Astrology and humors in the theory of man: the works of Marin Cureau de la Chamber and their importance in the cultural evolution of the seventeenth century

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Authors Eckhert, Mary Ellen, 1944-

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Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/565329 ASTROLOGY AND HUMORS IN THE THEORY OF MAN: THE WORKS OF

MARIN CUREAU DE LA CHAMBRE AND THEIR IMPORTANCE IN THE

CULTURAL EVOLUTION OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

by

Mary Ellen Eckhert

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the

DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN FRENCH

In the Graduate College

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

1975 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

GRADUATE COLLEGE

I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by Mary Ellen Eckhert______. entitled Astrology and Humors in the Theory of Man: The Works of Marin Cureau de La Chambre and Their Importance in the Cultural Evolution of the Seventeenth Century_____ be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the degree o f _____ Doctor of Philosophy______

I %, fi >4 Disserta. Datp

Date After inspection of the final copy of the dissertation, the following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in its approval and recommend I its acceptance

This approval and acceptance is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the final oral examination. The inclusion of this sheet bound into the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory performance at the final examination. STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to bor­ rowers under rules of the Library.

Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder.

SIGNED: 0 COPYRIGHTED

BY

MARY ELLEN. ECKHERT

1975

iii PREFACE

During the time I have spent researching the life and works of

Marin Cureau de La Chambre, it has "become a game for me to mention the name to colleagues in French literature and observe the reaction— usual­ ly a blank stare! Not that this response surprised me; in fact, it was rather comforting to witness the echo of my own ignorance upon hearing that name for the first time as a third-year graduate student.

Looking back now, it is difficult to imagine never having come across the name of a man so widely admired and respected as a physician, counselor, and friend by the most influential figures in seventeenth- century France: Richelieu, Mazarin, Seguier, Foucquet, even Louis XIV himself. Charter member of both the French Academy and Colbert's

Academy of Sciences, author of about a dozen major works including a five-volume study of the passions and an "art" of knowing men, and frequent guest at the most illustrious salons of his time, Marin Cureau de La Chambre was by no means an unfamiliar person among the intellectual elite of Paris. Yet it is not really so surprising that the glorious reputation he enjoyed during his thirty-five years as a man of science and of letters did not outlive him. The theories he formulated and sub­ sequently defended fall'into the rather nondescript category of "Peri- patetism" included under the more general heading of "Traditionalism."

As we know, historians have normally reserved such labels for thinkers V whose ideas ostensibly fail to reflect the modernist tendencies of the period in question.

In one sense, history has not been unjust in its neglect of

Cureau de La Chambre. After all, what turns out to be the most striking aspect of his work is its rather eclectic character conditioned by the author's obvious desire to provide a philosophical framework for his scientific inquiry. But by another token, if history's aim is to go beyond the superficial goal of explaining the present through the reading of past situations— if, in fact, it means to live up to its noblest purpose, which is to reacnstrust the past in order to understand how we as a civilization have come to where we now find ourselves— -then it behooves the historian to permit men like Cureau de La Chambre to help in that endeavor by providing what the men of commanding genius in each age often appear to transcend; the complexity of life as it really was for men of other times and of other places. It is with these thoughts in mind that I have chosen as the central theme of this study the role of La Chambre‘s theory of man as it applies to the cultural evolution of the seventeenth century.

To facilitate acquaintance with the author for those who are unfamiliar with his works, the first part of the discussion focuses on

La Chambre !s life and relations with the intellectual milieu. The reader will note that there is a separate section in the bibliography which lists critical studies and editions which mention La Chambre and which may be useful for further study of him. Part II presents the theory of man in terms of methodology prescribed and structures involved vi in La Chaznbre1 s analysis. Part III contains two chapters which attempt to situate the author's ideas first with respect to the scientific movement, and then with respect to the literary quest for a new brand of moral philosophy. The last chapter of Part III provides a resume of the major problems discussed in the course of the entire dissertation followed by a listing of the conclusions that may be drawn from these problems in view of understanding moralist literature of the seventeenth century.

Because of the difficulty involved in obtaining copies of La

Chambre's works in American libraries, I have tried to document inter­ pretations of the author's ideas with numerous and often extensive quotations from the texts. For the most part * the cited material is taken from the earliest printing of the work available (see Appendix).

However, for precise information regarding the sources to which abbrevia­ tions and page numbers included in the text correspond, a separate listing of La Chambre's works used in this study is provided in the first section of the bibliography.

For the sake of simplicity, I have chosen to present all quoted material exactly as it appears in the edition from which it was extracted.

As readers familiar with seventeenth-century orthography and diacritical markings know, there is a great deal of variation in standard spellings as well as in the placement of accents. Thus, I have restricted the use of sic to instances where La Chambre fails to follow his own conventions, or where no such spelling or grammatical construction would be possible by seventeenth-century standards. \ - vii

In closing, I would like to express my deep appreciation to those persons who have shared in the planning and preparation of this project.

First of all, I am particularly grateful to my dissertation advisor,

Edouard Morot-Sir, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for the careful guidance and direction he has given me throughout the many stages of my work. Not only have his comments, criticisms, and suggestions continually fortified me with new ideas and approaches for the organization and development of each chapter; his support and per­ sonal intervention in cases where I was faced with difficulty in ob­ taining microfilms of essential works from libraries in Paris was in­ strumental in securing some of the necessary tools for this study.

Next, I owe very special thanks to my graduate professor and co-director of this dissertation, .Charles I. Rosenberg, of The Uni­ versity of Arizona, who agreed to act as co-director of my work after

Professor Morot-SirVs departure. In his courses and seminars, I found his approach to the study of texts taken from many different literary periods both refreshing and stimulating. Under his tutelage, I gained confidence in my ability to read and analyze material the ostensibly difficult character of which would previously have sent me directly to the critics.

Finally, I would like to thank personally just a few of the many people at Arizona, Cornell University, and Ithaca College who have aided me in so many different ways: to Professors Henri Servin and

Inge Kohn, for agreeing to serve on my committee of readers; to my former professor, Jacques Roger, of the Sorbonne and visiting professor viii to Cornell during the fall of 1973$ for his support and inspiration at various points in the preparation of this dissertation; to my friend end colleague Frangoise Gebhart of Ithaca College, for proofreading the manuscripts of each chapter; and to my typist Dorothy Owens, for her beyond-the-call-of-duty advice and efforts in preparing the final copy. Lastly, I should like to thank my husband Curtis, for the love and patience so often expressed in the form of late-night discussions that helped to bring my understanding of scientific concepts into sharper focus. TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ...... xiv

ABSTRACT ...... xv

PART I: CUREAU DE LA CHAMBRE'S LIFE AND RELATIONS WITH THE INTELLECTUAL MILIEU ...... 1

CHAPTER

1. BIOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS ...... 2

The Early Years (l596[?]-l632) ...... 3 Paris (1632-1669+) ...... 7

2. INTELLECTUAL RELATIONS ...... 23

"Le Bel Esprit" ...... 26 Cureau de La Chambre and the French Academy ...... 26 Cureau at the "Palais de Solon" ...... 39 In the literary salons of Madame de Rambouillet and Mademoiselle de Scudery ...... ^5 The philosophical, and scientific reunions ...... U8 At Madame de Sable's ...... 48 At Madame de La Sabli&re's ...... 56 The scientific academy of Nicolas Foucquet at Saint Mand6 ...... " ...... 62 Relations with the Scientific Community ...... 66 Mersenne, Habert de Montmort 3 and the scientific reunions of the Rue Saint-Avoye ...... 66 Cureau and the "Jardin des Plantes" ...... 71 Cureau and seventeenth-century medicine ...... 74

3. CUREAU AS SEEN BY HIS CONTEMPORARIES: CHARACTERIAL STUDY OF THE MAN BEHIND THE WORKS ...... 8l

"Le Grand Homme Melancolique": A Psychomoral Portrait of La Chambre ...... « . „ ...... 82 The Writer ...... 87 "Le Parvenu" ...... , ...... 90 Some Guidelines for a Characterological Analysis . . . . 92

, X

TABLE OF CONTENTS— Continued

Page

PART II: THE THEORY OF MAN ACCORDING TO CUREAU ...... 96

It. FORMATION OF THE METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE ART OF KNOWING MEN ...... 97

La Chambre’s Early Works and the New Scientific Spirit: Revolution Versus Reform in His Approach ...... 98 Christianity and Platonism: Outline of the Major Ideological Conflicts from Aristotle to the Renaissance Natural Philosophers ...... 107 Plato and Aristotle on the Idea of the Good ..... 108 Aristotle versus Plato on the Idea of the Good . . . 109 Christian application of the Idea of the Good to the Godhead ...... 110 Cureau and the Methodological Debate in the Early Seventeenth Century ...... 115 Light and the Order of Perfection ...... 118 Analysis of the organism through external characteristics: the theory ...... 120 Temperaments and Humors as the Premise for a Science of Human Character and Behavior ...... 121 The theory of temperament before Cureau ...... 122 La Chambre's Modified Theory of Temperaments and Humors . 130

5. THE ART OF KNOWING MEN: METHODS PRESCRIBED ...... 137

The Androgyne: Mankind as the Middle Term of Nature . . 137 The Inclination: A Reconsideration of the Term in Reference to Morality ...... 1^2 Morality as the Justification for La Chambre’s Art of Knowing Men ...... lUU The Practical Context for Judging Men: General Categories ...... 147 Sexual t y p e s . IU7 The influence of climate ...... i ...... 151 The "Arts" of Knowing Men ...... 157 Analysis of the signs ...... 157 The natural signs or effects ...... 159 The astrological signs ...... 1.6k Theoretical basis for physiognomy, metoposcopy and chiromancy ...... 168 The physiognomical characters ...... 17^ Metoposcopy ...... 177 Chiromancy ...... 18 0 xi

TABLE OF CONTENTS— -Continued

Page

6. THE STRUCTURAL UNDERSTANDING OF MAN ...... 188

From the Art of Knowing Men to a Science of Human Behavior: La Cham.bre*s Theory of Man's Inner Nature ...... 188 Theory of knowledge ...... » 191 Entendement as a model for cognitive action ...... 191 Origin and nature of sense knowledge: soul, temperament and biological structure ...... 200 Memory and the cognitive structure.: anatomical and physiological rationale for evaluating human memory ...... 218 The process of remembering ...... 222 The nature of the soul ...... ^ . 230 . : . Relation between knowlege and local movement .... 233 How the soul moves the humors: theory of the passions . 235 How the soul moves the body: theory of animation .... 2^2 Some Important Philosophical Implications of La Chambre's Theory of Animation: iDeterminism, Free Will and Self- Consciousness in the Respective Contexts of Physiology and Psychology ...... 250 The physiological basis for differentiating animate from nonanimate creatures ...... 250 . Physiological grounds for defending human free will . . . 253 Le Syst&me de Z 'tone and human psychology: soul as the principle of total self-consciousness ...... 25^

PART III: LA CHAMBRE'S THEORY OF MAN IN THE CONTEXT OF SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH THOUGHT ...... 257

7. LA CHAMBRE AND THE CONFRONTATION BETWEEN MAJOR THOUGHT CURRENTS FROM 1630 TO 1680 ...... 258

Theological Controversies and the Search for Order in the Sciences: A Re-evaluation of the Concepts of "Freedom" and "Authority" ...... 26k Freedom of "indifference" as an epistemological basis ' . for probabilistic science ...... 269 Descartes and the refusal to pose theological problems . 271 Towards a new doctrine of human free will: the Oratory from Gibieuf to Malebranche Jansenism and the absorption of human free will in • divine grace ...... 282 The Role of Renaissance Naturalism in the Shaping of Three Conflicting Methodological Theories ...... 286 xii

TABLE OF COHTEHTS— Continued

-Page

Astrology, cabbala and magic in the philosophy of Robert Fludd: a seventeenth-century attempt to organize science around Hermetic Revelation .... 287 Natural philosophy and the methods of Aristotle: Cureau de La Chambre1s quest for a concrete understanding of human character within the frame­ work of astrologically-based sciences ...... 289; Renaissance "technology" and the rise of mechanist theories of nature: three viewpoints ...... 291 Mersenne the cautious skeptic ...... 291 Descartes the prophet of certitude ...... 293 Gassendi the resolute empiricist ...... 296 Cureau de La Chambre and the Polarization of Philosophical Attitudes Between 1640 and l66b ...... 299 Mechanism and the case against final causes ...... 300 Cartesian positivism: discovery of natural law through application of the mathematical method of pure reason ...... 301 The Gassendists and inductive method: construction of a body of scientific concepts independent of a priori principles ...... 301 Organic theory and the recognition of a life principle or soul: Cureau de La Chambre1s reaffirmation of Aristotelian substantial forms in the interests of elaborating a theory of evolving biological struc­ ture ...... 302 Philosophy of Science and the Theory of Man: . Focal Points of the Epistemological Debate in the Seven­ teenth Century ...... 305 The animal-machine: discontinuity between the sensible and rational orders ...... 306 Theory of the passions and possibilities for human excellence ...... 309 Moral doctrine and its esthetic consequences: Cureau de La Chambre's theory of man in relation to the cultivation of art forms in the seventeenth century ...... 312

8. REFLECTIONS OF SCIENTIFIC THEORIES OF MAN IN MORALIST WRI­ TERS OF THE CLASSICAL PERIOD: THREE EXAMPLES ...... 316

Progress in the Sciences and Moral Philosophy: Background of the Formulation of New Intellectual Attitudes Towards the Study of Man by Man ...... 316 xiii

TABLE OF CONTEHTS— Continued -

Page

Resume of the Basic Goals of Moral Philosophy in the Second Half of the Seventeenth Century . . . . . 322 Rationale for Selection of Authors ...... 325 Madame de Sable: Wisdom as the Key to Social Accept­ ance and Personal Satisfaction ...... 328 Jacques Esprit and the Falseness of Human Virtue: A Literary Expression of Radical Jansenism ...... 335 La Rochefoucauld and the Demasking of Human Nature: A Case of Personal Disenchantment ...... 3Ul Cureau de La Chambre and the New Psychology of Human Nature in French Literature: Astrology, Grace and Humors Versus Organicity ...... 352

9. CUREAU DE LA CHAMBRE'S THEORY OF MAN IN THE CULTURAL EVOLUTION OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY: SOME FINAL REMARKS . 356

Organic Theory as an Implicit Structure of Seventeenth- Century Thought ...... 357 What is organic theory? ...... 357 La Chambre1s Seventeenth-Century Version of Organic Theory: Scope and Limits ...... 363 Man and nature: separate or equal? ...... 363 La Chambre and Seventeenth-Century French Thought: Summary of His Role in the Cultural Evolution of. France ...... 365

APPENDIX: CHRONOLOGY OF LA CHAMBRE'S WORKS ...... 371

ABBREVIATIONS ...... 373

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 37^ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure

1. La Ghambre’s Metoposcopy ......

xiy ABSTRACT

The seventeenth-century French royal counselor and physicians

Marin Cureau de La Chamhre» can hardly be called a man of great genius«

Yet his life and works present us with a witness to aspects of the cultural evolution leading up to and including the so-called "classical" period in French literature that is every bit as provocative as those provided by more famous contemporaries like Descartes and Pascal. In the course of a three-part study in which relevant biographical, method­ ological, and ideological details are presented and analyzed against the backdrop of the seventeenth-century intellectual movement, the reader's attention is directed to consideration of La Chambre's style of thinking as a major factor in the shaping of classical psychology and its new definition of man.

Part One consists in a biographical analysis with emphasis on intellectual relations and contemporary opinion regarding Cureau’s involvement in the scientific and literary circles of Paris. Part Two begins with a chapter devoted to sketching the methodological and ideological framework within which the "art" of knowing men— a medico-astrologically based science of characterial dispositions and their relation to the secret "inclinations" of men— is developed first in terms of applied methods to be used by the practitioner, and later as a more comprehensive theory of the soul as the psychophysiological author and coordinator of all human activities. Conclusions reached, in

xv . xvi the discussions comprising the first six chapters of Parts One and Two announce the formulation "by La Chambre of what can best be called an organic theory of nature. In Part Three, it is this theory of nature and its teachings regarding human character and behavior that provide the basis for comparison between La Chambre and various important representatives of mechanist philosophy— Descartes, Gassendi, and

Mersenne— as well as between La Chambre and the latter-day Rosicrucian- style thinkers like Robert Fludd. Finally, in chapter 8, La Chambre1s essentially optimistic and psychophysiological view of man's nature is compared and contrasted to theories on human virtue found in the writings of three moralist philosophers of the classical period-— Madame de Sable,

Jacques Esprit, and La Rochefoucauld— each of whom was esteemed by his contemporaries as a self-styled expert in psychology and behavior.

