The Turgot Collection

On Some Social Questions,
Including the Education of the Young

In a letter to Madame de Graffigny, a popular fiction writer, Turgot strongly defends inequality. People have different abilities, and people need to develop these abilities in order to achieve economic progress. This cannot be done unless people are free to engage in unequal bargains. Equality is an enemy of liberty and economic progress. In our efforts to improve on nature, however, we should not disregard the lessons we can learn from nature. Turgot contends that marriage should be founded on natural affection, not arranged by families on social and financial considerations. Children need to be encouraged to be virtuous, not constantly watched and repressed. Education should lead children to be virtuous and should avoid the accumulation of useless knowledge.