Abbé de Mably’s Enlightenment Pessimism

TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Abbé de Mably’s Enlightenment Pessimism

Friday 14 March 2025 is the 316th anniversary of the birth of Gabriel Bonnot (14 March 1709 – 02 April 1785 in Paris), who was born at Mably, Loire, and become better known as Gabriel Bonnot de Mably.

Gabriel Bonnot, the Abbé de Mably, was a prolific French historian during the Enlightenment, who, after a brief diplomatic career, retired to a life of scholarship. Mably is remembered for his pessimism, but it’s not the pessimism of Schopenhauer or Spengler. It’s also not the aristocratic historical pessimism that Hugh Trevor-Roper attributed to Lord Acton, Jacob Burckhardt and Alexis de Toqueville. In this episode I consider the nature of Mably’s historical pessimism.

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Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/21Pjq5UdaiEGKybXMBLA5p?si=5bbmkymyQR6RS2woijY36w
Episode: S02EP18

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