Although this dissertation has several goals the most obvious of which is to arouse curiosity about a man of whom history has made relatively little, mention, its primary aim is to open perspectives on a new and more comprehensive approach to literary criticism than is general­ ly practiced by literature specialists. Too often, the ideas of a major writer of the classical period like La Rochefoucauld are depicted first with reference to their Greek and Latin sources, then brought up to date via Montaigne, and polished off with a dash of Cartesian dualism; in the rush to get "back to the texts themselveslittle or no regard is given to the subtle changes in outlook on classical learning that are really innovations of the period in question and not merely a part of the traditional baggage. Careful reading of works by writers who like La Chambre are closely tied to the religious and scientific movement of their time, and who at the same time participate in the

creation of new political and social ideologies, are in fact the most

fundamental untapped resources to a more profound and, ultimately, a much more accurate understanding of the vast scope implied by the historian's rhetorical question: what did men really hope for and secretly strive to attain both as individuals and as a society in

France during the seventeenth century? PART I

CUREAU DE LA CHAMBRE'S LIFE AM) RELATIONS WITH THE INTELLECTUAL MILIEU

1 CHAPTER 1

BIOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS

A glance at any of the attempts to reconstruct the biography of

Marin Cureau de La Chambre reveals how little is known of him; a closer look shows even more clearly that what is known tells nothing very specific about his habits, his life style $ or his aspirations as a doctor and as a man of letters. Though fate may have contributed its share to the mystery surrounding the circumstances of Cureau*s birth and family background 9 the absence of autobiographical allusions in his works as well as in his published correspondence suggests that he de­ liberately kept strong feelings and opinions to himself. Judging from the success he enjoyed in public life, he must have had good reasons for doing so.

At a time when the struggle for power divided the nobility into camps either for or against the monarchy of Louis XIII, there was room at the top for the clever individual of undistinguished birth who knew how to ingratiate himself with the right people. Given such favorable conditions, the ambitious doctor could use his easy access to the private lives of certain patients to act as a spy, go-between, or some other sort of political tool, for power-hungry nobles vying for control in the government. Richelieu, for one, is known to have used the privileges of the medical profession for such purposes, and.there

is little question that he rewarded.his doctors handsomely.for services

well rendered."*" In most cases, however, talented physicians could make

their fortune less dangerously, provided that they knew how to apply

their diagnostic skills to healthy men as well as to sick ones!

Marin Cureau de La Chambre seems to have been a man of such

talents, whose formula for success is clearly expressed in a maxim

coined by the Marquise de Sable; "Sgavoir bien decouvrir 1*interieur

d’autruy, et cacher le sien, est une grande marque de la superiority

d*esprit." From between the lines of what is known of the "coenomanus O doctor medicusto use his own words, there emerges the spectre of a man whose "art de connoistre les hommes" was far from being just a medical theory stashed away between the covers of a book.

The Early Years ? 3-1 6 3 2 )~

Although there is no record to prove it, Cureau was probably born in 1596, making him an exact contemporary of Descartes (1596-1650),

"*Paul Delaunay, La Vie midicale awe XVIe3 XVIIe et XVIIIe ai'&etes (Paris, 1935), p* 2U8. 2 Maximes de Madame de Sabl& (Paris, 1870), maxim number LXXVI, p. U4.

3 Cureau used this phrase to qualify himself at the end of two epigrams written as an introduction to Gerard Denisot's translation of Hippocrates’ Aphorisms. For the reproduction and translation of this text into French, see La Revue historique et avah&o'logique du Maines Vol. II, "Le Maine 1, I ’Academie Frangaise: Marin Cureau de La Chambre," : by Rene Kerviler (Le Mans, 1877)$ p. 39. k four years younger than Gassendi (1592-1655), eight years younger than

Hobbes (1588-1679), eleven years younger than Richelieu (1585-1642)$ seventeen years older than Frangois due de La Rochefoucauld (l6l3-l68o), and twenty-seven years older than Blaise Pascal (1623.-1662). Most likely he was the eldest son of a certain Marin Cureau, sieur de La

Chambre, and Anne Malet, married on August 7$ 1595, in the parrish of

St-Jehan d'Asse, the small village near Le Mans where Cureau was li probably born. The fact that he is a native of the province of Maine is not without significance; Mersenne, Scarron, La Motte le Vayer, Rotrou, and the family De SablS are just a few of the eminent Parisians of the first half of the seventeenth century who claimed Le Maine as their place of origin. Several well-known members of the French Academy, in­ cluding Richelieu's favorite Boisrobert, had family ties in this part of France, too.^ Such contacts were going to be of obvious value to a provincial doctor in gaining access to the most distinguished salons of

Paris.

^The date, 1594, is arrived at by subtracting the age (75 years) engraved on his tombstone from the year of his death (1669). Historians of Le Maine and the Department of La Sarthe (Kerviler, Coutard, Esnault) prefer to think that he was born in 1596 after checking family docu­ ments in local archives.

^Kerviler, Revue du Maine3 II, lists the following Academicians from Le Maine: Abel Servian (founder), Boisrobert (canon of the cathedral at Le Mans), La Motte le Vayer (preceptor to the duke of Anjou), Fillet de La Mesnardiere (from Loudun), Guillaume Bautru (count of Serrant), Honor6 de Bueil (marquis de Racan), in addition to Cureau (p. 27), Even less conclusive than the details of his birth and family

origins is information regarding the youth and education of Cureau. The

only biographical reference in his published works alludes to a visit to

Lyons in July of 162^ where he made an observation he later included in . g a book published in Paris in 1650 on the refraction of light. Though

he does not elaborate«, the precise recall of date, time, and place indi­

cates that Cureau was actively taking notes and perhaps had already

composed parts of the works he was to publish later on.

The next official mention of him appears on a baptismal certif­ icate, where he is named godfather to the daughter of -Jacques Kagot, master apothecary at Pont-Ysouard near Le Mans, By this time he is -7 about thirty years old and "docteur en mSdecine."

The circumstances of his medical training present another prob­

lem. According to the edict signed by Louis XIV in 1673 granting offi­

cial sanction for the continuation of the "Jardin des Plantes medici- nales du Roy," three "demonstrateurs-operateurs pharmaceutiques" (who

had been giving lessons since the Garden was formally consecrated in

1635) were given permission to continue their activities.^ The original

Nouvetles Observations et Conjectures sur I ’Iris (Paris, 1650), p. 8 .

7 Kerviler, Revue du Maine3 II, 35°

8 On the "Jardin des Plantes," see A..-L. Jussieu, Annates du Mus&um, I, pp. 7ff. For Cureau1 s participation, see E.-T. Hamy., "Les debuts de 1 1anthropologie et de 1 1anatomie humaine au Jardin des Plantes: Marin Cureau de La Chambre et P. Dionis: 1635-1680," in Anthvopotogies V (Paris, 1894), pp. 257-75. stipulation in the 1635 edict— -a document which has never been found—

was reiterated here barring doctors educated at institutions other than

the Faculty of Medicine at Paris from these posts. However, a unique

exception which was not to be considered a precedent was made for

Marin Cureau de La Chambre from Montpellier * Unfortunately, the regis­ ters of the Faculty of Medicine at Montpellier do not bear out this evi­ dence,^ and the medical archives show no trace of Marin Cureau's passage

11 In the light of present documentation, about all that can be ascertained with respect to the early period of Cureau’s life is that he was practicing medicine in Le Mans from at least 1625 until he moved to Paris sometime in the early 1630's; and that on June 12, 1629, he was married to Marie Duchesne thereby allying himself with one of the

Jean Astruc, Memoires pour servir a I 'histoire de la Faculty de Medeeine de Mcntpellier (Paris, 1767). Cureau is not listed_in the registers.

10 In his kind letter of April, 1971, Dr. Dulieu of the Faculty of Medicine at Montpellier assured me that the archives contained nothing pertaining to Cureau's alleged passage there other than the library copies of several of his works.

11 In an excellent study on Le Surintendant Nicolas Foucquet: Protecteur des Lettres1, des Arts et des Sciences (Paris, 1905) U. -V. Chatelain notes on p. , footnote 1 , that the "registres de I'Spargne" of 1626, show Marin Cureau de La Chambre (folio 206) al­ ready receiving a pension of 2.000 livres from the government but I have not verified this date. If so, it would mean that Cureau was al­ ready active in Parisian society before he became a doctor to Pierre Seguier in I63U and perhaps had left Le Mans by this time. Undoubtedly, it was in connection with the project for the Jardin des Plantes begun in 1626 by Guy de La Brosse and Bouvard that Cureau received this pension, if the date is correct. See notes 8 and 30 of this chapter. several medical dynasties in his native city. After his marriage

Cure an remained in Le Mans where he lived in a house owned by his

father-in-law, Frangois Duchesne, which bears the curious name of "la

Mai son d'Adam et d ’Eve." Built between 1520 and 1525 for Jehan de

I ’Espine, astrologer-doctor to Marguerite de Navarre, its physical ap­

pearance as described by Paul Delaunay merits a moment's attention;

On y discerns, sculptee sur la fagade, 1'image du Soleil et de la Lune, et le signe des "Poissons." Deux personnes, dans lesquelles le peuple a voulu reconnattre nos premiers parents, sont debout devant une sort de thyrse, ou 1'on a cru voir la pomme fatale, source de tous nos m a u x . 1 2

Auspicious beginning for the future author of a Disaours sur tes

Princvpes de la Chiromance et de la MStoposeopie!

- Paris - (1632-1669+)

The precise steps in Cureau's introduction into the court of

Louis XIII are not clear. A series of baptismal certificates provides

the only concrete evidence available: in 1631, he is still "honorable

homme, Marin Cureau, sieur de La Chambre"; on July 6, 1632, "noble

Marin Cureau, docteur en mSdecine"; on October 15, 1632, "Medecin de Sa 13 Majeste." Indications are that he was named "medecin par quartier"

12 Delaunay, La Vie m£diea!e . . .p. 124.

13 Kerviler, Revue du Maines II, 37,

^According to P.-E. Le Magnet, Le Monde medical parisien sous le Grand Roi (Paris, 1899), the medical service of Louis XIV consisted of a first doctor (premier m&decin or archi'atre) s an ordinary doctor 8

to Louis XIII.sometime in 1632, probably at the recommendation of

Charles Bouvsrd, first doctor to the'king and native of Le Mans.

Once established in Paris, Cureau's career becomes somewhat

easier to follow. In March of 1634, Jacques Denisot, secretary to the

president of the Paris Parliament, Pierre Seguier, published a transla­

tion into Latin of Hippocrates6 Aphorisms. The manuscript had been

found among the papers of his late grandfather, Gerard Denisot, court

doctor to Charles IX, Henry III, and Henry IV, and a member of the

Denisot family of Le Mans. The translation is dedicated to SSguier, recently promoted to Seal-Bearer, and is prefaced by a poem entitled 15 f,Avo charissimo," by Marin Cureau de La Chambre. Very soon after the publication of this volume,. Cureau was named doctor to Seguier., and lost no time in publishing a sampling of his own work: Nouvelles Pens&es sxcr

les causes de ta lvmieres du desbordement du Nil, et de I ’amour dHnalina- tion. This strange collection of titles appeared in a single volume two months later, preceded by a very lofty dedication to "Monseigneur

le Garde des Sceaux."

(mideoin ordinaire) and eight district doctors (mideoins par quartier) in addition to a botanist (m$deoin botanists)s an anatomist (m&deoin anatomiste)3 a mathematician (m'edeoin math&matieien)3 four spagirists (m$decins spagiristes) and sixty-six consultants (m&deoins consultants). The district doctor earned 2,473 livres per year, as compared to the 40,000 livres paid to the first doctor .and the 5,500 livres paid to the ordinary doctor. District doctors were engaged for two months at a time, during which they inhabited the royal palace and were expected to take orders from their superiors.

15 See footnote 3 of this chapter. Between 1635 and 1650, the triumphs of Cureau1s career run parallel to those of Siguier, in whose service he remained for the rest of his life. Both were selected "by Richelieu for membership in the

"Academie Frangaise" late in 1634; on December 19, 1635, Seguier was appointed Chancellor of France, the same year in which Cureau allegedly began his professorship at the Jardin des Plantes;^ on October 15,

1640, Louis XIII signed the papers granting titles of nobility to La 17 Chambre; and in 1642, following the death of Richelieu, Cureau was chosen by his fellow academicians to pay final tribute to their founder.

While singing the praises of Richelieu, Cureau did his part to insure

Seguier's candidature for the protectorship of the Academy, a title that the Chancellor received in that same year. By the number of honors incurred in barely ten years' time, it must be said that Cureau had chosen the best of all possible benefactors under the best of all possi­ ble circumstances!

By 1648, the intrigue and conspiracy of the frondenrs made Paris a dangerous spot for the unstable monarchy and its sympathizers. The court of the young Louis XIV was temporarily relocated at Saint-Germain;

Mazarin and Chancellor Seguier, accompanied by his personal physician, followed the king to safer grounds. The situation proved to be a boon to Cureau's medical career at the court; civil disorder had made it im­ possible for some of the king's company of doctors to occupy their

See footnote 8 of this chapter.

17 His titles were reviewed and approved by Louis XIV in February, 1669 (for manuscript, see Archives Rationales, Paris, AJ15509#200 a-b). 10 assigned posts, and Cureau was frequently called upon to serve in their 18 absence.

By 1650, Seguier?s illustrious protege had established a repu­ tation for himself in Parisian society which permitted him to act on his own merits. When Claude Seguin vacated his position as ordinary physician to Louis XIV, Cureau bid for and obtained the title from 19 him at a sum considered extravagant by Guy Pat in. But Cureau knew exactly what he was doing; aside from being named to this new post, he received the additional title of royal counselor, and it was partic­ ularly in this capacity that he is believed to have served the king.^®

"^Kerviler, Revue du Maine, II, 137 •

"^Guy Patin to Charles Spon, doctor at Lyons (Letter #CCXV, May, 1650), quoted in Michaud's Biogvaphie Vnivevsette article on Marin Cureau de La Chambre. According to LeMaguet, the position of ordinary doctor was very poorly paid even though his responsibilities were similar to those of the first doctor: he followed the king every­ where , received his orders from the first doctor in addition to re­ lieving him on certain occasions (pp. 197-98). For additional informa­ tion regarding the other court doctors' positions and functions, see Le Maguet, Chap. IV "Les Medecins It la Cour," pp. iSUff.

20 ^ P. A. La Place, Pieces interessantes et pen aonnues pour servir a Z ’histoire et <2 la litterature, IV (Paris, 1781-1790). In this unique reference. La Place makes a most important contribution to the problem of Cureau's role as counselor to Louis XIV. Here is the part of the passage pertaining to Cureau: "II existe . . . dans un de ces Cabinets, a Paris, ainsi que nous 1'atteste une personne bien connue, & dont le temoignage ne pent Gtre suspect, un gros et aneien Recueil contenant toute une correspondence secrette & long-tems suivie, entre le Roi Louis XIV & le sieur de la Chambre, son medecin, sur une science fort extraordinaire, & a laquelle on n'auroit jamais soupgonne ce Monarque d'ajouter un degre de foi, bien fait pour etonner, si on n'etoit pas, de tout terns, convaincu que les plus grands Hommes ont ete susceptibles des plus grandes foiblesses! Qui croiroit en effet aisement, que ce Prince etoit si persuade du talent que s'attribuoit ce MSdecin de juger, sur la seule physiognomie 11

Cardinal Mazarin also sought the opinion of La Chambre on matters that

were not strictly medical during their weekly conferences at the T 21 Louvre.

The end of the year 1666 marks the last major event in a bril­

liant career, when Cureau is appointed to the newly chartered. ’’AcadSmie

des Sciences” organized by Colbert and composed of distinguished scien­

tists, mathematicians, and physicians of the period. But Cureau1s in­

volvement in this group was to be short-lived. On November 29, 1669$

in the words of Guy Pat in, ”le bonhomme M. de La Chambre est mort 'age

des gens, quel etoit non-seulement le fond de leur earactere, m i s encore a quelles places & a quels emplois chacun d'eux pouyoit 3tre propre. Efc qu'en partant de cette intime persuasion, ee Monarque ne se determinoit, soit en bien, soit en mal, sur les choix qu'il avoit & faire, qu'apres avoir consuite sur ce sujet ce singulier Oracle?... Et dans ce cas, quel puissant intSrSt ne doit-il resulter de pareils details? - Cette Anecdote $ unique & d'autant plus singuliere qu'elle est echappee aux yeux aussi attentifs que pergans des Courtisans qui appro- choient le plus pres de Lowis XXVS est pourtant constatee dans le Depdt , dont il s * agit, par les Lettres originales & respectives, taut du Con­ sultant que du Con suite! On ajoufce meme a ceci, qu'il se trouve, vers la fin du Recueil, m e note de ce dernier, congue el-peu-pres dans les termes suivants; 'Si je meurs avant Sa Majeste, elle court grand risque ■ de faire & 1 'avenir, beaucoup de mauvais choix.' Et ce qu'il y a de plus singulier encore, c'est que les suites semblent n 'avoir que trop de fois justifiS la justesse de cette prediction!" (pp. viii-x) It is very unfortunate that the texts of these letters and the cabinet in which they were reputedly housed, have never been found.

