What is being human? / Wat is de mens? (10)

in #alldutch6 years ago (edited)

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Can power exist apart from other people?

In the past two weeks I've been posting translated sentences of the Dutch historical political-philosophical book [1], which I'm currently in a process of translating into modern languages (English and Dutch). The book underlies the first Dutch constitution and is written by the chairman of the first National Assembly in The Netherlands (1796), named Pieter Paulus. This meeting was held during the Batavian Revolution in The Netherlands and the purpose was to design the first constitution.

The eighteenth century was the period of Enlightenment in the Western society. The American War of Independence, the French Revolution and the Batavian Revolution in The Netherlands were the kick-off of the modern Western world. Mobilized by the ideals of enlightenment, like human freedom, equality and fraternity, our so far theocratic and feudal society changed into a secularized and rationalized world, focussed mainly on facts and science. The thoughts about religion, philosophy, art, science and politics changed dramatically. It concerned the dream of a free-thinking world.

It was the beginning of democracy as our new governmental form.

What happened afterwards, in this transition to the modern Western world? In what way has the development of our democracy dealt with the human ideals of freedom, equality and fraternity?

I hope my postings and translated quotes will contribute to reflecting on these questions and on global events concerning the foundation and development of our modern Western world. The content of the book is about the equality of people and is divided into two parts, namely 1. The equality of people in their natural state and 2. The equality of people in their civilian state. Currently I'm posting sentences of the first part.

Please enjoy the next translated quote below and feel free to reply.

The first life is a memory of the original freedom and equality of people. Nature has not given and has not been able to give power to one man apart from other people. All subordination of one person relative to another can never be anything else than a result of a voluntary agreement between themselves.

Het eerste leven is een herinnering aan de oorspronkelijke vrijheid en gelijkheid van de mensen. De natuur heeft aan de ene mens geen macht los van de andere mensen toegekend of kunnen toekennen. Alle ondergeschiktheid van de een ten opzichte van de ander kan nooit iets anders zijn dan een gevolg van een onderlinge vrijwillige overeenkomst.

[1] Pieter Paulus, 1793, Verhandeling over de vrage: in welken zin kunnen de menschen gezegd worden gelyk te zyn? En welke zyn de regten en pligten, die daaruit voordvloeien?Link.

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