André Morellet, On relying on the power of evidence to avoid establishing a balance of power (1767)

In the question I am dealing with here, I find myself led to criticize the system of some philosophers, who have been called Economists, and who supposed they could establish the uselessness of the balance of powers by putting forward what they called the power of the evidence; the natural and essential order of political societies; legal despotism. This is, without a doubt, a very peculiar opinion, the examination of which one could deem unnecessary. But the real services that these philosophers have rendered to the enhancement of social knowledge compel us not to ignore the paradoxes which they sometimes put forward while believing to be spreading useful truths. […]

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