21 DiaHomaire de biographie fvanqaise, ed. by Roman d'Amat. X, 1078. 12 22 de 76 smsi” leaving behind a wife, two sons, and a legacy of about fifteen published volumes, including a collection of his letters.

Looking back over the highlights of Marin Cureau's career in

Paris, it is clear that his rapid climb to the top was not accidental.

He was already thirty-six years old and apparently well established in his profession before coming to live in the capital city. Though he had not published anything prior to his installation in the hotel of Pierre

SSguier in 163%, he was well aware of the types of questions under dis­ cussion in the literary, scientific and political circles of Paris, and had been engaged in the study of some of these matters while residing in

Le Mans. His earliest published volume, Nowelles Pens&es suv les causes de la lumi^res du desbordement du Nil3 et de l ramour d rinclinations which appeared in 163%, was obviously put together to display the versatility of his knowledge and his academic interests, and to circulate his name among the members of important scientific and literary groups. He apparently succeeded exactly as he had hoped he would: on August 2, 163%, Mersenne wrote to Fabri de Peiresc, noted astronomer and intimate friend of

Pierre Gassendi, "j 6ajouteray pourtant encore que nous avons un livre des Nouvelles pensees sur la lumiere, I1amour et le desbordement du Nil, p*D qui mSrite que vous le voyiez, si vous ne I'aviez desja.” By 1637, this work had made enough of an impact to interest the author of

pp Guy Patin to Falconnet (Letter //DCCXVI, December, 1669), quoted by E. T. Hamy, Anthropologies V, p. 275. po Correspondance du P. Marin Mersenne3 religieux minime3 ed. by B. Rochot (Paris, 1967), IV, 280. 13

Disaours de la M§thode3 who wrote to Mersenne from Holland:

Je n * ay pas tant de desir de voir la demonstration de M. de Fermat contre ce que j'ay ecrit de la refraction, que je vous veullle prier de me 1 1envoyer par la poste; mais lors qu'il se presentera commodite de me I ’adresser par mer, avec quelques bales de marchandise, je ne seray pas marry de la voir avec la Geostatique [de Beaugrand] et le livre de la Lumiere de M. de La Chambre et tout ce qui sera de pareille estoffe, ou de leur invention. . . . 24

The essay on light was also read in less erudite circles, judg­

ing from the letter addressed to La Chambre by Saloman de Priezac in

1657, when the second edition appeared:

Vous estes done choisi pour estre I'Arbitre honoraire de cette controverse, en laquelle on demands si les lumieres sont illuminez,. et si I'estroite alliance qui est entre elles, est un dessein & un effet de la nature: Et e'est ce qui vous oblige de nous en Sclaircir, & de nous expliquer par de nouvelles pensees, la nature, les proprietez, & les effets admirables de la l u m i e r e . 25

The second short work in the collection is of particular inter­

est for two reasons. First of all Seguier is known to have had a spe­

cial passion for theology, and was an avid collector of manuscripts,

books, and materials of all kinds dealing with the rites and practices

of the ancient Egyptians It was undoubtedly with this in mind that

24 .Ibid.3 yi, 34? (Descartes to Mersenne, end of December, 1637). or Saloman de Priezac, Lettre ct Af. de La Chambre sur la Lumi'&re (Paris, 1657), p. 6 .

26 Rene Kerviler, Le Chaneelier Pierre S&guier: Second Protecteur d.e I ’Academic Franqaise (Paris, 1874), p. 158. 14

Curean included his essay on possible causes for the overflow of the

Nile to be part of his first published work. More important, however, is the possibility that this interest in the esoteric religion and alchemical doctrines of Egypt could have been a sort of pet project undertaken by the residents of Seguier’s hotel (see supra, chapter 2).

In the second place, Cureau's position with regard to the scientific community of Mersenne and company is indirectly stated in this essay: traditional explanations for the Nile's annual overflow were based on the action of the river's "occult virtue." . While Cureau does not dismiss these observations, he does contend that the old theories are inadequate. In their place, he offers a new hypothesis derived from ideas presented by fifteenth-century Italian-born mathe­ matician and philosopher, Jerome Cardano: the Nile overflows because of the action of nitre or saltpeter, an alchemical salt peculiar to the waters of this river, whose action causes it to become fertile and to swell up. Though Cureau's argumentation is in the traditional style of

Aristotelian dialectics, his refusal to accept vague definitions in the light of new information reveals his desire for physical, and not meta­ physical, explanations of phenomena, an attitude which makes him a worthy successor to the Stagirite and a thinker whose ideas are in tune with the new scientific spirit of his time.

The last essay in this volume, Z?e t 'amour d 'inclination, was sure to be a success in the pr&cieusc society of salons such as the Hotel de Rambouillet, where the analysis of love was a primary pastime. How­ ever, as Cureau warns in his prefatory remarks, his conception of love is 15

much 'broader and will be of interest to philosophy and medicine as well;

Car ce n ’est pas icy 1’Amour dont on fait tant de bruit & tant d'ouvrages, & que la Beaute & la bonne grace fait couler dans les coeurs: mais c'est un Demon secret, qui lie les volontez avec des chaisnes incogneues, qui par un merveilleux enchantement tire de la laideur & de 1*imperfection? les attraits qui charment ceux qui le ressentent, & ravit d*admiration ceux qui veulent en cognoistre la Magie {lnal.s pref.)*

What ensues is a discussion of love as the attractive principle of na­

ture whose purpose is to guide and direct the organism in the perfection

and perpetuation of its being. Originating with the image of the in­

forming virtue in its union with matter, love is the primordial “pas­

sion" of the soul which enables the body to move towards and possess—

either directly through physical union or indirectly through sensitive

awareness— the object of its desire, as we shall see in chapter 6. From the vantage point of La Chambre's total work, L 1 Arnoia* d*inclination con­

stitutes a preliminary sketch of the detailed analysis of love and re­

lated passional movements found in Les Charaot'&res des Passions3 where the medical theories of Plato, Aristotle, and their long line of commen­ tators are subjected to the scrutiny of a seventeenth-century erudite physician.

One other detail before moving on to a closer study of Cureau's

involvement in Parisian society: why did he publish his first works in

French and not in Latin, as it was then customary to do in scientific

circles? While this decision probably grew in part out of the author's personal desire to attract a broader, less specialized public, the idea is in keeping with the Cardinal de Richelieu's vast plans for the

promotion and propagation of French thought and letters. 16

It is significant that La Chambre’s first medical work,

Nouvelles Congectuves sur ta Digestions is dedicated to the Cardinal and contains a preface protesting the use of Latin for scientific discourse.

This preface was read at two successive meetings of the French Academy in April of 1636, just one year before Descartes published his famous

Diseowes de ia M&thode, in which he openly declares war on the pedantry of his teachers and professors. As the title clearly states, the treatise on digestion's purpose is to show "la necessity qu'il y a d'escrire les Sciences en Frangois." The arguments in favor of using

French as the language of scientific expression are set forth in vigor­ ous and eloquent rhetoric designed to call upon the indigenous sense of pride and love of country of the French people, whose commitment the author feels ought to be to continue the philosophical quest for truth.

As he explains below, such a commitment can only be expected from the community when scientific knowledge is made accessible to the entire literate publics

. . . Mais si 1 'amour de la Verite & de ta Patrie a quelque pouvoir sur ton esprit, tu confesseras a la fin que je ne me pouvois corriger sans me rendre .coupable envers elles; que j'estois moins oblige a Socrate & a Platon, qu'a la Verite, et que peasant 1'avoir rencontree, je ferois une injure a la France, si je croyois que la Langue dont elle se sert fust moins fidele pour 1*exprimer que ne seroit la Grecque ou la Latine. I * advoue que s'il me faloit escrire des fables, ou faire I'histoire des siecles passes, il me seroit a pardonner, si j'employais des Langues mortes pour dire des choses qui ne sont plus, ou qui n 'ont jamais este; mais de s'en servir pour parler de la Nature qui nous est si presente, & dont la science est eternelie & immuable; c'est une erreur qui com­ bat la raison & 1 'exeraple de 1 'Antiquite, que I'on veut imiter. 17

Car les premiers Philosophies, a qui les Sciences sont si clairement decouvertes, quelque soin qu’ils e us sent de ne les rendre pas communes, se sont pourtant tousjours servi du langage commun, quand ils les ont voulu donner an public. Et bien que les plus Sgavans d'entre les Grecs soient allez puiser les belles connoissances qu'ils ont eues, chez les Egyptians, chez les Mages, & les Gymnosophistes; qu’Athenes ait este I'Eschole ordinaire des Romains, & que la Langue Grecque leur fust aussi familiere, que nous peut estre maintenant la Latine: On n ’a pourtant jamais veu dans ces siecles genereux, qu'aucun ait este si lasche, que de trahir sa Langue naturelle, pour donner & m e estrangere I ’honneur des belles choses qu'ils ont laissees par escrit. Ouy, c'est m e laschete qui ne-s'est trouvee que dans les demiers temps, comme du reste de la servitude dont les Romains ont autrefois charge tous les peuples de la Terre. Et je m'estonne que la France, qui n'a jamais pu souffrir leur domination, & qui a tousjours tant aime la liberte, ait neantmoins souffert si longtemps que sa Langue fust subjette a la leur, que ses Arrests fussent prononcez par m e estrangere, & que ses Loix fussent conservees par ses ennemis. Mais je m'estonne bien davantage, qu'apres qu'elle a pourveu a ses desordres, & qu'elle a donne en cette occasion 1'example de ce que chacm doit faire en toutes rencontres; il se , trouve encore des Franqois qui ayent sa gloire & leur honneur en si petite recommendation, qu'ils croyent que les Arts & les Sciences ne connoissent point la Langue Frangoise, & qu'il n'appartlent qu'ii la Latine de les produire,. & de les faire parler (Ep€tres3 pp. 268-71).

Having thus placed the Franco-Latin contacts, in their historical per­ spective , Cureau goes on to make a rather startling observation: if commitment to using a dead language is the measure of hommage paid to the great civilizations of the past, then it is more reasonable to use

Greek and Arabia (in spite of the traditional hatred, it seems!), be­ cause these are the languages of the peoples who assiduously cultivated the sciences: 18

II y auroit .Men plus de raison de les remettre . entre les mains de Grecs & des Arabes, qui les ont si soign.eusement cultivees; St on elles.ont este en si grand credit, qu'elles faisoient la meilleure partie de la Sagesse; qu'elles montoient sur le Throne des Rois; Et que les Princes estoient aussi glorieux d’estre obeis, que les peuples d'estre com- mandez par.les Philosophes. Ce seroient a ces riches & disertes Leagues qui ont veu eslever la Philosophic avee elles, d.'en soutenir encore la dignitS; si le temps qui borne la duree de toutes choses ne les avoient ostees du commerce & de 1*usage ordinaire des hommes (Epttres3 p.. 271).

Hence, he continues, making Latin solely responsible for the entire

task is absurd, for science was never cultivated to such an extent by

the people who spoke it, and therefore it lacks the "natural” facility to express scientific ideas clearly. The worst thing to befall the

development of a language, in other words, is to allow it to be manip­ ulated by men who learned it from books and grafted new words to it when they could not find the suitable expression. As a result of the

centuries of Latin preeminence, all philosophy thus became distasteful

to people who were forced to read it in a language they detested for

other reasons. As Cureau remarks:

. . . & dire le vray, ce sont ses termes rudes & barbares qui ont cache les attraits, dont la Philosophic charmoit autrefois tout le monde. C'est elle qui fait paroistre rustique & farouche, en I'eloignant de la Cour, & de I'entretien ordinaire des plus honrietes gens: C'est elle • enfin qui 1'a chargee de la haine des Peuples, qui n'ont pu aimer la Philosophie dans m e Langue qui leur estoit odieuse (Bpztres, p. 273).

Turning next to the French language, Cureau extols its special

beauties as compared to other European languages. In his estimation, it

has "la gloire d favoir les plus beaux termes, & la plus noble expression

de tous ceux qui ont cours aujourd'huy dans 1 'Europe" (Epttres* p. 273). 19

Making it the instrument of scientific thought can only enhance.its. al­ ready established superiority and promote,its.continued, growth and de­ velopment $ for as he notes;

Combien penses-tu que les Sciences seront glorieuses, quand elles se pareront des mesmes omemens qui ont enrichis ces fameuses Harangues [de Richelieu] que toute la France a entenduMs avec admiration? Quand elles se serviront des mesmes omemens dont se foment ces Sages Conseils, qui font la paix & les victoires, qui renversent & relevent les Couronnes, & qui ont affermi les fondemens & la grandeur de cette Monarchie. Ce sera lors qu'elle n'aura plus de honte de se trouver dans la Cour; qu'elles partageront avec les armes les occupations de la Noblesse; & qu'elles seront mesme la plus agreable partie de toutes leurs conversations. Enfin la France ne sera alors qu’une Academic, ou 1 1 on verra encore revenir tous les peuples de 1'Europe, pour apprendre les Lettres, & se recompenser par elles de la liberte qu’ils auront perdue par la force de ses armes (Epttves3 p. 27^ ) „.

Of course, admits La Chambre, French is not yet as rich as either Greek or Arabic in scientific terminology; however, languages are, in his words, among those things which grow as long as they live. Hence, he asks:

Ne seroit-ce pas une imprudence, de vouloir priver une Langue d'une Science toute entiere, pour quelques ternes qui luy ; manquent, & que nous pouvons in venter, ou prendre mesme chez nos voisins, aussi-bien que tout ce que les Loix du commerce, & le droit des armes nous permetteht ( Epi>bvess p. 276 ).

Expanding the metaphor of organicity to describe the process by which language assimilates new vocabulary, he compares its cultivation to the art of raising exotic plants; "... celles qui peuvent souffrir ce changement, portent dans leur nouveaute des graces qui ne se trouvent point en toutes les autres" {Epttres^ p. 276).

Concluding with an analysis of the relations between science and history, Cureau draws the analogy between the age of the world and the 20 development of human knowledge.that was to.become the familiar slogan of the '’Moderns'* in the quarrel which, did not reach.its .fullest"propor­ tions until the second half of the seventeenth century;

. . . Mais en quelque fagon que 1'on puisse escrire, j'estime qu'il n'y a point de laschete plus insup­ portable , que de vouloir s'esservir aux opinions communes dans la recherche de la verite. Elle ne se trouve pas dans les chemins battus, non plus que les diamans & les perles; II la faut chercher dans les abysmes & dans les tenebres ou elle s'est cachee. Et si ■ ces grands Hommes qui en ont decouvert quelque partie, n'eussent abandonne les sentimens de leurs Maistres, ils n 'auroient pas eu les lumieres qu'ils ont eues, & que nous ne joulrions pas du bonheur que leur hardiesse nous a procure, Mais coimne ce qu'ils en ont connu n'est que la moindre partie des secrets de la verite, & que 1'erreur a occupe la pluspart des chemins qui nous y devroient mener: On ne sgauroit, a mon advis, estre blasme si 1'on cherche de nouvelles routes, si 1'on prend d'autres guides, & si on laisse aussi hardiment Aristote & Galien, qu'ils ont fait ceux qui les ont precedes, Aussi quoy qu'on en veuille dire, nous sommes dans la vieillesse du monde & de la Philosophie; ce que 1'on appelle Antiquite, en a este I'enfance & la . jeunesse: Et apres qu'elle a vieilli par tant de siecles, & par tant d* experiences, il ne seroit pas raisonnable de la faire parler comme elle a fait dans ses premieres annSes, & de luy laisser les foiblesses qui se trouvent aux opinions qu'elle a eues en cet age la, & que 1'on veut encore faire passer pour des Oracles (2£>£tres, pp. 278-79 .)„

Because La Chambre's discourse on the preeminence of the French- language appeared before Disoovrs de la M$thodes Cureau is frequently cited by authors of biographical dictionaries as the true founder of scientific French. In fact, Rene Kerviler, the nineteenth-century his­ torian from Le Maine who is also the author of the most detailed bio­ graphical study of La Chambre, emphatically underlines this fact to the 21 27 discredit of Descartes. In realitys however, neither Descartes nor

La Chanibre was the first author to choose French over Latin in matters pertaining to science-—-Guy de La Brosse, for one, published two works of scientific merit as early as 1628, respectively entitled Traits de ta phisionomie and La Nature des Plantess copies of which existed in 28 the Chancellor Seguier‘s private collection. Since Cureau was per­ sonally acquainted with La Brosse through his appointment at the Jardin

p Q des Plantes, where the latter had been serving as intendant since 1628, it might well have been that the professors who taught at this new in­ stitution had all resolved to promote the use of French in accordance 30 with their protector *s wishes. In any event, La Brosse was a major

PT Kerviler. Revue du Maine, II, 52. Kerviler remarks; "On pent supposer avec quelque. raison, que Descartes n'eut pas eerit en frangais son celebre disc ours [sur la mSthode ], si le medecin de Seguier n ’eCit deja prepare le terrain. Descartes s'excusa en effet de publier dans sa langue matemelle son discovers, ses mitiores, sa dioptrique et sa geometric. C * est la un point d ’histoire litteraire fort important, et qui doit tenir yne place toute speciale dans la longue carriers de Cureau de La Chambre. II imports en effet de constater qu'il a ete le veritable createur de la langue scientifique frangaise. C'est un de ses principaux titres a la reconnaissance de la posteritS."

