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proper noun Condorcet n. Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet, was a celebrated French philosopher and mathematician, Born at Ribemont, near St. Quentin, France, Sept. 17, 1743: died at Bourg-la-Reine, near Paris, March 28, 1794.. His most important work was on probability and the philosophy of mathematics. He was a deputy to the Legislative Assembly in 1791, and its president 1792, and a deputy to the Convention in 1792, where he sided with the Girondists. After the fall of the latter he was accused (Oct. 3, 1793) with Brissot, and went into hiding in Paris for eight months to save his life. He found shelter with a Madame Vernet. He then left the city, but was arrested at Clamart, near Bourg-la-Reine, and imprisoned. The next morning he was found dead, probably from poison. He contributed to the "Encyclopédie," and wrote "Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progrès de l'esprit humain" (1794), and various mathematical works. His most important mathematical treatise was "Essay on the Application of Analysis to the Probability of Majority Decisions" (1785), an extremely important work in the development of the theory of probability. His work in probability led him to a study of voting methods, and laid the groundwork for the various ranked-pairs voting methods, which are often referred to as Condorcet's Method.
Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48
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