Concerning the rights and duties of the Citizen
Have just been looking at my pal Ken's new book, under his nome de plume of Simon de Vries. His new translation of Concerning the rights and duties of the Citizen by the abbé de Mably is hot off the press. Now a less well known a figure of the French Enlightenment than Rousseau and Voltaire - at the time Mably was just as famed. And Mably, in Ken's view, although less of a literary stylist had greater qualities of insight, tolerance and sober moderation. His ideas have fed the creation of modern democracies - but his contribution has been minimised or almost willfully misunderstood.
I have been browsing through the book this morning, and even for the non-specialist, it seems rather interesting. Ken is very passionate about rescuing Mably's reputation from the scorns of time and, as far as I can tell, has done him a great service.
Have just been looking at my pal Ken's new book, under his nome de plume of Simon de Vries. His new translation of Concerning the rights and duties of the Citizen by the abbé de Mably is hot off the press. Now a less well known a figure of the French Enlightenment than Rousseau and Voltaire - at the time Mably was just as famed. And Mably, in Ken's view, although less of a literary stylist had greater qualities of insight, tolerance and sober moderation. His ideas have fed the creation of modern democracies - but his contribution has been minimised or almost willfully misunderstood.
I have been browsing through the book this morning, and even for the non-specialist, it seems rather interesting. Ken is very passionate about rescuing Mably's reputation from the scorns of time and, as far as I can tell, has done him a great service.
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