28 E. T. Hamy, Anthropologie, V, 263.

29Ibid.

30 Charles Bouvard, the physician from Le Mans, was involved in soliciting the approval of Richelieu for the Royal Garden along with Guy de La Brosse, which may explain why Cureau was chosen to be dgmonstrateup-opirateur. See supra, p. 5, and note 11 of this chapter. For details on La Brosse and Bouvard, see Michaud's Biographic UniverseVle* 22 proponent of Paracelsian botany and iatrochemistry in France at that time, and it is well known that Paracelsus adamantly refused to write 31 in any language other than his native German. Whatever the case.

La Chambre's decision to write in French was not an unprecedented blow to the practice of writing in Latin adopted by philosophy since the

Middle Ages, although it was one of the earliest and strongest pleas for a complete change in attitude.

In concluding our preliminary remarks on Cureau's life, it is important to note that fortune and success, though obviously important to the physician, were not his unique motivations for.intellectual and social interaction. As the texts cited from the preface to his treatise on digestion indicate, he was sincerely committed to the goal of prog­ ress in the sciences, and eager to lay aside the tyranny of the so-

.called "Ancients" in order to build and establish harmony and under­ standing among the honnetes gens of Paris. Communication was the key, and art together with philosophy and the propagation of French letters were to be the media whereby the French would learn to take pride in themselves and in their civilization in order to fulfill the promise of their ideal "temperament." As we shall see next in examining La

Chambre's relations with and participation in the literary, scientific and political institutions of his time, not only did he advocate coop­ eration among the power centers of his country; he did his utmost to make it happen on a personal level.

w. B. Crow, A History of Magics Witchcraft and Occultism (London, 1968), p. 213. CHAPTER 2

INTELLECTUAL RELATIONS

While living in Paris, Cureau was very much involved in the intellectual life both inside and outside the court. He was an active member of the French Academy from the time of its official existence under the protectorship of Richelieu, and like his fellow Academicians, could be found in the major literary salons of the period, such as

11 la chambre bleue" of Madame de Rambouillet. However, it is likely that the group of residents at the Hotel Seguier knew him best, since it was here that he spent most of his time. If Seguier*s love for ancient manuscripts is any indication of the sort of men he chose to patronize, it would seem that the discussion at the so-called "Palais de Salon" frequently centered around new acquisitions to the sumptuous library housed there. A number of Siguier's proteges shared the Chancellor's zeal for knowledge, and in their eagerness to please him, translated and analyzed the manuscripts he collected in hopes of finding material 1 ' for publications which they could then dedicate to him. During the

"Scerviler says of Seguier: "La magnifique bibliotheque qu'il sut composer, a grands frais, en faisant rechercher et reunir les rnanuserits les plus precieux et les debris les plus rares des littSra- tures anciennes, prouve que pendant toute sa vie, mime au milieu du tourbillon des affaires, il garda pour les belles-lettres m e affection constante, et presque un culte religieux. 'Si I'on veut me seduire, . . . on n 'a qu'a me donner des livres' (Le ChanoetieT Pierre Siguier^

23 2k

early days of Cureau's career in Paris s important contacts in the lit­

erary and philosophical circles of the H6tel Seguier, the Academy and

Rambouillet undoubtedly facilitated his introduction into the more

specialized groups which became popular after the Fronde: the philo­

sophical reunions at Mme de La Sabliere's and at Mme de Sable's Port-

Royal residence; Foucquet's proteges and friends; the scientific circle

begun by Mersenne, which continued to congregate at the Hotel de Mont-

' mort following his death in l6U8s and from whose ranks the "Aeademie des

Sciences" was formed in l666„

Strange as it may seem9 Cureau's position as a doctor does not

appear to have brought him into contact with any particular medical

groups. Of course, there were other doctors in the salons, especially

in the group which gathered at the Marquise de Sable's, and they seem 2 to have acted as authorities on questions involving medical knowledge.

There is a very good possibility that Cureau participated in the "Con­

ferences du Bureau d'adresse," begun in 1633 by Renaudot as a kind of

p. 12). Not only did his domestic group dedicate their works to SSguier, but also to each other. Jean Balledans, for example, dedicated a translation of Jean Brouat's Trait£ de I reau-de-vie to Cureau in 1646, and the title of this work seems to be typical of the ones found in the catalogue listing of the Manuscript Department at the Bibliotheque Rationale, FF (formerly called "le fonds Saint-Germain").

2 Besides Cureau de La Chambre, regular guests from the medical profession at the Marquise's residence included Antoine Menjot, Jules Pillet de La Mesnardiere (compatriot of Cureau, see chap. 1, note 5), and the perpetual secretary Valiant, who consulted one another on the illnesses of their patients. 25 3 free university; the texts compiled and published in 1638 by the in­

dustrious doctor from Montpellier from notes taken at these meetings re- 4 veal that the topics discussed would have been of interest to Cureau.

Unfortunately, however, Renaudot's policy was not to disclose the names

of participants, though he assures us that the debates were carried out 5 by the best minds in France at that time.

Taking into account the different character of each group in which Cureau was involved, we shall now look more closely at the various

3 Lula M. Richardson, "The Conferences of Theophraste Renaudot: An Episode in the Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns," Modevn Language Notes3 xlviii (1933), pp. 313-16.

^See "Table des Points" in Premiene Centunie des Questions Trodtees ez Conferences du Bureau d fadressef depuis le 22 iour d'Aoust 1633# jusques au dernier Juiltet 1634 (Paris, 1638). Some of the titles are as follows: "De la ressemblance"; "S’il est plus aize de resister a la volupte qu’a la douleur"; "S’il peut y avoir un Amour desinteresse"; "Si les melancholiques sont les plus ingenieux ou prudens"; "Comment les esprits agissent-ils sur les corps?"; "De 1 1astrologie judiciaire"; "De la physiognomie"; "Quel est le plus noble des cinq sens"; "De la diver­ sity des visages"; etc.

5 "Si les milliers de personnes d'honneur qui ont fait partie des Conferences dont vous voyez les pensees dans ce Livre, en estoient les seuls juges, il ne seroit point necessaire de representer ici les raisons qui m * empes chent de vous produire leurs noms: ils seroient aussi eux-mesmes tesmoins que c’est la principals des conditions qu'ils ont requise de moy: plusieurs pour laisser libre a chaeun le jugement de leurs opinions, que la connoissance des personnes preoccupe volon- tiers; d'autres pour essayer a convert quel sentiment le public auroit d ’eux: semblables a ces Chevaliers errans qui combatoient jadis sous des armes empruntees, laissans a deviner leur noin a ceux qui trouveroient en eux dequoi leur faire desirer: mais tons par une modestie autant louable a leur regard qu'injurieuse au public." (Avis au Lscteurs Premiere Centurie des Questions TraitSes ez Conferences du Bureau d*adresse, depuis le 22 iovr d ’Aoust 16333 jusques au dernier Juillet 1634 (Paris, 1638). 26 roles he played in the intellectual circles $ and the extent to which he appears to have influenced, or to have been influenced by, his friends and acquaintances.

"Le Bel Esprit"

Cureau de La Chambre and the French Academy

The "Academic Frangaise" as we know it today can hardly be compared to the circle of friends who assembled-regularly around Valentin

Conrart^ to exchange ideas and criticism of each other's work as early as 1629 or 1630. Academies for the arts and "sciences" were already in 7 vogue during the sixteenth century in France, but the turmoil caused by religious wars seems to have prevented the persistence of such formally structured Renaissance institutions into the seventeenth century. The academic tradition remained intact, however, in the-form-of small private gatherings of men of similar interests: the- scientific - reunions of the Freres Dupuy, the salons of aristocratic ladies, and the-circles of

Malherbe and Conrart all carried on activities reminiscent of the Pleiade and of Louise LabS* s circle in Lyons. It was nevertheless the energetic

^Concerning the early years of the French Academy, see Kerviler and Barthelemy: Valentin Conrartj, Premier Secretaire perp&tuel de I ’Acad&mie Frangaise (Paris, l88l), particularly chapter II, "Fondation de I ’Academie Frangaise."

^Frances Yates has noted in her book Giordano Bruno and, the Hermetio Tradition (Chic&go, 1964), p. 173, that in addition to Baif’s Academy 6’f Poetry there existed nearby a special magical academy run by Jacques Gohorry (+1576). For detailed study, see F. Yates, The French Academies of the Sixteenth Century (London, 1947). 27 circle of Conrart that was singled out by Richelieu and offered recog­ nition by the government as an Academy. In addition to the Cardinal's personal appreciation for art and his private ambitions to write drama, it is quite possible, that he saw in this young, energetic group of friends the makings for a kind of personal press agency which he could call to his defense if needed, and which could also serve as a means 8 for promoting supervised intellectual and literary activity in France.

Richelieu understood the importance of controlling public opinion and as a result seemed to be on the lookout for projects which could serve as 9 tools for the centralization of power. Undoubtedly the pension granted

8 Kerviler and Barthelemy have assessed the political motives of Richelieu as follows; ". . . prenons la peine de reehercher les opinions politiques des onze amis des lettres qui composaient le petit cercle de Conrart en 1633, eeest-a-dire a une epoque ou, malgre le succes de la Joumee des dupes, la France etait encore divisee en deux partis; celui du Roi, reprSsentS par Richelieu, celui de Gaston et de la Reine-Mlre, dont la rScente rSvolte venait de couter la tBte au due de Montmorency. . . . (p. 34). Sur les onze amis amis de Conrart, e'en Staient done huit sur lesquels Richelieu pouvait compter absolument; la plupart s'etaient deja suffisamment compris & son service. Des trois autres, deux seuls ne pouvaient lui etre acquis. . . . (p. 36). Richelieu etait par consequent certain d'une tres-forte majoritS dans le petit cenacle, et des que Boisrobert lui en eut revel# la composition, il entrevit immediatement quel parti avantageux il pouvait en retirer pour sa politique; en laissant aux amis de Conrart le soin de s'adjoindre des confreres, il etait bien sur qu'on ne les prendrait point parmi ses enneznis. . . (p. 36).

9 On the traditional role of the minister in France at the time of Richelieu, see Chatelain, Le Surintendant N. Foucquet, p. 136; "Depuis que les rods avaient commence de se reposer du soin de 1'Etat sur leurs ministres, ils avaient pour une bonne part abdique ce noble privilege de la royaute; venir en aide aux talents malheureux. Richelieu, Mazarin, Foucquet, corame plus tard Colbert, le recueillirent dans d'inSgales proportions." Also, p. 140; "L'HStel de Rambouillet s'etait ouvert et preparait la fusion de la noblesse de plume et la noblesse d'SpSe." See Chapter 1, p. 39. Also, for a contemporary work on the 28 to Renaudot for the founding of his Gazette de France in 1631 s was one result of the Cardinal * s constant search for new ideas and talents 10 applicable to his overall designs.

As might be expected, opposition to the Academy project came from within the Conrart circle as well as from without. The thought * of Richelieu's interference in the ’’acadSmie,M as it was being called as early as 1630, did not appeal to all of its members, some of whom were probably suspicious of the Cardinal1s motives. The correspondence of Chapelain includes several letters to Balzac and also to Conrart at

JonquiBres, where reference is made to the poor attendance just prior to the signing of patent letters in 1635• The situation was so grave that, Chapelain remarked in August, 163%:

L'Academie est reduite au petit pied; et, si 1 ’influence dure, il y a apparence qu’elle se rSduira a nSants les trois demieres assemblees se sont passees sans rien faire, et, si celle que nous aliens tenir tantot est de meme, il lui faudra changer de nom et 1 1 appeler 1 'Academic des Faineants.H

psychology of the prime minister in France see J. Silhon, Le Ministre d'Etccb (Leyde, l6%3).

^Concerning Richelieu's attitude towards Renaudot, see Chatelain, note 1 of p. 1%1, where the latter quotes from D'Avenel's collection of Lettress instructions diplomatiques et papiers d ’Etat du cardinal de Richelieu (Paris, 1853-1877)$ the following letters: Richelieu to the Marquis de Sourdis, June 9 or 10, 1635 (V, 6l): "La gazette fera son devoir ou Renaudot sera privS de ses pensions dont il a joui jusqu'au present"; and on September 15, 1638 (V, 176), to the Marquis de Chavigny concerning the battle of Genoa: "Je vous prie de mander a Renaudot qu'il n'imprime rien de cette action jusqu'a ce que je lui envoie la relation. J'en ai vu une qui n'est pas bien en ce qu'elle blesse tous les capitaines de nos galBres." He also refers the reader to VI, 13%, regarding this point.

rassage quoted by A. Fabre in Chapelain et nos deux premieres Academies (Paris, 1890), p. 10. For the entire text, see Lettres de 29

From the outside $ the project was being undermined-by. the op­ position of the Paris Parliament, whose members felt that Richelieu was 12 usurping their power. With: the exception of the presidents Pierre

Seguier, parliamentarians were generally wary of the plan and refused to 13 approve the patent letters. With. Seguier1s promotion to the office of

Seal-Bearer, the opposition in the Parliament hardened, and it was not until July 3, 1637, that the Academy's charter was officially ratified.

By that time, the ”docte assembles" had apparently proven.itself harm­ less— the sessions consisted in endless debate and discussion over shades of meaning in words, as the institution persisted in its dic- lU tionary project.

With Richelieu's death in 1642, the future of the French Academy hung in the balance. A new and willing protector was found in the

Chapetain3 originally published by Tamizey de Barrogue (Paris, 1880- l883) , 1 , 74 e , ' - _ -■ — , , . ,

10 ,« Kerviler, Ae Chaneeliev Pievre Siguier3 p. 60.

13 . Ibid.; see pp. 31-33 on the relations between Richelieu and the Paris Parliament.

I h In the Charles Livet edition of Pellisson and d'Olivet's Eistoi?e de 1 *Academie Franqaise (Paris, 1858), I, the following account of a typical session of the Academy during this period is related: "On voulait examiner un mot, et de ce mot on passe & la chose dont il presente 1'idee. Une question de grammaire devient insensiblement une question de critique, ou d'histoire, ou de physique. Deux heures alors sont bien courtes, dans une assemblee de gens qui ont 1 'esprit fecond et ome . " (p. 36) A vivid satire of such meetings can be found in La Comedie des Academistess believed to be the work of Saint-Evremond. Cureau is not included in the parody, however. 30 person of Pierre Seguier, now Chancellor of France, who was heartily

supported for the office by his faithful proteges„ The meeting place of .15 the organization, which had varied throughout its seven-year existence* was now fixed at Seguier's hotel, rue de Crenelle. Seguier remained protector of the Academy until his death in 1672, at which time

Louis XIV assumed the honor. These thirty years, according to Kerviler,

"resterent dens la memoirs des academicians, comme une periods libre et calme de leur histoire: il arriva deux ou trois fois, que 1'Academic sollicitee, laissa pent-'et re un pen dieter ses choix, mais jamais un acte de despotisme ne troubla la bonne entente.”^ ,

It is interesting to follow the career of Cureau during the early years of the Academy's shaky existence, for he seems to have played a rather preponderant role in determining its political direc­ tives. He is recorded as having first attended a meeting on January 2,

1635, after being elected to the 36th chair. At this time a drawing was held, and each member asked to present a lecture on a subject of his choice. Cureau's topic, "Que les Frangois sont les plus capables de tous les peuples, de la perfection de 1'eloquencewas delivered at the meeting held on March 19 of that same year, and it was this theme that was to become the basis for the famous preface to his treatise on diges­ tion, which we examined in the previous chapter.

■^See Fab re, Chapelain et nos deux iprerrri'&pes Acad&rties3 pp. 84-85, for the reproduction of a table showing the various places where the Academy held its meetings between 1629 and 1673.

l6 Kerviler, Le Chanceliev Pierre S&guier3 p. 151. 31

The.subject of this lecture is:central to.Cureau's-works, since the vieu he upholds "with regard to the eloquence of the French.people is derived from the medical theory of temperaments, an aspect of the more general astrological teaching that climate.plays a significant role in the shaping of national character. By geographical location, the

French come the closest to the ninth or ideal temperament of.perfect proportion in the distribution of the four bodily humors--blood, phlegm, choler, and melancholy. Graced with a nearly perfect physical disposi­ tion, the French nation thus harbors potential for making the greatest contribution to the arts and political sciences, the proper exercise of which requires, humoral equilibrium. We find the major themes of this text elaborated,in all of La Chambre's works, but most particularly in

L'Art de oonnoistre les Hormes, where he sets forth the methodology according to which the divination of character may be practiced by trained individuals.

Although Cureau did a great.deal to popularize these theories in France, he was by no means the first doctor to apply them to the context of organizing a political state. A similar project had already been outlined by the Spanish physician from Baeza, Dr. Juan Huarte de

San Juan,as early as 1575, in his controversial book Et Exarnen de tos ingenios. According to Gabriel Perouse, author of a recent study of

Huarte's ideas and their importance in the shaping of seventeenth- and -17 eighteenth-century French thought,. ' "L!Anaerise de I'Espagnol” as it

17 "L 'Examen des Esprits" du Doetew? Juan Huarte de San Juan: Sa diffusion et son influence en "Franoe aux XVIe et XVlie si'&cles 32 was called.in France, quickly became a.modern classic in Parisian in­ tellectual circles. : While there are important differences, "between

Huarte's conception of “temperament" and La Chambre’s theory of the

"soul," as we shall see in Part II, the two doctors agreed on the need for an "art of knowing men" in the organization of the state and the filling of its offices. Juan Huarte's misfortune was to have introduced these revolutionary ideas in an atmosphere of intellectual repression and rigid Catholicism;"1" La Chambre found a much more favorable market for his plans in Richelieu and Louis XIII, who in 1635 listened intently to the utopie rhetoric of Tommaso Campaaella for the establishment of a

City of the Sun in Paris. There is no doubt that the designs for build­ ing a great nation were real at that time— Campanella lived to proclaim the birth of the dauphin and to hail him as the future Sun King!

(Paris, 1970). As Perouse points out, the importance of Huarte is not in his having discovered anything new. Like La Chambre, he was a faith­ ful student of the Masters of medical and philosophical tradition who saw in the theory of temperaments an as yet untapped application to intellectual life. Among the authors of the Renaissance who inspired them both in this direction is Jerome Cardano and his analysis of the traditional theory of climates— a theory which was revived in French thought by Montaigne and his faithful disciple and commentator Charron, in De la sagesse (see I, 320-33).

■ 18 Huarte's Examen knew eight years of wide circulation in Portugal and Spain before it was placed on the Index" in both countries, in 1581 and 1583 respectively. The Baezan physician envisioned the organization of a state-wide educational program which would train individuals according to their temperamental dispositions. However, in Spain the decline of international power and influence was prefigured in the suppression of all free thought, and the expulsion in 1609 of all Jews was but the culmination of a movement away from intelleetualism begun at the end of the fifteenth century. 33

While La Chambre’s hopes for making France "une Academie, oii I1 on verra encore revenir tons les peuples de 1 'Europe, pour apprendre des Lettres” (Pref. Dig*; Epttv@ss p. 2kl) was supported by a large faction of the intellectual community, there were many who feared the dissolution of European cosmopolitanism that Latin had fostered among different countries. Hence, certain people expressed their op­ position. to the overall design in attacks directed against the use of the common language for scientific discourse. The lawyer, Jean Belot, for example, reacted to La Chambre's preface by publishing an apology for the Latin language in which he protests the physician's effort to extend the use of French to all areas.^ The noted grammarian. Menage, also took issue with La Chambre in his Requete des diatiormcdveSy in which the former reviews the Belot-La Chambre controversy in the form of an epigram addressed to the French Academy:

. . . Un de vos plus grands partisans, Afin de nous faire injustice, Et par belle et pure malice, Auroit de son autorite Dans 1 'avant-propos d'un traitS Qu'il fait suivant son caprice De la faeultS coneoctrice [digestive] (Mais qui par ses obscuritSs Cause au lecteur des crudites) Banni de notre royaume Du latin le doete idiome, - Comma langage du pedant. . . .20

19 <*• Jean Belot, kgotogie de la longue latine eonlre la preface de AT de la Chambre en son Livre desnNouoeUes Conjectures de la Digestion" ('Pa.vis, 1637) °

PO e Quoted by Kerviler, Revue du Mazne, II, 51-52, from Menagiana* 34

Despite the opposition and satirical criticism, Cureau remained un­

daunted in his use of French;'however, in 1655s he did publish:a com­

mentary on Aristotle and Hippocrates, written in Latin, probably in­

tended to demonstrate to his critics that he was in fact capable of ex­

pressing himself in "le docte idiome" if he so desired.

Richelieu's confidence in the abilities and loyalties of

Cureau is borne out by the fact that he made a request for the now

well established academician to prepare an answer.to Charles Hersant,

canon of the church at Metz, who had accused, the Cardinal of harboring

secret designs for becoming patriarch of France. This accusation was based in part on Richelieu's condonation of a pamphlet entitled

"Libertes de 1 'Eglise gallicane," which had recently been, placed.on the

Index. In answer to Hersant's Optccti GaVLi- de cccoendo schismate3 Cureau

riposted with Les Observations de Philat&the sur ten libette intituZ$

U0ptatus Gatlus" (l6k0), in which he attempts to show that the freedoms

exercised by the Gallican Church are as old as the Church.itself; only

in recent times had ruthless clergy assumed an authority for themselves

that was neither sanctioned by the Scriptures nor intended in the creeds

concluded at ecumenical councils. La.Chambre accuses Hersant of an

ignorance with regard to Church tradition, and it is this ignorance

which makes it possible for him to. question the religious ethics of

Richelieu. There is no doubt that "Philalethe's” rebuttal is sound—

however, it is not clear that La Chambre really believed the Cardinal's motivations to be completely devoid of personal ambition. In any.event,

the physician astutely fulfills his assignment to defend.the Cardinal ... 35 by presenting valid grounds for his right to exert certain liberties as head of the Gallican Church without actually confronting Hersant’s doubts regarding Richelieu's intimate designs and aspirations.

After the death of Richelieu whose eulogy La Chambre was to \ have delivered at the December 9 $ 16U2 meeting of the Academyg a new protector had to be chosen for the illustrious company. Among those recommended for the honor were Seguiers Mazarin s and the Duke of

Enghien (Conde). La Chambre and other academicians housed by SSguier strongly endorsed the candidature of their patron, who was finally chosen to fill the vacancy. A few years later, we find La Chambre working again behind the scenes to insure Seguier*s authority: recogniz­ ing the danger of partisan politics within the Academy, the physician successfully engineered the adoption of a resolution requiring the ap­ proval of the protector before a candidate could be considered for 21 membership.

While managing to secure Siguier's control over the admission of new academicians, Cureau's own power within the organization was enhanced by a series of fortuitous events. In 1658, through a drawing of lots, the physician became director of the Academy. The usual tenure 22 of this office was quite short; however, Cureau's period of service

^Pellisson e t d ’Olivet, ed. by Ch. Li vet, Histoire de Z tAaad$mi.e Fr-anqaiseg 1, 150-51.

22 The French Academy chose four officers from among its ranks, two of which— the director fd-ireotenri and the chancellor (ehanceli.er)-- were selected by a drawing of lots to serve for two-month intervals. Pellisson and D'Olivet have noted, however, that on certain occasions 36

is well remembered by the company because it was in March of 1658 that

the illustrious assembly received Christine of Sweden— a great admirer

of Descartes— at one of its meetings. According to Patru’s account of

this session, Cureau, acting in his official capacity as director,

gallantly received and entertained the queen by reading her the first '

chapter of his Traiti de la Doulewps the most recent installment to his

Charaot&res dea Passions* Evidently she was favorably impressed, for when La Chambre offered to stop reading after the first chapter, she

entreated him to continue, responding to the author's suggestion that

she might be bored; "Point du tout , ear je m 6imagine que le reste 23 ressemble & ce que vous venes de lire."

Letters in Cureau's correspondence attest to his ongoing associa­ tion with the intellectually curious Swedish queen; addressing himself

' to Christine through her first physician— his longtime friend, Bourdelot

the term could be extended by consent of the assembly. The two re­ maining officers— the secretary (secretaire) and the librarian (iibraire) were life-time positions— -the first was elected by suffrage, the second was appointed and could be replaced upon improper execution of his duties. The chancellor served as the keeper of the seals and the offi­ cial transactor of company business. The director1s function was to preside at the meetings and to maintain order "comme il se doit entre personnes ega3.esas the Statutes of the Academy read. These two offi­ cers could substitute for one another if the occasion or circumstances demanded. The secretary was in charge of maintaining the register, signing all acts and storing the titles and official papers of the Academy, in addition to carrying out all formal correspondence. The librarian was expected to attend all meetings and to be available for receipt of orders from the assembly for the printing and publication of works reviewed at the meetings.

23 Pellisson and D'Olivet, ed. Ch. Livet, Histoive de I *Academic Franqaises II, U50-5U. 37

(the M. B.D.M. of his Discours sur lee Pvincipes de la Chiromanae et 2k de la Mitoposcopie) — he continued to send copies of his works to

Sweden, where they were discussed in the intellectual circles pf that

country.2'’

Cureau's directorship also witnessed an important contact be­

tween the French Academy and the "Messieurs" of Port-Royal on a ques­

tion having to do with proper usage of French grammar. In a letter

from Amauld to Madame de Sable cited by Sainte-Beuve in Book III of

his Port-Royal3 Cureau is singled out as an authority in matters per­

taining to the French language, even though Arnauld's reaction to the 26 company's considerations is one of undisguised disappointment.

2^See Letter VI, La Cambre to Bourdelot, in Epttress pp. 69-72.

^Ibid., p. 71. . .

26 The context of Arnauld's remarks pertaining to La Chambre is as follows: "On ne peut rien voir de plus obligeant que la rSponse de 1 1Academic; mais comme vous auriez sujet de trouver mauvais que je ne vous parlasse pas avec toute sorte de sincerite, je vous dirai franchement que j'attendois quelque chose davantage d'une si celebre Compagnie: car, des cinq questions qui leur avoient ete proposees, n'y ayant que la derniere qui regarde la Grammaire frangoise en particu­ ller , & les quatre premieres regardant la Grammaire generale, & etant du nombre de celles que M. de La Chambre avoue ne se pouvoir bien resoudre que par les plus hautes meditations de la philosophic, il eut ete a desirer qu'ils s'y fussent plutot appliques qu'a la derniere, qu'ils pouvoient avec plus de raison remettre a la Grammaire frangoise que les premieres, puisqu'on n'a pas accoutume de trailer dans les Grammarres particulieres ce qui est commun a toutes les langues. Peut- "etre que ces Messieurs ont cru que les demandes qu'on leur faisoit sur la nature du vevbe3 du velatif, de l'infinitif3 etc., n savoient point de difficulties considerables, & que taut d'habiles gens, comme entre autres Scaliger le pere,ayant fait des livres entiers pour expliquer ces choses selon les principes de la philosophie, & d'une maniere plus re levee que le commun des grammairiens, il n'y avoit point d'apparence 38

By all accounts, La Chambre's participation in the French

Academy was an important factor in establishing his reputation abroad

as a loyal patriot and champion of French letters. In terms of the

author's personal career, however, the Academy did very little to dif-

fuse his ideas,.mong the French lettered public. Whether because of jealousies regarding the selection of new members, nepotism (a sin of 27 which La Chambre1s family was quite guilty), or because of the rather pompous and pedantic nature of the company's activities, the young Aca­ demy was often ridiculed by libertine thinkers who mocked its endless, qu'elles e us sent besoin d'une nouvelle explication. Mais vous saurez, Madame [de SablS], que c'est particulierement ce que je desirois savoir s'ils Stoient dans ce sentiment? Car je vous avoue que j'en suis fort Sloigne, & que tout ce que disent les livres sur ces quatre questions ne me satisfait en aucune sorte; & comme il m'est venu quelques pensees sur ce sujet, j'en aurois fait plus d'estime si elles s'etoient trouvees conformes a celles de ces Messieurs, Apres tout, Madame, ce seroit bien mal reconnoitre 1 'obligation que nous leur avons de I 1instruction qu'ils nous ont donnee, que de nous arreter a faire des plaintes de ce qu'ils n' ont pas juge nous en devoir donner d'autres. La maniere dont ils ont resolu la question qui regardoit parti culierement la Langue frangoise temoigne une si exacte recherche de toutes les fagons de parler de notre Langue, qu'il n'y a rien de parfait & d'achevS qu'on ne doive attendre de cette Compagnie, si elle donne au public, comme on nous le fait esperer, ses mediatations & ses remarques. Vous voulez bien neanmoins, Madame, que je vous propose quelques petits doutes.. ( Sainte-Beuve$ PoTt-Royals ed. R.-L. Doyon and Ch. Marchesne, Paris, 1927, V, 68. The letter is from Arnauld to Madame de Sable and is dated 21 Nov. 1969°)

27 In Charles Perrault's Mimoires^ the following account appears with regard to his election to the Academy; "M. Colbert m'ayant demandS des nouvelles de 1 'AcadSmie frangoise dans la pensee qu'il avoit que j'en etois, je lui repondis que je n'en savois point, n 'ayant pas 1 'honneur d'etre de cette Compagnie. II parut etonnS et me dit qu'il falloit que j'en fusse. . . . Peu de temps apres, M. Boileau, frere de M. Despreaux, vint a mourir, tons les Academicians a qui j'en parlai ou fis parler, me prominent leur voix et me dirent qu'il falloit avoir 1'agrement de M. le Chancelier. L'itant alle trouver a Saint-Germain-en-Laye, il me dit qu'il avoit promis la place que je lui demandois a M1116 la marquise de Quiche, sa fille, pour M, 1'abbe de 39 28 seemingly fruitless debates. Thus» while La Chambre1s membership in

the group may have helped in transmitting his ideas outside Frances in

Paris, an author1s acclamation was not assured until he passed by the

censure of the major salons and "ruelles” of the city,

Cureau at the "Palais de Solon" .

Pierre Seguier* s role as a patron of the arts has been vastly

overlooked. The only in-depth biography we have of this man is the one by

Maine historian BenS Kerviler, Le Chancel'Ler' Pierre S&guiev, written well

before the turn of the century = Nonwithstanding its undeniable impor­

tance as a primary source of documentation, this study lacks a critical

approach. As Roland Mousnier points out, the style is more hagiographies!

than critical.^ The former ’’Fonds Saint-Germain” now housed in the

Montigny; mais qu'il me donneroit son agrement avec plaisir pour la premiere qu’il vaqueroit. A quelques mois de la, M. de La Chambre, medecin tres-cilebre et de I ’Academie frangoise, vint a mourir; toute I’Academie rSsolut de me nommer eL sa place; mais M. Colbert me dit que je n'y songeasse pas, parce que M. de La Chambre, medecin et fils du defunt, lui en avoit parle pour son frere, cure de Saint-Barthelemy. Je n ’y songeai plus, et il fallut solliciter puissamment presque tous ceux de la Compagnie qui me vouloient nommer, de ne rien faire, en leur representant de quelle consequence il seroit, qu’a mon occasion, 1 ’intention de M. Col- - bert ne fut pas exScutee. M. de La Chambre fut done elu et j1 attend!s encore. Le procSdS de I ’Academie dont j’ltois fort content, deplut tellement a mes freres, et ils me fatiguerent si fort la-dessus, que je laissai passer MM. Regnier et Quinault et plusieurs autres| mais enfin M. 1 ’abbe de Montigny, eve que de Leon, St ant mort, I ’Academie me nomma sans que je fisse aucune sollicitation. (In Pellisson et D ’Olivet, His to ire de I 'Aoademie Franqaise, n , ed. by Ch. Li vet, U62-463.)

