Les préjugés nécessaires by Émile Faguet
QR code
Les préjugés nécessaires by Émile Faguet is a philosophical treatise written in the early 20th century. It examines how societies are built and held together by “necessary prejudices”—beliefs people adopt less from proof than from social need. Arguing that humans are naturally familial and only reluctantly social, it claims war both creates and sustains society, forging civic cohesion and recasting instincts. The work appears set to analyze core beliefs (such as love
of life and free will) as instruments that align individuals with collective survival. The opening of this treatise questions whether humans are innately social, comparing us with solitary, social, and gregarious animals and concluding we most resemble the gregarious. It traces a path from prolonged childrearing to family, sedentarism, domestication, and agriculture, then argues that true society arose not from the family but from war driven by population pressure, which necessitated defensive coalitions, laws, and permanent states that elevate martial virtues. Faguet then defines “necessary prejudices” and illustrates two: love of life, which society redirects from personal impulse to patriotic self-sacrifice, and free will, treated as a probable illusion yet a socially imposed creed that grounds responsibility, punishment, remorse, and conversion. The section closes by canvassing critiques of volition (Spinoza, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Ribot) while explaining why belief in freedom persists because society requires it. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Download for free
For your e-reader or reading app — Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, Calibre etc.
Kindle → Use Send-to-Kindle
- Download the EPUB3 file above
- Upload it on the Amazon site your Kindle is registered with: amazon.com/sendtokindle for the US, amazon.co.uk/sendtokindle for the UK etc.
- It appears on your Kindle and in the Kindle app
Kobo, Nook etc. → Transfer via USB
- Download the EPUB3 file on your computer
- Connect your e-reader by USB and tap "Connect" on its screen
- Drag the file onto the e-reader drive
Phone, Tablet or Computer → Online or Reading App
Easiest: read online in your browser. Nothing to install.
Or use a reading app:
- Find and install one you like, for example Apple Books, ReadEra or Thorium Reader
- Download the EPUB3 file above
- Open it in the app
More help: iPhone / iPad · Android · Computer
Other formats & older devices
There may be more files related to this item.
About this eBook
| Author | Faguet, Émile, 1847-1916 |
|---|---|
| LoC No. | 12008151 |
| Title | Les préjugés nécessaires |
| Original Publication | Paris: Société française d'imprimerie et de librairie, 1911. |
| Contents | L'animal social -- L'amour de la vie -- Le libre arbitre -- La morale -- Les religions -- La vie future -- La Némésis -- La réversibilité des fautes -- Le culte de la force -- L'aristocratie -- Le mariage -- La propriété -- Le Ama nescire -- Luttes et transformations -- Les préjugés nécessaires. |
| Credits | Laurent Vogel (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica)) |
| Language | French |
| LoC Class | BD: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Speculative Philosophy, General Philosophical works |
| Subject | Ethics |
| Subject | Life |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 77112 |
| ISBN (HTML) | 979-8-238-77112-0 |
| Release Date | Oct 23, 2025 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 94 downloads in the last 30 days. |
Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free!