Morelly

Etienne-Gabriel Morelly, was a somewhat obscure writer from Vitry-le-
François France. He published from 1743 to 1755 on many subjects and became
famous for attacking private property.
Background:
The mysterious “Mr. Morelly” is the author of several pedagogical and political
treatises, but is most famous for his two utopian works, the Basiliade (1753) and
the Code de la nature (1755). It is plausible that “Mr. Morelly” is “Étienne-Gabriel
Morelly,” presumably born in Paris, whose family lived in Vitry-le-François in
1721. By 1743 Morelly seems to have returned to Paris. Despite extensive
biographical investigations, his works remain the major source of information
about his identity and ideas.
Morelly is often identified as an obscure tutor about which almost nothing is

known except that he lived in a small town in northwestern France, Vitry-le-
Francois. Recent research, however, points to the possibility that Morelly never
actually existed but was, rather, a pseudonym. No records of his birth or death
exist and no record exists of anyone mentioning that they had met such a man in
the eighteenth century. Some have proposed that François-Vincent Toussaint was
the true author of the works attributed to Morelly while others believe that Denis
Diderot was the true author. .
Written Work:
Two pedagogical works, Essai sur l’esprit humain and Essai sur le coeur humain,
appear in 1743 and 1745 respectfully. These works, which outline the stages of
learning and personality development from sensory perception, through memory
or judgment, to practical experience in the world, reveal Morelly’s optimistic view
of human nature. Equally, they reveal the influence of sensualist ideas upon
Morelly. Another minor work, Le Prince les délices des coeurs (1751), is composed
1
of a dialogue between a fictional prince, his courtiers and his confidant. Although
still portraying human nature as essentially positive, the political thought in the
dialogue and the depiction of the ideal monarch is heavily influenced by
Machiavelli. Morelly’s later work, Lettres de Louis XIV (1755) implies a criticism of
Louis XV, using a collection of fictional correspondence to uphold and idealize
Louis XIV’s statesmanship.
Morelly’s two utopian works, the Naufrage des îles flottantes, ou Basiliade du
célèbre Pilpaï (1753) and the Code de la nature, ou le véritable esprit de ses lois,
de tout temps négligé ou méconnu (1755) display the optimism apparent in his
previous works. The Basiliade is an “heroic” or epic prose poem influenced by the
Enlightenment fascination with the Orient and the New World. It depicts a
golden-age, pastoral society founded upon and governed by the love of its
inhabitants for each other. Morelly contrasts the natural harmony of the utopian
society with an allegorical representation (and condemnation) of the European
nations. Morelly’s Code, at first attributed to Diderot, Denis, was written, in part,
as a defense of some of the ideas presented in the Basiliade. An analytical treatise
with utopian elements, it codifies Morelly’s view of the natural basis of social and
communal ties, including the sharing of property.
The Code reflects Morelly’s more realistic approach to society; it includes a

legislative program to return the State to government according to the natural
solidarity and affection of humanity.
Both of Morelly’s major works were published in several editions in the

eighteenth-century. The Basiliade was translated into English in 1761, and the
two utopian treatises were discussed by German and Swiss Enlightenment
thinkers, including Zimmermann, Wieland, Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, Bodmer,
Johann Jakob and Baumgarten, Alexander Gottlieb. Although they enjoyed a
moderate popularity in the mid eighteenth-century, the two works were later
embraced by communist and socialist theorists. In 1789, a simplified version of
Morelly’s ideas was adapted by Babeuf, François Noël “Gracchus”, who used
natural law as the basis for the community of goods and work in his revolutionary
utopianism. From the mid nineteenth-century onwards, Morelly was classified as
one of the canonical writers in the European utopian tradition.
2
Morelly’s utopian The Code of Nature (Code de la nature , 1755). Considered to be
an early example of utopian socialist thought, its inspiration is often drawn from
religious ideas, and has much in common with Rousseau's early works. Based on
the principle that man is by nature not wicked but well disposed to his fellows, it
argues for an egalitarian society with common ownership of property, and
culminates in a detailed plan for the establishment of the perfect state. Morelly
also wrote a Utopian prose epic, Naufrage des îles flottantes ou la Basiliade
(1753).
According to The Code of Nature, "...where no property exists, none of its

pernicious consequences could exist...." As he believed that almost all social and
moral ills were a consequence of private property, it is not surprising that his
proposed constitution eliminates most private property. Because of this latter
characteristic of his utopia, Morelly is often seen as a significant forerunner of
later socialist and communist thinkers. Charles Fourier, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon,
Louis Blanc, Friedrich Engels, and Karl Marx all discussed Morelly's ideas in their
own writing.
Morelly's Philosophical Position

As did the later writer Proudhon, Morelly did not call for the elimination of all
private property. Among the "sacred and fundamental laws" he proposed was
"Nothing in society will belong to anyone, either as a personal possession or as
capital goods, except the things for which the person has immediate use, for
either his needs, his pleasures, or his daily work." He was opposed, however, to
the ownership of property beyond what an individual needed and, especially, to
private property used to employ others.
How, then, would workers gain access to tools and equipment beyond personal
possession if their job required it? According to Morelly, "...all these durable
products will be gathered together in public stores in order to be distributed to all
the citizens, daily or at some other specified interval ..."
He also proposed banning of trade between individuals: "In accordance with the
sacred laws, nothing will be sold or exchanged between citizens. Someone who
needs, for example greens, vegetables or fruits, will go to the public square, which
is where these items will have been brought by the man who cultivate them, and
take want he needs for one day only."
3
Further reading:
D. Droixhe, “ ‘Voici un livre qu’on dit imprimé à Liège’: Le Code de la nature de
Morelly,” Revue d’histoire littéraire de la France 96 (1996): 943-65.

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Etienne-Gabriel Morelly, was a somewhat obscure writer from Vitry-le-

Morelly is often identified as an obscure tutor about which almost nothing is

The Code reflects Morelly’s more realistic approach to society; it includes a

Both of Morelly’s major works were published in several editions in the

According to The Code of Nature, "...where no property exists, none of its

Morelly's Philosophical Position

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