^%ee infra> note 14.

2^Roland Mousnier, Lettves et mimoives odressis ecu ehaneelier Pierre Seguier (1632-1649)s Paris, 196%, I, 26. Bibliotheque Rationale» is comprised, of forty-six volumes, all part of the Seguier collection. However> an appreciable part of this collection disappeared at the time of the French Revolution and is scattered in libraries of other countries. For example, the most important volumes constitute what has become known as the '’Fonds Doubrovskys" and can only be consulted in Leningrad. Ho duplication of materials is permitted, making the task very difficult for foreign scholars. Mousnier has at­ tempted to piece together notes taken from these manuscripts in the

Soviet Union, and much of the correspondence seems to involve requests for the acquisition of hew library materials, a project for which

SSguier had his own special staff of bargainers. For the present, how­ ever , our conception of the Seguier hotel must be based on contemporary observation and opinion, with the further reservation that Seguier him­ self might have destroyed any material deemed potentially injurious to 31 his king and his government.

We have already alluded to the library of Seguier, so vast that it rivaled the royal library and Mazarin1s personal collection. Both

Seguier and Mazarin opened their doors to researchers, rich and poor alike, as indicated in this ’’Rymaille sur les plus celebres bibliothieres de Paris, "by Gyrouargue Simpliste:

^ I b i d *j p. 26.

31 Kerviler notes in Le Chanceli-ez* Pierre Stguier that Siguier's father is known to have destroyed material to rally support for Henry IV. Thus, there exists a strong family tradition of loyalty to the monarchy and a precedent for destroying material to protect it. See pp. 6ff. kl

La Bibliotheque royale Pour tout le monde est doctrinale, A cells de Seguier ehaacelier Pauvre et riche y vont etudier =, Tons studieux out un znagasin Chez le cardinal Mazarin.32

The Siguier collection was, of course, at the ready disposal of his personal staff which may have been engaged in some sort of project 33 concerning.the rites and practices of ancient civilizations. Siguier had a profound love for history, and his pet interest, according to

Kerviler, was theology. He lavished the fortunes of his family— one of the oldest in France— on acquisitions and as a result, is said to have 3^ died a poorer man than he was born. Knowing this much about Siguierfs tastes, and adding this information to what we have said about Cureau1 s relationship with him, we can guess that the ambience of his hotel was one of study and serious conversation, where Seguier6s will became the obligation of his proteges.

Cureau would obviously have made a variety of contacts among the household staff: Daniel de Priezae (professor-lawyer), Jean Balledaas

(lawyer), Germain Habert, abb! de Clrisy (a poet), and Faul-Philippe de

Chaumont (a bishop). However, there are two people associated with

32 Paris, 1649, une feuille in quarto. Kerviler has reproduced the text in Le Chancetier Pierre S&guier on p. 158.

^See Chapter 1, p. 10.

34 Letter of Madame de Slvigne, ed. Grouvelle, sterSot„, II, 392$ "Lettre a Mme de Grignan (Feb. 3, 1672). Quoted by Kerviler, Le Chancetier Pierre S$guier3 p. 144. k2

Siguier’s hotel who are of particular interest to our purposes here:

Jacques Esprit, future author of La Faussete des Vevtus humaines and one of the Jansenist habitues of the Marquise de Sable's salon, and the famous painter-decorator Charles Lebrun, who founded the French Academy of Painting. Both of these men reflect attitudes in their works similar to those defended by Cureau in Les Charaat^res de Passions^ and may well have been influenced in the directions they pursued in later life by conversations with the wise doctor.

Jacques Esprit resided at the Hotel Seguier from 1 6 3 6 to 164U, when he was obliged to leave over a matter involving the secret marriage of Siguier's daughter. During this time, he frequented both the

Hotels of Rambouillet and Lianeourt, and it was at Li an court in partic­ ular that Father Rapin reports his having introduced Jansenist ideas.^ Later on, he became one of the most ardent defenders of "la doctrine de Port-Royal," and a faithful guest at both the salons of

Mesdames De Longueville and De Sable, where he was highly regarded by

La Rochefoucauld. We know that Cureau spent time at Rambouillet as well as at Port-Royal, and certainly must have engaged in conversations with

Esprit and La Rochefoucauld at several points in their respective careers, though we find no correspondence between Cureau and the author of Les Maximes. The importance accorded to theories of man based on medical observations seems to have increased over the years as doctors attached to important men became familiar figures in the intellectual

"^Kerviler, Le Chaneelie? Pierre Siguiers p. 518. 43

circles of Paris, and many of the ideas regarding the passions developed

in works like Lea CharaciSres des Passions^ appear in the mature writ­

ings of both Esprit and La Rochefoucauld (see chapter 8 ).

Even more striking than the possible literary expression of

these ideas, and easier to trace with regard to La Cham.bre *s .thought, is

the ongoing association he had with the master of French neo-Classical

style, Charles' Lebrun. The extreme difference in their ages to­

gether with the circumstances of their respective intellectual contacts makes it likely that any "influence" went from the older La Chambre to

the bright young boy of thirteen who presented the president of the

Paris Parliament, Pierre Seguierwith a pen sketch of the famous paint­

ing of Louis XIII on horseback in 1632. So impressed was Seguier with

the promise of Lebrun * s precocious talent that he immediately granted

him a pension to study in Rome, and offered him residence in the Rue de

Crenelle hotel when in Paris. Lebrun remained in close association

with Seguier over the years, particularly after 1648 when the Chancellor

was named protector of the newly formed Academy of Painting and Sculpture,

and Lebrun succeeded through a drawing of lots in becoming one of the

twelve "anciens" or masters.

According to C..H. Stranahan in A History of French Painting from its Earliest to its Latest Practicey Including an Account of the French Academy of Painting3 its Salonss Schools of Instruction and Regulation (New York, 1888), Lebrun’s virtual dictatorship at the Academy was prompted by his reputation at the Court. There were twelve "anciens" named at the time of its founding, who took turns each month in giving instructions to students. Prior to 1655$ when these "anciens" were renamed "professeurs," they also took tri-monthly turns as "Rector," whose duties included the direction of the opening of exhibitions and w

At the Academy, Lebrun quickly became a predominant figure.

Engaged by Foucquet, and then by Louis XIV for the designing of their respective palaces at LeVaux and Versailles, the neo-Classical style became the model to which aspiring artists tried to conform. By 1655, when a regulation in the Academy's statutes named all twelve of the

"anciens" professors, Lebrun had established himself as an authority on the proper manner of expressing various passions. In addition to his artistic production, Lebrun wrote a book on the method of painting designed for the beginner, and delivered several conferences on the art of portraying emotion. The texts of several such conferences are con­ served in the Bibliotheque des Beaux-Arts under the rubric "Conferences sur 1'expression des differents characteres des passions" along with another treatise on physiognomy where "les rapports de la physique de

I'homme avec celle des animaux" are examined. The content of these works proves to be as revealing as their titles: Cureau had to be a 37 source of inspiration for the painter's methodology, just as Descartes' theory of the pineal gland formed the basis of his psychophysiology.

giving bi-monthly lectures comparing the various works. The Academy also included professors of both anatomy and geometry in its corps of instruction, whose lectures supplemented the supervision of the "anciens" in the student workshop on nude models.

37Chatelain underlines the kinship between the theories of La Chambre and Lebrun in connection with Foucquet's sculptor at LeVaux, Anguier. Speaking about the letter's conferences at the Academy around 1670, he writes: "Analyse-t-il [Anguier] les signes caracteristiques de la colere, enumere-t-il les differents types de gens emportes, vous diriez une page du Tva/it& des Pass-ions de Lebrun ou un chapitre de t ’Art de oonno^tre les hormes." (p. 420) In the literary salons of Madame de Rambouillet and Mademoiselle de Scudery

It is quite possible that Denisot or Bouvard introduced La

Chambre to SSguier or to Richelieu in the "chambre bleue” of "la divine

ArthSnice5" the fashionable literary salon whose prerequisite for entry was wit and intelligence, not blue blood lines. In any case, after his installation at the Hotel Seguier, Cureau was a familiar guest at the

Hotel de Rambouillet, and it was probably here that he made the acquain­ tance of some of the most brilliant figures in Parisian society, many of whom he would find again in later years at the reunions of Madame de 38 Sable at Port-Royal, frequented, by many "prScieux sur le retour"in the Marais residence of Madeleine de Scudery; or at the "femme savante,"

Madame de La Sabliere’s. The Rambouillet salon served as a sort of stepping stone for Cureau, who quickly earned himself the reputation as a doctor qualified not only in matters, relating to medicine, but also as an astute judge of character. Assuming the success Of his treatise on L ’arnow? d*inclination, which had the additional backing of his medi­ cal knowledge, it seems likely that Cureau acted as a kind of consultant to the lovelorn in affairs of the heart. This possibility is borne out by the "roman precieux" of one of his compatriots, Roland Le Vayer de

Boutigny, who published the adventures of his Tansis et Z&lie in 1665*

In this four-volume work,. Cureau appears as the wise old "medecin des

H. Ivan off, La Marquise de Sable etsonSalon (Paris, 1927), p. 89. 46 39 . corps et des times" bearing the symbolic name of Eras-istrate^ who helps

the hero Tarsis to win the hand of Zelie after the typical long series

of trials and tribulations. As Kerviler points out:

TaTsis n'est autre que 1 1 auteur lui-mSme; et son but • est surtout de raeonter I ’histoire de ses longues amours avec Marguerite Sevin, fille du lieutenant general de Beaumont, qu'il epousa enfin le 16 fevrier 1659 apres sept ans d ’attente, a I'exemple de Montausier qui avait soupire douze ans dans les salons de 1 1hStel de Rambouillet aux pieds de la belle Julie d'Agennes avant d'obtenir sa main.^O

After the Fronde, the Hotel de Rambouillet began to give way to

new salons, most of which seemed more specifically inclined either

towards literature or towards science and philosophy. The "prScieux"

tradition begun at Rambouillet was continued and perfected in one of the

noted bourgeois salons centered around Mile de Scudery. Here, idealis­

tic and romanesque sentiments, stylized conversation, and euphemism were

cultivated to the point of absurdity, probably not unlike in Moliere's

Les Pr-ieieuses V'tdioules. Cureau attended the Saturday reunions of this

society in "Sapho's" Marais hotel, along with some of his fellow acade­

micians— Conrart, Chape lain, Godeau— , where he was probably known by the

30 Epas%stvatos; a Greek physician believed to have been de­ scended from Aristotle through the letter’s daughter; renowned for his theory of pneuma which anticipated the discovery of blood circulation. He regarded health as controllable through maintenance of proper levels of these pneuma^ or air-like spirits, in the arteries, and believed that diseases are idiosyncratic disorders that affect individuals differently. During the latter part of his life, he was particularly interested in brain anatomy and physiology.

^Kerviler, p. l6l. 47 pseudonym "Philalethe adopted at the time when he wrote his obser­ vations on Hers ant !s Opiatus Gallus* Judging by his writing style s

Cureau was by no means exempt from the hyperbolic expression of the

'‘prScieux"; the gallantry of his letters to Mile de Scudery match the prose of Sapho and the poetry of Voiture. In fact, it was Cureau1 s convoluted, often extravagant style which had earned him the epithet of "le beau tSnSbreux" in the eyes of Samuel-Joseph SorbiBre. Though the "precieux” spirit may have affected his manner of writing, for the phllosophically minded who overlooked the stylistic difficulties^

Cureau1s theory on the passions and the "art of knowing men" which 43 it implied, could hardly be dismissed as a "perpetuel galimathias" . or as a mere "jeu de salon." The most important discussions involving the far-reaching aspects of Cureau1s thought probably did not take place either at the Hotel de Rambouillet or in Mile de ScudSry‘s salon of

"precieux ridicules." The philosophical and scientific circles of "les femmes savantes" provided a much more propitious setting for such con­ versation.

^hLlat&the: In his Mimoires pour s e w i r ct I 'histoire de la Faculty de M&deeine due Montpetli,er3 Astruc identifies him as "I’aneien medecin de Marseille, qui vivait sous Tibere & que Galien a beaucoup vante. II foumissait la base et le texte des legons." See Astruc, preface, ix.

^Lettres et diseours de if de Sorbv&re svr diversee mati^res (Paris, l66o)$ p. 77«

k3Ibid., p. 78. The philosophical arid scientific reunions

At Madame de Sable’s. Various attempts have been made to piece together the activities of the curious group that gathered regularly lik at the Marquise de Sable’s Port-Royal residence. Victor Cousin,

Edouard de BarthSleiny and most recently Nicolas Ivanoff^ have suc­ ceeded in giving us an interesting and provocative picture of this salon largely through careful readings of the notebooks of a certain

Dooteia* Vallant3 who functioned as a sort of perpetual secretary at the meetings. In these famous portfolios (now housed in the Depart­ ment of Manuscripts at the Bibliotheque Nationals in Parish) one finds letters exchanged between many of the regular guests, recipes for remedies and medication for emotional disorders such as melancholia, and parts of various published works including several of the Pensees of Pascal as they were originally presented to the assembly. Among the ardent participants at these gatherings were several Jansenists:. Arnauld,

Jacques Esprit, and Madame de SablS herself, who upon conversion to the

UU V. Cousin, Madame de Sablt: Nouvelles Etudes sur les fermes illustres et la 80ci&t& du XVIIe sieale (Paris, 1859). k5 . . E. De Barthelemy, Les Amis de la Marquise de Sab: Eeeueil de lettres des prineipaux habitues de son salon (Paris, 1865).

^N. Ivanoff, La Marquise de Sabl& et son Salon (Paris, 1927). h ’j 'The text of the manuscript also is appended to P.-E. Le Maguet’s Le Monde m&dieal parisien sous le Grand Roi (Paris, 1899). 49 new faith, retired.from worldly life, and took an apartment adjoining the Port-Royal convent in Paris.. However, the company was not restricted to this religious group; La Rochefoucauld, Cureau de La Chambre, and two other doctors of Madame de Sable— La Mesnardiere and Antoine Menjot, were also regular guests at the Marquise’s salon, along with Jesuits,

Calvinists, poets, and several cultivated, men of the period like the

Epicurean bon-vivant Saint-Evremond and the bel esprit and friend of

Pascal, Le Chevalier de Mere.^

Before turning our attention to Cureau in particular, it will be helpful to consider for a moment the rather unique character of this salon, totally different in atmosphere from the literary reunions of

Rambouillet and Scudery. At the Marquise de Sable’s, the ”Carte du

Tendre" was replaced by a taste for moral reflection and psychological observation cast in the form of maxims perfected by the efforts of the group. According to Nicolas Ivanoff, the proceedings were as follows:

La docte assembles s ’erigeait en une sorte de tribunal. Quelqu'un des invitSs mettait sur le tapis une question qu'il puisait soit dans sa propre experience, soit dans ses lectures [Note: "Ainsi La Rochefoucauld consuitait la ’Sonde de la Conscience’ de Daniel Dyke et Mme de Sable mettait a contribution ’L’oraculo manual’ de Baltasar Grecian]. Les autres s 'ingeniaient a la discuter. Les opinions qui avaient plu, qui avaient regu 1'agrement de 1 ’assembles etaient notees par m secretaire.49

I18 Ivanoff, p. 89.

^ I b i d ., p. 130. At least four of the regular participants in the salon published

maxims or pensees coined at these sessions, the most famous, of course, SO being the Maximes of La Rochefoucauld and the Pens$es of Pascal.' The

11 authors” were not jealous of their work; in fact. La Rochefoucauld ad­

mits having frequently submitted some of his manuscripts to the scrutiny

of Jacques Esprit , and he often solicited the opinion of Madame de SablS who, in the words of the famous scandal sheet chronicler Tallemant des

Beaux, ”ne sgaurait souffrir ni relation ni histoire; il ne lui faut que 51 des dissertations.

It is interesting to compare the works of the various well-known

authors involved in the activities of this salon. Out of the discus­

sions that took place, there developed a theory on man’s nature that was

held in common by the group and, thus, constituted the underlying atti­

tude of individual works. However, each author arrived at conclusions

suiting his outlook on life and challenged the views of others in polite

conversation. Pascal, for example, would not have hesitated to endorse

some of the most pessimistic observations coined in the maxims of La

Rochefoucauld. But for Pascal, all evidence of the viciousness of human nature only strengthened the Christian argument in support of man’s need

for divine grace; whereas, for La Rochefoucauld, religious absolutes did not preoccupy him. Madame de Sable also shared many of La Rochefoucauld’s

^Published collections include Madame de SablS’s Maxims and Amauld d’Ailly’s Pens$ess bound together in one volume by D ’Ailly in 1678 following the death of Madame de Sable.

