System of Economical Contradictions: or, the Philosophy of Misery

Chapter 8, Section 8.2 : Exposition of the Myth of Providence. — Retrogression of God
2. -- Exposition of the myth of Providence. -- Retrogression of God. Among the proofs, to the number of three, which theologians and philosophers are accustomed to bring forward to show the existence of a God, they give the foremost position to universal consent. This argument I considered when, without rejecting or admitting it, I promptly asked myself: What does universal consent affirm in affirming a God? And in this connection I should recall the fact that the difference of religions is not a proof that the human race has fallen into error in affirming a supreme Me outside of itself, any more than the diversity of languages is a proof of the non-reality of reason. The hypothesis of God, far from being weakened, is strengthened and established by the very divergence and opposition of faiths. An argument of another sort is that which is drawn from the order of the world. In regard to this I have observed that, nature affirming... (From : University of Virginia Library.)

Chapter 8, Section 8.1 : The Culpability of Man. — Exposition of the Myth of the Fall
1. -- The culpability of man. -- Exposition of the myth of the fall. As long as man lives under the law of egoism, he accuses himself; as soon as he rises to the conception of a social law, he accuses society. In both cases humanity accuses humanity; and so far the clearest result of this double accusation is the strange faculty, which we have not yet pointed out, and which religion attributes to God as well as to man, of REPENTANCE. Of what, then, does humanity repent? For what does God, who repents as well as ourselves, desire to punish us? Poenituit Deum quod hominem fecisset in terra, et tactus dolore cordis intrinsecus, delebo, inquit, hominem. . . . If I demonstrate that the offenses charged upon humanity are not the consequence of its economic embarrassments, although the latter result from the constitution of its ideas; that man does evil gratuitously and when not under compulsion, just as he honors himself by acts of hero... (From : University of Virginia Library.)

Chapter 8, Section 8.0 : Responsibility Of Man And Of God, Under The Law Of Contradiction, Or A Solution Of The Problem Of Providence
Chapter 8 CHAPTER VIII. OF THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN AND OF GOD, UNDER THE LAW OF CONTRADICTION, OR A SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM OF PROVIDENCE. THE ancients blamed human nature for the presence of evil in the world. Christian theology has only embroidered this theme in its own fashion; and, as that theology sums up the whole religious period extending from the origin of society to our own time, it may be said that the dogma of original sin, having in its favor the assent of the human race, acquires by that very fact the highest degree of probability. So, according to all the testimony of ancient wisdom, each people defending its own institutions as excellent and glorifying them, it is not to religions, or to governments, or to traditional customs accredited by the respect of generations, that the cause of evil must be traced, but rather to a primitive perversion, to a sort... (From : University of Virginia Library.)

Chapter 7, Section 7.3 : Disastrous and Inevitable Consequences of the Tax. (Provisions, Sumptuary Laws, Rural and Industrial Police, Patents, Trade-marks, Etc.)
3. -- Disastrous and inevitable consequences of the tax. (Provisions, sumptuary laws, rural and industrial police, patents, trade-marks, etc.) M. Chevalier addressed to himself, in July, 1843, on the subject of the tax, the following questions: Is it asked of all or by preference of a part of the nation? Does the tax resemble a levy on polls, or is it exactly proportioned to the fortunes of the tax-payers? Is agriculture more or less burdened than manufactures or commerce? Is real estate more or less spared than personal property? Is he who produces more favored than he who consumes? Have our taxation laws the character of sumptuary laws? To these various questions M. Chevalier makes the reply which I am about to quote, and which sums up all of the most philosophical considerations upon the subject which I have met: (a) The tax affects the universality, applies to the mass, takes the nation... (From : University of Virginia Library.)

