Republic of Sympathy

Sophie de Grouchy was a political philosopher and activist practising at the centre of Revolutionary events in France between 1789 and 1815. Despite this, her contributions to the development of political thought are often overlooked, with Grouchy commonly falling under the shadow of her husband Nicolas de Caritat, the marquis de Condorcet. A Republic of Sympathy instead situates Grouchy as a significant figure among her contemporaries, offering the first complete exploration of her shifting thought and practice across this period of societal upheaval. Kathleen McCrudden Illert analyses texts newly attributed to Grouchy and examines her intellectual collaborations, demonstrating how Grouchy continued to develop a unique philosophy which placed sympathy as the glue between the individual and the political community. The study also explores Grouchy's connections with her peers and interlocutors, from Adam Smith and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, to Thomas Paine and Jacques Pierre Brissot. In doing so, it argues powerfully for Grouchy's reintegration into the history of European political thought.