 Yet Condorcet never abandoned science in his support for women’s rights; nor did he see scientific claims as a barrier to greater equality (Ansart [2009] further proposes a connection between his feminism and his pioneering effort to apply mathematics to social investigation). Moreover, he anchored his defense in a counter-strain within enlightened thought that dates back to the early 1670s when the ex-theologian and disciple of Descartes Poulain de la Barre challenged male supremacy and advocated gender and racial equality (see Poulain de la Barre 2002; Stuurman 2004). As against the philosophical anthropology that held sway with so many philosophes, Poulain and other contributors to what is known as the “querelle des femmes” offered a rationalist alternative to standard misogynistic positions, which pointed not to the body but the  mind.[16]  It is to this rationalist tradition that Condorcet is indebted. However, Condorcet’s consideration of women’s rights is especially noteworthy given the paucity of discussion of women’s rights within enlightened circles as well as the absence of any organized campaign for women’s rights in France (or elsewhere) in the years immediately leading up to 1789. As the philosopher was well aware, there also existed what he referred to as the comfortable habits of mind by which women were regarded as second-class citizens. Moreover, Condorcet not only expanded upon Poulain’s earlier contribution but his 1787 and 1790 arguments boldly anticipated and reinforced the position taken by those relatively few who dared to demand rights for women during the Revolution and with increasing numbers, and ultimately more successfully, made the same demands in the following centuries (On enlightened male thinkers who discussed women’s condition, see Brookes 1980; Landes 1988; Pappas 1991; Nall 2008 and 2010. 