In the last few decades, the historiographical categories rationalism and empiricism have been criticized for their limitations to explain the complex positions and the links held by the philosophers tradiotnally attached to them. This narrative was firstly conceived by Kantian German historians and began to become standard at the turn of the twentieh century. Nonetheless, nineteenth-century French historiography developed other narratives by which early modern philosophers were classified according to alternative criteria. In the first edition of Histoire comparée des systémes (...) de philosophie (1804), Joseph-Marie Degérando distinguishes three first-order early modern schools founded by Bacon, Descartes and Leibniz, respectively. Degérando introduces the empiricism and rationalism distinction as one among others, and not as the fundamental one. In addition, he separates empiricism from experimental philosophy. The last one, along with speculative philosophy, is said to conciliate senses and reason. As a result, this account offers philosophical groupings different from those constructed by the standard narrative. Furthermore, it draws on labels and classification criteria which were part of the early modern philosophical discourse. (shrink)

Les detracteurs du materialisme le donnent pour poussiereux, triste, deplace, ennuyeux. C'est aussi la reputation de la philosophie. Que dire de leur histoire! L'auteur, qui, en trente annees de philosophie, n'a pas trouve matiere a s'ennuyer, propose au lecteur quelques elements pour en juger: du materialisme de l'Antiquite a celui du dix-septieme siecle, de celui des Lumieres aux materialismes historiques, il l'invite a decouvrir des lieux inapercus ou de nouvelles perspectives dans l'histoire de la philosophie. Ceux qui veulent rester philosophes (...) pourront savoir gre aux materialistes de ce que la philosophie leur doit. En compagnie d'Epicure et de Hobbes, de Marc-Aurele et de Cyrano, de Gassendi et de Marx, et d'autres plus clandestins, il y a encore matiere a s'instruire, a se divertir, a s'etonner. (shrink)

Between the years 1643 and 1649, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes exchanged fifty-eight letters—thirty-two from Descartes and twenty-six from Elisabeth. Their correspondence contains the only known extant philosophical writings by Elisabeth, revealing her mastery of metaphysics, analytic geometry, and moral philosophy, as well as her keen interest in natural philosophy. The letters are essential reading for anyone interested in Descartes’s philosophy, in particular his account of the human being as a union of mind and body, as well as (...) his ethics. They also provide a unique insight into the character of their authors and the way ideas develop through intellectual collaboration. Philosophers have long been familiar with Descartes’s side of the correspondence. Now Elisabeth’s letters—never before available in translation in their entirety—emerge this volume, adding much-needed context and depth both to Descartes’s ideas and the legacy of the princess. Lisa Shapiro’s annotated edition—which also includes Elisabeth’s correspondence with the Quakers William Penn and Robert Barclay—will be heralded by students of philosophy, feminist theorists, and historians of the early modern period. (shrink)

The study of the dispute that broke out between the medical schools of Paris and Montpellier (1817-1852) shows that professional interests, but also philosophical and political factors drew the fitgets of Montpellier's school about its doctrine. But these factors are inable to explain the scientific contents. Further, the closure of the controversy did not result from a social negotiation of truth. It simply favoured the scholars who had major scientific productivity. This dispute so contradicts the principles of the relativistic program (...) in the field of the sociology of scientific knowledge, and shows that some studies could have misunderstood the sense of a social determination of scientific contents. L'analyse de la controverse qui éclata entre les écoles de médecine de Paris et de Montpellier (1817- 1852) montre que des intérêts professionnels, mais aussi des facteurs philosophiques et politiques conditionnèrent la crispation de l'école de Montpellier sur ses positions doctrinales. Mais ces facteurs n'expliquent pas le contenu des théories. Le règlement de la controverse fut étranger à une négociation sociale de la vérité, et tourna à la faveur ceux qui eurent la productivité scientifique la plus élevée. Cette controverse, qui échappe aux principes du programme relativiste en sociologie des sciences montre que certaines études peuvent s'être méprises sur le sens d'une détermina- tion sociale des contenus scientifiques. (shrink)

Felix Ravaisson (1813-1900), a qui Bergson avait deja su rendre hommage dans une celebre notice publiee au terme de La pensee et le mouvant, se voit maintenant mieux reconnu comme la figure la plus marquante de la philosophie francaise du XIXe siecle et comme un authentique penseur. L'ascendance spiritualiste de Bergson est ici etablie a partir de la filiation qui le relie incontestablement a son principal maitre, sans negliger des attaches moins apparentes. Ainsi, a propos de l'habitude, une etude liminaire (...) articule une confrontation entre Ravaisson et Maine de Biran. Puis, apres un examen critique de la Notice de Bergson, l'etude presente la philosophie de Ravaisson et en degage le statut metaphysique. Les textes inedits de Ravaisson, publies en appendice, revelent l'interet du vieux maitre pour les travaux d'Henri Bergson et attestent les qualites d'une pensee trop peu connue. (shrink)