Clerambault · Theme

Intellectual Independence

How Clerambault develops Intellectual Independence.

The book champions the necessity of independent thinking and moral courage, urging individuals to stand alone and do their own thinking even in conflict with the whole world, as a service to humanity.

Where it surfaces

To the Reader
The author asserts the book as a free spirit's confession, not bound by genre conventions, and champions the wise man's right to see and know everything beyond national limits.
Clerambault
Clerambault's commitment to his pacifist beliefs despite public denunciation, and Froment's fierce defense of the free conscience, exemplify the struggle for intellectual independence.
Endnotes
The call for the personal conscience to struggle against the herd-spirit emphasizes intellectual independence.