Descartes and France
Publisher
:
Fayard
Parution date
:
2002
EAN
:
9782213610450
Description
Descartes has helped shape France’s cultural identity like no other French philosopher and he still embodies France today. Why is it then that in his time Descartes and his Cartesian philosophy experienced rejection? Cartesian philosophy was first the object of a conflict between the State and the Jansenists, and was then banned by Louis XIV who considered it too dangerous. While Aristotle before him justified social hierarchy, Descartes questioned the notion of authority with his theory. He opened the door to subjectivity and later became the precursor of equal rights and the grand father of the French revolution. In Descartes et la France, François Azouvi takes us on a fascinating journey throughout French intellectual and political history to better understand the enigmatic persona and unique destiny of the philosopher who left the greatest mark on the France we know today.
Author
François Azouvi : François Azouvi is a research director at the CNRS and at the Ecoles des hautes études en sciences sociales. He authored, among other titles, Maine de Biran. La science de l’homme (Vrin, 1995), Paul Ricoeur. La Critique et la conviction (Calmann-Lévy, 1995) and co-authored De Konigsberg à Paris. La reception de Kant en France (Vrin, 1991).
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