"Libertine" has come to mean one free from restraint, particularly from social and religious norms and morals. The philosophy gained new-found adherents in the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly in France and Britain. Notable among these were the Marquis de Sade and Aleister Crowley. In modern times, libertinism has been associated with Libertarianismand, perhaps inaccurately in the minds of some, with sado-masochism, nihilism, and free love. "Libertine," like may words, is an evolving one, defined today as "a dissolute person; usually a person who is morally unrestrained." (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Portrait of the Marquis de Sade by Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo (c. ... Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley, (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an occultist, Freemason, prolific writer, mystic, hedonist, and sexual revolutionary. ... Libertarianism is a political philosophy advocating that individuals should be free to do whatever they wish with their person or property, as long as they do not infringe on the same liberty of others. ... Flogging demonstration at Folsom Street Fair 2004. ... Nihilism is a philosophical position which argues that the world, and especially human existence, is without objective meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value. ... The term free love has been used since at least the nineteenth century to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social bondage, especially for women. ...

Les Liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons, 1782), an epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, is a trenchant description of sexual libertinism. Wayland Young argues that "…the mere analysis of libertinism… carried out by a novelist with such a prodigious command of his medium… was enough to condemn it and play a large part in its destruction." (Young, 1966, 246) (See Libertine novel) Les Liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) is a famous French epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in 1782. ... Titlepage of Aphra Behns Love-Letters (1684) An epistolary novel is written as a series of documents. ... Pierre Ambroise Choderlos de Laclos Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos, a French official and army general, was born on October 18, 1741 in Amiens, France and died in Taranto, Italy on September 5, 1803. ... The libertine novel was an 18th century literary genre of which the roots lay in the European but mainly French libertine tradition. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.