 etc42 ,nietzsche contra  
,wagner      #a4be    ,the ,dawn of ,day
                                        
#a4ge    ,early ,greek ,philosophy and  
,other ,essays                          
#a4be    ,ecce ,homo 7,nietzsche's      
,autobiography7                         
#b4jj    ,genealogy of ,morals4 ,poems  
#a4be    ,the ,joyful ,wisdom           
#a4fj    ,human1 ,all ,too ,human4 ,part
 ,i                                     
#a4fj    ,human1 ,all ,too ,human4 ,part
 ,,ii                                   
#a4ge    ,on the ,future of ,our        
,educational ,institutions2 and ,homer  
and     ,classical ,philology           
#a4jj    ,thoughts ,out of ,season4     
,part ,i                                
#a4jj    ,thoughts ,out of ,season4     
,part ,,ii                              
#a4jj    ,the ,twilight of the ,idols3  

,the ,antichrist                        
#a4ge    ,thus ,spake ,zarathustra3 ,a  
,book of ,all and ,none                 
#b4jj    ,the ,will to ,power4 ,books ,i
 and ,,ii                               
#a4fj    ,the ,will to ,power4 ,vol4    
,,ii                                    
#a4fj    ,various ,essays and           
,fragments4 ,biography and ,criticism   
#b4jj    ,the ,gospel of ,superman      
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#aj;c    ,the ,right ,to ,be ,well      
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,sanger                            4#be 
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4#be   #e;c    ,the ,awakening of       
,spring1       ,by ,frank ,wedekind     
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,the ,ego and ,his ,own                 
,by ,max ,stirner  ,the book contains   
the most revolutionary philosophy ever  
written1 its purpose being to destroy   
the idea of duty and assert the         
supremacy of the will1 and from this    
standpoint to effect a transvaluation of
 all values and displace the state by a 
union of conscious egoists4             
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,famous ,speeches of the                
,,chicago ,,anarchists  ,delivered in   
court in reply to why sentence of death 
should not be passed upon them          
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,transcriber's note3  ,the following    
corrections were made to the text3      
,page        original word  correction  
--------------------------------------- 
#g           viwes          views   #ca 
infalliby      infallibly   #eg         
judcial        judicial   #ei           
up to-day      up to to-day   #hc       
burgeoisie     bourgeoisie   #hc        
singuarly      singularly   ,footnote #b
  onself         oneself