The Debate between Sieyès and Paine
by Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès and Thomas Paine
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1791
- Form
- Political theory
- Language
- French
- Length
- Short · 15 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendPolitical Writings, translated by Michael SonenscherHackett, 2003Sonenscher's Sieyès volume prints the exchange with Paine alongside What Is the Third Estate?
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A brief exchange in the Paris press in July 1791, after Louis XVI's flight to Varennes. Thomas Paine, in Le Républicain and the Moniteur, argued that the king's flight had abolished the monarchy and that France should become a republic. The Abbé Sieyès replied that he preferred monarchy, understood as government by a single responsible executive, to the republic's committee of executives, and that either could be representative. Paine's rejoinder insisted that hereditary rule of any kind was incompatible with representation.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Debate between Sieyès and Paine are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
