Abstract: So what makes Étienne de la Boétie’s Discours de la servitude volontaire, a work that is considered something of a classic today, so extraordinarily brilliant? And how should we interpret it? Alongside the linguistic and political issues that have dominated its interpretation hitherto, a philosophical reading is justified on two counts. First, a hermeneutic approach that respects the text and its context of composition and reception; second, the enhancement of the experience of the ideas that the Discours represents for its author and readers.