'tallemant Des Reaux, Bistoxieitess III, 137. views on false virtue, "but always defended the possibility for friend­

ship based on mutual admiration and respect;" La Rochefoucauld regarded

friendship as an exchange of interests from which both parties profited

equally. In short, the tacit policy of the group seems to have been

live and let live inasmuch as each person’s morality was to be considered

in relation to age, temperament, and experience. The important thing

was to be able to maintain a dialogue with others in view of reaching

an agreement on some sort of a social order which could accommodate

human nature in general without short-circuiting and stifling the need

for individuality.

At the core of this view of man is an idea which transcends the

diversity of conclusions reached from any single vantage point: the

psychologico-medical theory of temperaments and.humors. Letters and manuscripts of other kinds left in the portfolios of Valiant indeed bear witness to the avid interest in medical thought and opinion. Madame de

Sabl6, for one, wrote a discourse against doctors in which she deplores

the traditional cure of blood-letting. She is also known to have col­

lected recipes for concoctions like "potable gold," "philosophical salt,"

and "snake powder," many of which are recorded in Valiant’s notebooks.^

As legend would have it, she was living testimony to the success of

these potions, andmaintained her youthful appearance at an advanced

age. She enjoyed distributing samples of her famous snake powder among

^Ivanoff, p. 113. 52

her friends who shared her taste for strange home-made remedies as well 53 as for flavorful candies and jellies.

Interest in medicine and criticism of practices such as blood­

letting were not by any means unique to the salon of the Marquise de Sabi#. •

Boileau, Moliere, and Madame de Sevigne who adored medicine but ridiculed

doctors, to name only the most "well-known critics, made fun of the pro­

fession as it shared in the growing pains of scientifically-based arts

in the process of breaking away from astrological doctrines* What is im­

portant, however, and probably peculiar to the salon of Madame de Sable,

is that medical thought became the motivation for an inquiry into human

behavior, leaving the problem of morality up to personal discretion.

A number of letters written by Madame de Sabi# along with several

remarks noted in the portfolios of Valiant and in the papers of Valentin

.Conrart indicate that Cureau was a frequent and. esteemed guest at the .

Port-Royal, salon. Along with other physicians in regular attendance

there, he undoubtedly shared in the coining of maxims, an amusement for

which Hippocrates* aphorisms provided an excellent model.

Though the Marquise opened her Port-Royal salon to her friends

early in the 1650*5 , the important period of the group's existence did

not come until somewhat later. Between 1658 and 1662 were the

golden years when vigorous apologists for the Jansenist cause such as

Le Grand Arnauld and Jacques Esprit presented their controversial ideas

•^Ivanoff, p. 121.

■^Le Haguet, p. 216 53 in an atmosphere of serious-minded conversation and lively debate. Dur­ ing this period of intense activity, it is unlikely that Pascal was physically in attendance since by 165U, if not before, his health had 55 deteriorated to the point where he was confined to his quarters. How- f ' ever, he continued to maintain contact with the group, frequently sub­ mitting his "thoughts" to their weekly assemblies for criticism and commentary.

It is not surprising that this group soon fell under the watch­ ful eye of Cardinal Mazarin whose attention was constantly fixed on potentially subversive gatherings of aristocrats unsympathetic to the monarchy during the Fronde as well as on radical religionists. As he noted in his personal Caxmetti:

Madame de Longueville est tres liee avec la marquise de Sable. Dans la maison de Madame de Sable viennent con- tinuellement d'Andilly, la princesse de Guemenee, d'Enghien et sa soeur, Nemours et beaucoup d'autres. On y parle tres librement de tout le monde. II faut ,-g avoir quelqu'un qui avertisse de tout ce qui se passera.

In a letter to Mazarin dated 1658, Cureau alludes to his regular visits with the Cardinal, although there is no mention of anyone connected with

In his biography entitled Pascal: The Life of Genius (1937)» Morris Bishop restricts the worldly period of Pascal to the years be­ tween 1649 and 1654, although he notes that many other students of Pascal's life believe Pascal was forced to retire from active circula­ tion as early as 1652. See p. 135.

r6 Z1 Quoted by Roger Picard, Les Salons litt&raives et la spci&t& franqaise: 1610-1789 1943), p. 109, no date or reference given. For extensive treatment of the problem of Mazarin*s relations with the Jansenists, see P. Jansen, Le Cardinal Mazarin et le mouvement jans&niste franqais (Paris, 1967). - 54 . ^ 57 the Marquise de Sable's salon. Since - he was such.a close associate to the court personnel, it seems likely that his appearances,in this salon might have had some political overtones. On the other hand, he might have also served the interests of the Marquise's friends by.convincing

Mazarin that their activities were not subversive. In either event,

Cureau's tie with the court probably did little to endear him to the clique of veteran frondeurs3 and this may be the reason why the physician is not mentioned in their memoirs.

Whatever his role with respect to Mazarin might have been,

Cureau's friendship with the hostess of the Port-Boyal salon was not hampered. Madame de Sable is one of the few people with whom Cureau maintained some sort of a regular communication, even though he disliked writing letters.^ Without a doubt, the frequency of their written ex­ change was of Madame de Sable's doing, and not of La Chambre's, for she was a notorious hypochondriac who would refuse audience to even her closest friends at the. slightest suggestion of a cold. At these times, the only way to communicate with her was by letter, and this went for the old doctor who preferred "pour entretenir un ami, faire dix lieues que dix lignes" {Epttres3 Lettre XXIII to M. de Ste Garde, p. 117).

The correspondence between.La Chambre and the Marquise de Sable is enlightening in several respects. In the first place, the content of

^Epftres* Letter III, pp. 60-62. 58 La Chambre consistently underlines his dislike for writing letters, sometimes devoting an entire letter to explaining why he is late in answering because he fears responding to anything— particularly anything which moves him emotionally-— while his passions are still sti­ mulated by the event. See supra., chap. 3. 55

the letters frequently touches.on the physician’s works, and in the case

of Le Systeime de 1 'dme3 the date: on a memorandum from Madame de Sable to

La Chambre asking for permission to:keep.the manuscript longer» precedes 59 the work's actual publication by several months. Thus, it is clear, . that Cureau submitted his chapters to the Marquise.for her opinion as he finished writing them. In another.letter, Madame de Sable mentions that

she hopes Cureau will "reprendre le fil de I'histoire du coq et de la poule," evidently an allusion to their previous.conversation on animal behavior which is the subject of the 1667 version of the Tx,ait& de la

Qomtoissanae des Animaux entitled Discovrs de I et d& la haine 60 qid- se tPouvent entre les Animaux. If nothing else, this note indi­ cates that the controversy over the animal-machine was under discussion at Port -Royal as well as in the hotel of a new and increasingly popular hostess, Madame de La Sabliere, and that Cureau maintained an ongoing interest in the debate through his attendance at both salons.

. ... . •" 17 July 1663.— "Cest veritablement en cette occasion qu’on voudroit bien dire qu’on n'est pas esclave de sa parole, car rien n'est plus capable de donner la tent at ion d’y manquer que le plaisir que j*aurois de garder votre ecrit un an au lieu d ’un jour. Ce ne seroit pas trop pour etudier de si belles et de si grandes choses. Cependant par cet esclavage je vous le renvoie avec un fort grand regret. Pour la lettre [dedicatory piece to Louis XIV], je crois que vous voulez" bien me la laisser: il n ’a jamais et.e rien ecrit de si beau ni de si galant. "— Mme de Sable to Cureau de La Chambre, in Cousin, p. 378. This letter is accompanied by a note of Valiant; "Mme de Sable a M. de la Chambre, sur son ecrit du Sauvenivs qu’il avait laisse a Madame • pour deux jours." The text eventually became ch. ii of Book TV of Le Syst^me de l 1dme3 published for the first time in 166U.

60 Letter of 6 November, 1663, taken from Suppl. fr. 3029, fol. 26-27. Regarding La Chambre’s views on reason in animals, see pp. 58-61 of this chapter. .56

At Madame de La Sabliere's. Much younger than the Marquise de Sable and more specifically drawn to experimental science is the famous protectress of La Fontaine, Madame de La Sabliere, whose unor­ thodox life style has caused her to be compared to the notorious

Ninon de Lenclos. "Philaminthe," if indeed her intellectual curiosity suggested to Moliere as well as to Boileau the "femme savante" par 6l excellence, was a Huguenot of middle-class Dutch origins whose

Rueilly mansion was situated at the point where ambassadors entering

Paris were met by the King’s coaches to be escorted to the royal palace. The mood of this salon is already eighteenth-century, as

Roger Picard has observed: "L1originalite de son salon, c'est qu'il

Stait le lieu ou les savants et aussi les philosophes aimaient le plus ■

S. se rencontrer et a venir se meler aux profanes

Madame de La Sabliere enjoyed the conversation of travelers, explorers, and navigators; her spirit of adventure extended to include the frontiers of science as well, and she particularly relished discus­ sion focusing on the latest theories in astronomy and physics. Even anatomy fascinated her, and she is said to have assisted at the

See Les Grands Salons littSraires: XVIIe et XVIIIe S'ieoless "Conferences du Musee de Carnavalet" (Paris, 1927).

^2Picard, p. 105.

^Ibid*s p. 106. Among the illustrious guests in-her.salon, one finds Bernier, medical doctor, popularizer and translator of Gassendi's works, recently retired from his role as physician to the Grand Mogol; Moliere, who read the incomplete version of his Malade ''imagi-naive. s,t one reunion, where­ after the guests on hand improvised the famous banquet scene-of .the

Paris Faculty of Medicine which was later included in the play;^ two feminine writers, Madame de La Fayette and Madame de Sevigne; the poet 65 and former protege of Nicolas Foucquet,: La Fontaine; and Antoine Menjot, uncle to Madame de La Sabliere remembered for his vigorous opposition to

Cartesian philosophy in the salon of Madame de Sable...

Menjot was hot the only anti-Cartesian in the group; in fact, the prevailing mood of these reunions was pro-Gassendi, contra-Descartes.

Guez de Balzac's infamous "Demon de la Nature" had already been placed on the Index in 1663, and by 1669, several candidates at the,College

Royal had successfully defended theses directed against"Cartesian meta­ physics. The Gassendi tradition had found its champion in Chapelain and the Peripatetics as well as in the ranks of free thinkers like La Motte le Vayer and Saint-Evremond. Even the "be! esprit" and model gentleman

Mere considered Descartes a "songe-creux" and an enemy of humanism. The salon of Madame de La. Sabliere thus constituted one of the major

Ibid.s p. 106.

65 For further information on A. Menjot, see Dr. M. Scholtens, Antoine Menjot: Dooteur en medecinej ami de Pascal3 refovmi au temps des persecutions (Bordeaux, 1968). anti-Cartesian "cabalestaking Gassendi's empirical. Epicurean.attitude

as an arm against Cartesians like Fleury,■Clerselier, and Cordemby.

Debate focused on certain issues, one of the most famous of .which, was

the question of reason in animals.

Cureau frequently visited the salon of Madame de La Sabliere

during his declining years, just at the time when.the controversy over

the animal-machine was beginning to separate the socialite Cartesians

from the so-called "Gassendistes." Although this theme did not become

a major topic of conversation in the salons until the 1670's, when it was popularized by La Fontaine in his Discoups a Madame de La SdbW&ve 67 svp Z'dme des an'tmaux3 the question had been under.debate for many years in Parisian intellectual circles. Mersenne, for example, made reference to Descartes' "animal-machine" during the l630's,^ Gassendi had defended the ability of animals to "reason" in his earliest works and in 1647, La Chambre had presented his treatise on knowledge in

Antoine Adam, Histoire d.e la littevatupe franqaise au XVIIe si&cle (Paris, 1956), III, 21.

67 See H. Busson and F. Gohih, critical edition of the Dzseowas

^See Coprespondance du P&re Mersenne^ letters to Descartes re­ garding this question; also Mersenne's^uaestiones in Genesim*

^H. Busson and F. Gohin, p. 11. The first volume of Bernier's translation of Gassendi's works, published in 1674, contains a chapter on the soul of animals. 59

animals where he claims, "tout ce qui a este diet pour, et centre le

raisonnement des hestes, est examine," as an answer to Pierre Chanet,

who had publicized the opposite view. 70 From the outset. Curean con­

tended that animals possess a degree of "ratiocination”; that they are

not mere "machines," but that unlike men, they cannot reason universally.

What was at issue in this controversy was not the dignity of animals, but rather the conflicting theories of the soul's nature which, since before the time of Aristotle, had divided philosophy into a number of 71 different schools.

Because he objected to the idea of the animal-machine, Cureau 72 73 has been called a "disciple" of Montaigne, a "Gassendiste" and an 7k enemy of Descartes. While there is a certain basis for these labels,

70 Pierre Chanet, De I 1 instinct et de la connoissanee des animaux3 avec I 'examen de ce que M. de La Chambve a escvit sur cette matibve (Paris, 161+6). Cureau*s T?ait& de la connoissanee des Animaux appears the following year in answer to Chanet's defense of the Cartesian idea of the animal-machine.

71 See Aristotle, De anima. Chap. II, for discussion summarizing the various definitions of soul among the Greek thinkers.

72 H. Busson, La Religion des Classiques: 1660-1685 (Paris, 19U8), p. 179. Busson reiterates this classification of Cureau's thought regarding animals, but he adds: "il limite pourtant leur pouvoir a former 'des propositions particulieres' reservant a I'homme la faculte de 'raisonner universellement'" (p. 80).

73 Ibid.^ p. 180. In a statement that is far too categorical, Busson claims that La Chambre takes the defense of Gassendi's atomism in his Syst&ne de I'tme without any reservation.

7l+ Because of his association with the "Gassendistes," Cureau is frequently called an enemy of Descartes, and his views on the animal- machine are usually cited, along with his attack on Descartes' estimation of the pineal gland (see Busson, p. 123, note 2). Evidence of the it is also true that each of these men. arrived at his,conclusions

through application of a method whieh.he .believed to "be the one best

suited to the scientific, i.e., empirical,.study of nature. For

Descartes reason referred to pure intellection which, if carried out properly (i.e., on the model of geometry), could lead to the reconsti­ tution of the whole from the sum of its parts. Of all living creatures, moreover, man alone was capable of such thought discipline, since only his kind was endowed with the innate ideas necessary to distinguish sub­ ject from event. Gassendi, on the other hand, strongly opposed the

doctrine of innate ideas on the grounds that all intellectual knowledge

originates with sense experience, and that the only "ideas” we have are

"concepts," or products of an internal process of abstraction and asso­

ciation of related experiences.: For him, then, reason consists in the

application of learned concepts to what we might call "phenomenological" . observation, and it is only through proper training of the mind that one learns to correct the "error," or natural bias, of one's perceptions.

Hence, animals are capable of reason to the extent that they can re­ member and relate their past experiences to their immediate situation.

Like Gassendi, Cureau believed that the reason of animals con­

sists in their capacity to apply previously learned behaviors to new.

circumstances. However, as we shall see in Part II, chapter 6 when

confusion regarding Cureau's doctrinal position with respect to Descartes is apparent in Jacques Proust's article inC.i.i.F.F., n. 13, 1961, "Diderot.et la physiognomonie" (pp. 317-30), where Proust calls La Chambre a dvsai-ple of Descartes and gives 15483 not 1640, as the date of the first published volume of Les Ch.ax'acteHres de Passions. A. Adam also includes Cureau among his "Gassendistes" along with Patin, Bernier, Sorbiere and Covdemoy (?). 6l

examining La Chambre's theory of instinct, he does admit to a kind of

"innate idea" which has to do with geometrical orientation of the body,

and by extension of his psychophysiological outlook, to the mind as well. Thus, even though he stands opposite Descartes and with Gassendi

on the question itself, the author of Le Traits des passions de i ’ame^

"cet excellent homme" as Cureau calls him in a letter, was by.no means

a categorical enemy to his way of thinking about scientific matters.

The major point of contention between La Chambre and Descartes thus had more to do with methodology than it did with their outlook on

living organisms. Generally speaking, the objections La Chambre raises to the ideas of Descartes are primarily concerned with the latter1s

consistent effort to make physiological processes conform to the laws of mechanics. In Cureau"s opinion, living things must be studied on a com­ parative basis i from this vantage point, men and animals have more in

common with each other than animals and machines regardless of what their "essential" natures might signify on a metaphysical plane. For this reason, our physician was more at home in the Saint-Mande "academy" .

of Nicolas Foucquet than he seems to have been among the associates of .

