1803
Elimination of the Moral and Political Sciences section
The Consular Edict of 3 Pluviôse year XI (January 23rd, 1803) reorganized the Institut National des Sciences et des Arts into four sections: Physical Sciences and Mathematics, French Language and Literature, Ancient History and Literature and the Fine Arts. Napoleon eliminated the Moral and Political Sciences Section for political reasons. Its members were, according to him, “dreamers, speechifiers, metaphysicians, who should be thrown overboard.” Instead, each individual member was able to join one of the four newly reorganized sections. The Moral and Political Sciences Section was recreated in 1832 by Louis XVIII and became the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques.