This course was developed by Benoît Malbranque, director of the Institut Coppet, the leading institution devoted to the rediscovery and publication of the French liberal tradition. Over the past decade, the Institut Coppet has republished dozens of works from the 18th and 19th centuries that had fallen into near-total oblivion. Malbranque is the author of the Dictionnaire de la tradition libérale française and the editor of numerous critical editions of Bastiat, Molinari, Leroy-Beaulieu, and others. His deep familiarity with these primary sources gives this course a unique authenticity: you will not merely learn about these thinkers, you will read them in their own words.

If you would like to start with a broader panorama of how the idea of freedom evolved from antiquity to the modern era, we recommend our companion course on the philosophical history of freedom:

And if Bastiat's method of exposing economic sophisms sparks your curiosity, our dedicated course on his economic thought goes deeper into his life, influences, and arguments:

The course draws on a remarkable body of primary sources, almost exclusively from the French liberal tradition. These works, most of them republished by the Institut Coppet, form the intellectual backbone of everything you will study. We encourage you to explore them further as you progress through the course.

Louis-Paul Abeille (1719–1807)

Frédéric Bastiat (1801–1850)

Gustave de Beaumont (1802–1866)

Pierre de Boisguilbert (1646–1714)

Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre (1658–1743)

Charles Comte (1782–1837)

Condorcet (1743–1794)

Benjamin Constant (1767–1830)

Charles Coquelin (1802–1852)

Antoine Destutt de Tracy (1754–1836)

Charles Dunoyer (1786–1862)

Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours (1739–1817)

Yves Guyot (1843–1928)

Paul Leroy-Beaulieu (1843–1916)

Gustave de Molinari (1819–1912)

Nicolas Oresme (1320–1382)

Frédéric Passy (1822–1912)

Jean-Baptiste Say (1767–1832)

Jules Simon (1814–1896)

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)

With these foundations laid and these guides at your side, let us embark on the journey.