Chapter 7, Section 7.2 : Antinomy of the Tax
2. -- 2. -- Antinomy of the tax. I sometimes hear the champions of the status quo maintain that for the present we enjoy liberty enough, and that, in spite of the declamation against the existing order, we are below the level of our institutions. So far at least as taxation is concerned, I am quite of the opinion of these optimists. According to the theory that we have just seen, the tax is the reaction of society against monopoly. Upon this point opinions are unanimous: citizens and legislators, economists, journalists, and ballad-writers, rendering, each in their own tongue, the social thought, vie with each other in proclaiming that the tax should fall upon the rich, strike the superfluous and articles of luxury, and leave those of prime necessity free. In short, they have made the tax a sort of privilege for the privileged: a bad idea, since it involved a recognition of the legitimacy of privilege, which in no case, whatever... (From : University of Virginia Library.)

Necessity of Monopoly
1. -- Necessity of monopoly. Thus monopoly is the inevitable end of competition, which engenders it by a continual denial of itself: this generation of monopoly is already its justification. For, since competition is inherent in society as motion is in living beings, monopoly which comes in its train, which is its object and its end, and without which competition would not have been accepted, -- monopoly is and will remain legitimate as long as competition, as long as mechanical processes and industrial combinations, as long, in fact, as the division of labor and the constitution of values shall be necessities and laws. Therefore by the single fact of its logical generation mono-poly is justified. Nevertheless this justification would seem ... (From : University of Virginia Library.)

Synthetic Idea of the Tax. — Point of Departure and Development of this Idea
1. -- Synthetic idea of the tax. -- Point of departure and development of this idea. In order to render that which is to follow more intelligible, I will explain, inverting, as it were, the method which we have followed hitherto, the superior theory of the tax; then I will give its genesis; finally I will show the contradiction and results. The synthetic idea of the tax, as well as its original conception, would furnish material for the most extensive developments. I shall confine myself to a simple announcement of the propositions, with a summary indication of the proofs. The tax, in its essence and positive destiny, is the form of distribution among that species of functionaries which Adam Smith has designated by the word unproductive, al... (From : University of Virginia Library.)

Impotence of Palliatives. — MM. Blanqui, Chevalier, Dunoyer, Rossi, and Passy
Proudhon, Pierre Joseph. System of Economical Contradictions: or, the Philosophy of Misery Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library 2. -- Impotence of palliatives. -- MM. Blanqui, Chevalier, Dunoyer, Rossi, and Passy. All the remedies proposed for the fatal effects of parcellaire division may be reduced to two, which really are but one, the second being the inversion of the first: to raise the mental and moral condition of the workingman by increasing his comfort and dignity; or else, to prepare the way for his future emancipation and happiness by instruction. We will examine successively these two systems, one of which is represented by M. Blanqui, the other by M. Chevalier. M. Blanqui is a friend of association and progress,... (From : University of Virginia Library.)

Opposition Between FACT and RIGHT in Social Economy
Proudhon, Pierre Joseph. System of Economical Contradictions: or, the Philosophy of Misery Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library 1. -- Opposition between FACT and RIGHT in social economy. I AFFIRM the REALITY of an economic science. This proposition, which few economists now dare to question, is the boldest, perhaps, that a philosopher ever maintained; and the inquiries to follow will prove, I hope, that its demonstration will one day be deemed the greatest effort of the human mind. I affirm, on the other hand, the absolute certainty as well as the progressive nature of economic science, of all the sciences in my opinion the most comprehensive, the purest, the best supported by facts: a new proposition, which alters this sc... (From : University of Virginia Library.)

Fourth Period. — Monopoly
Chapter 6 CHAPTER VI. FOURTH PERIOD. -- MONOPOLY MONOPOLY, the exclusive commerce, exploitation, or enjoyment of a thing. Monopoly is the natural opposite of competition. This simple observation suffices, as we have remarked, to overthrow the utopias based upon the idea of abolishing competition, as if its contrary were association and fraternity. Competition is the vital force which animates the collective being: to destroy it, if such a supposition were possible, would be to kill society. But, the moment we admit competition as a necessity, it implies the idea of monopoly, since monopoly is, as it were, the seat of each competing individuality. Accordingly the economists have demonstrated -- and M. Rossi has formally admitted it -- that m... (From : University of Virginia Library.)