Is there a proper way to use the voluntary servitude hypothesis?

Abstract

This article explores the problem of voluntary servitude identified by Etienne de La Boétie in his Discours de la servitude volontaire. The article argues that there is a wrong way and a right way to interpret La Boétie's claim that we voluntarily submit to the power of the tyrant. The wrong way—promulgated by a whole tradition of western political philosophy—uses the voluntary servitude thesis to make a claim about the inevitability of domination and the unsuitability of people for self-rule, thus obscuring its true emancipatory gesture. The right way to use La Boétie's thesis is to lead us on an investigation of the risks and pitfalls we must avoid in our pursuit of liberty.