The study of social choice as a formal discipline first came into its own in the late eighteenth century, when the subject was pioneered by French mathematicians, particularly J. C. Borda and Marquis de Condorcet. The intellectual climate of the time was greatly influenced by the European Enlightenment, with its interest in reasoned construction of a social order, and its commitment to the creation of a society responsive to people’s preferences.
社会选择研究第一次步入正式学科是在十九世纪末，先驱式法国数学家，主要包括波尔达（J. C. Borda）和马奎斯·孔多塞（Marquis de Condorcet）。当时的知识界气候受欧洲文艺复兴的巨大影响，人们对理性的社会秩序的构建兴趣浓厚，开始致力于创建响应人民偏好的社会。