The Turgot Collection

Local Government
and National Education

Turgot, illustrating one strand of French Enlightenment thought, argues in a memorial to the king that rights rest on principles of natural justice, not on history. There is then no need for the king to respect tradition in promulgating new laws. One deficiency of the contemporary situation (Turgot wrote in 1775) was that people lack public spirit. The divisions of France lack any rational basis, and local particularism leads people to view others of their countrymen as enemies. To remedy this, a Council of National Education should be established to unify the schools. A common curriculum would stress virtue, public spirit, and the principles of justice.