Condorcet


Asteroid 7960, Condorcet, was discovered on August 10, 1994 by Eric W. Elst at the European Southern Observatory at La Silla near Pedernales, Coquimbo, Chile. It has a period of 3 years, 84 days.

Condorcet (pronounced Con-dor-SAY) was named for an 18th-century French philosopher, Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794), an advocate of educational reform and a believer in the indefinite perfectability of mankind. He participated in the writing of The Encyclopedia (L'Encyclopédie) with his friend D'Alembert and Diderot, but he is mainly remembered for his book Esquisse d’un tableau historique des progrès de l’esprit humain (1795), which expresses Condorcet's concept of the continuous progress of humankind to an ultimate perfection. He tried to flee France during the Reign of Terror, but eventually he was captured and imprisoned at Bourg-La-Reine, where he was found dead, possibly poisoned.

Marquis de Condorcet


Astrologically, asteroid Condorcet seems to indicate liberalism, progressivism, the belief that society or people can be improved..

Hillary Clinton has Condorcet semisextile Neptune (idealism) and Ixion (inventive, passionate, generating karma), semisquare Vesta (dedication), sextile Chiron (ingenuity, the key, the door-opener, maverick), tredecile Juno (civil rights, marriage) and contraparallel Pallas (politics, defense of civilized values).

Bill Clinton has Condorcet in the eighth house of legacies, biquintile Venus (values) and parallel Saturn (work, career, rewards and consequences).

Jimmy Carter has Condorcet in the tenth house of career, conjunct Don Quixote (taking on something), quintile the Sun (to shine, leadership), quincunx Mars (the military) and contraparallel Jupiter (law, philosophy, religion). His presidency is not noted for a muscular attitude toward the military.

Ted Kennedy, whose influence has been somewhat limited by the Chappaquiddick scandal, has Condorcet in the tenth house, decile Pallas, septile Ceres (to nurture, family), square Jupiter, trine Vesta, quincunx Uranus (activism) and Dioretsa (going off course, something that sticks), and opposite Don Quixote.

Yoshida Shigeru (born September 22, 1878, in Tokyo), Japan's post-World War II prime minister, had Condorcet undecimal Pluto (transformation), sextile Pholus (courage before power, need to respect others, to permeate), quintile the North Node (making connections, transcending past influences), tredecile the South Node (past influences, separations) and parallel Chiron. He was arrested under Hideki Tojo's regime late in 1944 for advocating peace but returned to the government after Japan's defeat in World War II; under his administration Japan's current constitution, which among other things forbids the use of Japan's military for purposes of aggression, was adopted and Japan's economic recovery was brought about.

Former Costa Rican president Oscar Arias (born September 13, 1941 in Heredia, Costa Rica), another fairly well-known progressive who won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize, has Condorcet conjunct Neptune, square Phaethon (in the driver's seat), trine Saturn, and parallel Vesta.

Nelson Mandela has Condorcet semisquare Juno (human rights), quincunx Uranus (revolution) and Ceres, and opposite Hidalgo (to assert, to promote, to defend).

Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who has devoted himself to rebuilding his shattered country, has Condorcet conjunct the North Node, square Venus and Uranus, quincunx Vesta and opposite the South Node.

Elizabeth Carr (born December 28, 1981 in Norfolk, Virginia), the first American IVF baby born on US soil, has Condorcet undecimal Venus, square Juno and sesquiquadrate Pluto (transformation, genetics). When she was born, far from her parents' home in Massachusetts because that state had outlawed IVF, anti-IVF demonstrators protested outside the clinic; as an adult, she has come out in support of IVF (with slight reservations) and stem-cell research.

Right-wing activist Grover Norquist (born October 19, 1956), who became famous for saying that he wanted to shrink government to where it could be drowned in the bathtub, has Condorcet decile Uranus, trine Neptune (delusion), biquintile Chiron (the key, the door-opener, self-wounding, lessons to be taught or learned), and quincunx Saturn.

Herbert Hoover had Condorcet semisextile Chaos (a new day dawning), trine Mars (aggression, need for bold action), sesquiquadrate Chiron (self-wounding) and quincunx Juno (giving away power, human rights).

James Scullin (born September 18, 1876, in Trawalla, Victoria, Australia), the 1930s prime minister of Australia who was sort of the Australian analog of Herbert Hoover (stuck in the past and unable to cope with the Great Depression), had Condorcet quintile Pallas, square Jupiter (philosophy), trine Chiron, and contraparallel Vesta (dedication).

The glyph for Condorcet is mine.



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