First Nature, Last Nature: Sylvain Maréchal Recounting Revolution

This essay takes up the importance of counting and the figure of zero in the work of the French revolutionary writer and philosopher Sylvain Maréchal (1750–1803), a radical figure who was notable for inspiring the French Republican Calendar and for participating in Gracchus Babeuf’s Conspiracy of Equals rebellion. Cutting across Maréchal’s prolific writing (including drama, almanacs, fables, songs, political manifestos, and philosophical texts), it finds a throughline in his persistent attention to the question of counting—especially but not only the reckoning of time—in relation to nature, revolution, sovereignty, property, equality, newness, and representation. In shedding light on Maréchal’s body of work, the essay also argues for his importance as a precursor to later currents of communism and anarchism, as well as a rich resource for contemporary thought.