What Is the Third Estate?

1 min

Section summary

Sieyès states the plan of the pamphlet in three questions and answers: the Third Estate is everything, has been nothing in the political order, and asks to become something. Three further chapters examine what has been offered, what ought to have been done, and what remains to be done.

“So long as the philosopher does not go beyond the limits of truth, do not accuse him of going too far. His function is to mark the goal; he must, therefore, have reached it. If, stopping on the way, he dared to raise his standard there, it might mislead. The duty of the administrator, on the contrary, is to combine and graduate his advance according to the nature of the difficulties…. If the philosopher is not at the goal, he does not know where he is. If the administrator does not see the goal, he does not know where he is going.”

The plan of this work is quite simple. We have three questions to ask ourselves.

1. What is the Third Estate? — Everything.

2. What has it been until now in the political order? — Nothing.

3. What does it ask? — To be something.

We shall see whether the answers are right. Until then, it would be wrong to accuse of exaggeration truths whose proofs have not yet been seen. We shall then examine the means that have been tried, and those that must be taken, so that the Third Estate may in fact become something. Thus we shall state:

4. What the ministers have attempted, and what the privileged themselves propose in its favour.

5. What ought to have been done.

6. Finally, what remains to be done by the Third Estate to take the place that is its due.