Les destinées de l’humanité chez Ballanche, Leroux et Quinet: entre fatalité et liberté

The 19th century, particularly in the conceptions of the evolution of humanity by Ballanche, Leroux or Quinet, seems to highlight the idea of freedom in its struggle with fatality, whether the latter is identified with natural forces or with social order rooted in political and economic reality. Indeed, the three mentioned authors conceive the destinies of humanity as a progressive emancipation. The purpose of this article is to study, following a comparative method oriented on the history of ideas, how the relationship between freedom and fatality is articulated in each of them. While the works of Ballanche, Leroux and Quinet present numerous analogies with regard to the process of emancipation of humanity, that of Quinet is distinguished by his idea of a secular State separated from the Churches, which is the final transformation of the religious principle.