Mersenne, since the former was frequented by men and women interested

in exploring the frontiers of traditional knowledge, and in applying the

latest research techniques such as vivisection, in their search for an

"art" of knowing men. 62

The scientific academy of Nicolas Foucquet at Saint Maude. More than any other famous patron of arts and letters in seventeenth-century

France„ Nicolas Foucquet saw the value of intellectual and scientific 75 achievement in very pragmatic terms. Like his father, Frangois, the young Nicolas was well schooled in the art of enlisting favors from important ministers like Richelieu and modeled himself after the

Cardinal in many ways. Mazarin loved money too much to part with it and did not continue the lavish-style patronage of intellectuals begun by Richelieu at the ministerial level; the new cardinal's miserly streak was well known outside the court and served as the frequent object of satire for the authors of the "mazarinades." Although the Italian-born

Mazarini had taken over as prime minister of France, Foucquet saw the opportunity to become the real successor to Richelieu's power and pres­ tige. As U.-V. Chatelain has judiciously remarked in his excellent biography of Foucquet "MSeilne'':

. . . toute la question de gout personnel mise & part» les enseignements de la vie politique, 1 'heritage moral d'un grand ministre admire et aime des les premieres annees de la jeunesse; la concurrence, la jalousie que faisait ntirtre un rival perfide et deteste [SSguier]; la ne.cessite de paraltre tout puissant pour s'assurer de la realite de la toute puissance, tout obligeait le surintendant & Stre un Mecene attentif,

75 All background material in the section dealing with Foucquet is taken from U.-V. Chatelain, Le Siwintendant Nicolas Foucquet: Protecteur des Lettress des Arts et des Sciences (Paris $ 1905). 63

constant, liberal, qui par adresse, par generosite et par complaisance,, regnat sans contests sur tons, les esprits.76

Intellectual activity surrounded the Minister of Finance at all

of his residences, but Saint-Mande was more of a personal refuge, where

Foucquet !,se plaisait a se retirer, se derobant aux facheux et aux quemandeurs, evitant les reclamations inopportunes des creanciers.de

I'Etat. It was here that an academic reunion of intellectuals and

scientists reminiscent of what Chatelain imagines to have.been

Renaudot’s "Conferences du Bureau d'Adresse," took place on a more or 78 less regular basis.

The main interests of the scientists gathered here were cen­ tered on medicine. Not only was there a laboratory where doctors like

Jean Pecquet of Montpellier conducted analyses of mineral waters, there were also extensive botanical gardens which rivaled with the "Jardin du

Roi." These gardens were tended by a German Lutheran, and were filled

76 Chatelain, p. 152. ..

11Ibid.s p. 300.

78 Ibid. 3 p. 301. Concerning the subjects discussed here, Chatelain writes: "Avec quelle ardeur et quelle naivete, on a tente d’y resoudre les plus obscurs des problemes! Philologie, mathematiques, archeologie, diplomatique, science de l eorient, medecine, theologie, physiognomonie, meterologie, et astrologie, le vrai et le faux, les inventions de 1 *esprit scientifique et les reves de 1 ’imagination credule, tout est mele dans cette oeuvre, ebauche hardie et inegale, curieuse et incomplete, tentative sans mesure et non sans grandeur ou 1'intelligence de Foucquet revela ce que son tour avait de meilleur et ce qu’il avait de plus chimerique." (p. 302) 6k

with strange and exotic plants.to.be.used' in the preparation of medic­

inal c u r e s , 79 no doubt similar to the remedies of Paracelsus.

Because of his delicate health and a natural propensity for

fevers, Foucquet surrounded himself with.a team of doctors including

Vallot,: La Chambre, De Belleval, Guenault,.and the part-time alchemist,

Pecquet. At Saint-Mande there was a great deal of interest in anat­

omy; live dissections were carried on by Pecquet who was one of the

first doctors in France to endorse Harvey1s theory of blood circula- 80 tion (a theory which he said confirmed his own findings concerning 8i the course of lymphatic vessels). In taking this unorthodox stand,

Pecquet invited upon himself the bitter criticism of the Parisian dean,

Guy Patin, whose derogatory opinions were strongly seconded by the 82 Aristotelian apologist, Jean Riolan, famous opponent of the Montpellier doctors in the quarrel over the use of "quinquina." . Such contrary views

^Ibid*s pp. 313-lU.

80J2?id., pp. 316-17.

81 in 1651, Pecquet published a work entitled Experiment# nova anatomioa quibus ineognitvm hactenvs ehyli veeeptaculwn &t ab eo per thoraoem in ramos usque svbotavios vasa taetea detegvntur in which he begins with an anatomical, dissertation on blood circulation and the movement of chyle and resolutely endorses the theory of Harvey, to whose discovery he adds his own. See Chatelain, pp. 3l6ff.

82 ... According to F. Millepierres, in La Vie quotidienne des M&deains ecu temps de Motibre (Paris, 1964), Jean Riolan is remembered, as "le defenseur de la Faculte de Paris centre celle de Montpellier," . the latter being the outgrowth.of Jewish and Arab tendencies in medi­ cine (p. 30). . • 65 pitted the Parisians against the Montpellierains, the “traditionalists" . against the "iatrochemistsand: the ..acadenQr: at Saint-Man de was obviously on the side of the "moderns." .

In addition to anatomy and iatrochemistry, Foucq.net' s circle was very concerned with questions applying directly to human behavior, and it is here that Cureau de La Chambre plays an important role. In what was really an "academy within an academy" headed by Foucquet 's mother ,

Marie de Maupeou, discussion focused, on the ancient paramedical sciences like chiromancy and metoposcopy as well as on the preparation of strange remedies drawn from a long tradition of occultism and witchcraft.

Madame Foucquet, herself, was the author of a collection of "remedes faciles, choisis et experimentes et.tres.approuvSs," a little book which knew countless editions. This strange woman attempted to aid her son in prison by making use of her unorthodox talents, but to no avail it seems

As one of the authorities in matters pertaining to:physiognomy,

Cureau de La Chambre composed two major works dealing with these popular

"sciences"L ’Apt de eormo-istre les Hormes (1659) ? and its forerunner,

Disooux's sur les 'Pvinovpes de la Chiromccnce et de la M&toposcopi-e

(1653)5 of which Guy Patin wrote::■

L*auteur y parle fort bon frangois, mais outre la purete du style, il n*y a guere que du babil: Vox praetereaque nihil, la voix et rien autre: c'est le caractere du rossignol, mais notre siecle ne laisse pas d 1admirer ces bagatelles.^

®3chatelain, pp. 322-29.

^Letter dated 25 November 1653, cited by Chatelain, p. 324. Both of these works are dedicated to Foucquet, the only person who, according to Cureau, was capable of appreciating their content. Regard­ less of how the "Age of Enlightenment" judged such preoccupation with superstition, Cureau1s observations are exceedingly interesting in the light of today's research in areas of behavior and characterology and constitute the foundation of his "science nouvelle." Far from being the frivolous amusement of an "esprit mond'ain," these writings are central to Cureau's thought. Without the dimension that physiognomy, chiromancy, and metoposcopy add to his total understanding of human behavior, Cureau would undoubtedly appear to be little more than a rather colorless fol­ lower of the Gassendi tradition and a weak voice in protest against

Cartesian dualism.

Mersenne, Habert de Montmort, and the scientific reunions of the Rue Sainte-Avoye

The scientific and medical works of La Chambre which touch on the theory of light, refraction, digestion, and the overflow of the Nile have all but been forgotten by historians of science and of medicine; however, they were written at a time when such theories were being de­ bated in the most erudite and progressive of the French scientific cir­ cles— the group which assembled at the Minime convent, Rue Royale, around the person of Father Marin Mersenne. Established well before

Bit Letter dated 25 November 1653, cited by Chatelain, p. 324. 1630 as the Parisian "post office"..for scientific correspondence,

Mersenne urged eminent.theologians, philosophers, mathematicians, physi­

cians, or any other kind of scientifically oriented.thinker from any

corner of Europe to share his latest discoveries or theories with his group, either in person or by letter. When interesting communiques were received, they were read aloud to the company in attendance after 8.5 which a discussion session ensued. One can well imagine the scenes lively, sometimes heated conversation between the representatives of various professions and schools of thought must have been the general rule since Mersenne enjoyed bringing together.men of different opinions on the wide range of scientific problems discussed in his day. Although no actual records of the proceedings were kept, Europe's "Secretary" took notes during the meeting, after which, he summarized the comments 86 and sent them to the author. Judging from the letters in Mersenne's personal collection, there seems to have been no limit to his scientific curiosity. Everything from the nature of light and heat to astronomy, astrological and cabbalistic magic, theories of the mechanism of vision, optics, and catoptrics was discussed in his circle, and from as many vantage points as there were interested parties. In a sense, this company was a sort of "Academia parisiensis," as the host like to call it, because it constituted the major forum for. the initial clash between the "old” and the "new" science in France.

85 B. Rochot, La Correspondance scientifique du Pere Mersenne (Paris, 1966), pp. 9-10. Some of the controversies carried on among members of Mersenne’s

company are well remembered by scholars today. There was, for example,

Mersenne’s virulent attack against Robert Fludds who held that astrology

and cabbala were the keys to all scientific knowledge. Gassendi even­

tually joined Mersenne in championing the new approach to science whose

triumph Robert Lenoble has called the birth of mechanism.®^ One of the

major premises of Fludd challenged by Mersenne was the traditional doc­

trine of the microcosm as a proper foundation for the theory of man.

According to Mersenne in his Quaestiones in Genesim (col. 17^6, 17^9)$

the Hermetic revelation does not constitute sufficient evidence on which

to base such a general assumption about human nature; and, therefore,

the theory of the microcosm should not be taken as a point of departure

in studying man. Another important controversy generated by this circle

involved Gassendi and Descartes who differed on a number of issues but

at no point were their respective philosophies more dramatically at

odds than over the theory of light. So important was this single prob­

lem to each man’s scientific methodology that the disagreement as to

whether light was corpuscular, as Gassendi contended, or wave-like and

transmitted according to laws of motion applied to extended matter, as

Descartes argued, set the two men at odds for almost ten years.

87 The most complete study of Mersenne's scientific thought: Mersenne; ou la naissanee du meoanisme (Paris, 1943). OO Lenoble, p. 421. Mersenne's Optique et Catoptrique (1644) was written in an attempt to reconcile both parties by showing that neither argument could be proved scientifically. Cureau1s introduction into the "Academia parisiensis" probably

occurred sometime in the early l630*s at the initiative of either

Philippe or Germain Habert de Montmort, both of whom were closely asso­

ciated with the Seguier hotel and its residentsOf those works by

La Chambre which particularly interested Mersenne and his company* flouveltes pensees sup tes causes de ta tum^pe3 du desbordement du

Nit (published together in 163U) and Les Chapaet&res dee Passions(l6h0 )

are cited in correspondence between the Minime and his friend Descartes;

in fact s the latter was recommended by Mersenne to Descartes in a letter

dated 16U0 , the same year in which the first volume of the work was published.^

For La Chambre’s part, it was probably in Mersenne*s circle that he first made the acquaintance of Fermat 9 the mathematician whose prin­

ciple of least time made it possible to deduce the correct law of light

refraction thereby demonstrating a measure of inaccuracy, in Descartes *

91 » mathematical law. According to A. I. Sabra in his book Theories of

Light from Descartes to Newton (London* 1967)$ it was largely through

®%ee Kerviler, Le Chancetier Pierre Siguier3 Chap. XVII9 pp. %77ff. 90 See Correspondence du P£re Mersenne3 ed. by B. Rochot„ especially vols. U and 9.

^Fermat’s principle of least time leads to the same ratio deducible from Descartes * sine law. However» the former’s principle 70 his association with La Chambre■and their.commonly held belief.in.the idea that nature takes the shortest path -(”la nature agit toujours par les voles les plus courtes”). that Fermat finally succeeded in attributing 92 a variable velocity to.light according to.the density of.its medium.

When Mersenne died in l61t89 the "Academia parisiensis" trans- fered its meeting place to a hotel in the Rue Ste-Avoye where another member of the Habert de Montmort family, Henri-Louis, resided. The re­ unions continued to attract the intellectual elite of Paris: Pascal,

Gassendi, Fermat, and many others.were some of the circle's most illus­ trious guests.

Following the death of Habert.de Montmort,.another.change of address ensued-— this time to the residence of Melchissedech Thevenot, one of the habituis. The reunions continued, here until 1666 when Col­ bert formed from the ranks of this company the French Academy of Sciences.

As a charter member of the official institution, Cureau's role was rela­ tively insignificant due to his advanced age. However, his nomination to the official body is a positive indication of contemporary regard for his stature in the scientific community, and a tribute to his thirty- five years of active participation in advancing the cause of science during his part of the seventeenth century.• requires the velocity of light to.be greater in rarer media, contrary to Descartes’ view, and this result could be supported by experiment (as it eventually was). For extensive comparison of.the two theories, see A.I. Sabra, Theories of Light from Descartes to. Newton (London, 1967), pp. 136-49.

92Ibid. Cureau and the 11 Jar din des Plantes"

It is .quite.possible that La Chambre1s most important role (with respect to the growth and development of scientific knowledge during his time) is connected to his service in the capacity of "demonatTatew?- op$vatewc,n at the Jardin Royal established in 1635• As we noted in chapter 1 $ La Chambre was listed in the royal registry as receiving an annual pension of 2,000 pounds as early as 1626, the same year in which

Richelieu granted patent letters to Bouvard and Guy de La Brosse for the establishment of botanical gardens in Paris. Thus, it may well have been this project which drew Cureau to the capital several years before he took up permanent residence there. What is more, the idea of creating botanical gardens for medicinal as well as for educative purposes was borrowed from a similar project already well underway in Montpellier 93 .under the supervision of Pierre Richer de Belleval. Since both Cureau and La Brosse are linked with the medical faculty at Montpellier (al­ though neither is recorded as having finished his studies there), and

Cureau and Bouvard are both from Le Mans, it seems quite possible that the former was included in the general plans for the garden from the time of its inception in 1626.

^0n P. Richer de Belleval, see L. Dulieu, "Pierre Richer de Belleval” in Monspeliensis Hippocrates3 n . HO, Summer, 1968, 1-18. Belleval was a professor at Montpellier who also served as a ”medecin anatomiste et botaniste” at the Court of Louis XIII, but was paid by the University of Montpellier for this function. See Delaunay, La Vie mMicale . . . , p. 195. Another important factor in support of the theory that CureaU. was associated with the Royal Garden project long before 1635 is the discrepancy A.-L.Jussieu has noted in the historical account he gives in the first two volumes of the Annales du Musiwn as to La Chambre's assigned function as !ldSmonstrateur~operateur de 1 !interieur des plantes” 9U and what he actually is believed to have taught there. Although there are no records of the lessons he supposedly gave during the term of his appointment, it is well known that Vautier, first doctor to the king until his death in 1652, gradually replaced botanical demonstrations with anatomical ones. Given Cureau’s training and interests, Jussieu postulates that he undoubtedly became the first professor of anatomy, at the Garden, since this was the post to which.his son, Frangois, also a doctor, was named at the time of his father’s death— or at least it was openly admitted that he taught anatomy, and not botany. While it is undoubtedly true that this was the case for Marin as well, one might also take account of the fact that climate and seasonal variables would not have promoted the year-round study of plants. As Dr. L. Dulieu of the medical faculty at Montpellier has noted in an article on P. Richer de Belleyal and the educative structure of the garden in that city dur­ ing the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, anatomy and botany were taught on a rotational basis, "car il n'etait alors possible de faire des dissections qu'en hiver faute de pouvoir conserver les cadavres, alors que les herborisations ne pouvaient avoir lieu qu’en

See A.-L. Jussieu, Annales du Mus&um de I 'HistoiTe natia?elle3 II (Paris, 1802), 6-7. 73

Q tr 6tS.” Thus$ it is likely that La Chambre taught both anatomy and botany at first» but perhaps at the instigation of Vaufcier, gradually abandoned the latter.

'Whatever the actual circumstances of La Chambre’s official ser­ vice might have been, the Act of 1635 describes his duties as follows:

. . . pour faire aux ecoliers la dSmonstration de I1 interieur des plantes, & de tous les medieamens, . tant simples que composes, qui consiste en I’enseignement de leur essence, propriStes et usage, et pour travailler manuellement en toutes operations pharmaceutiques, ehoix, preparations & compositions de toutes sortes de drogues, tent par voie simple & ordinaire que chimique.96

The constitution of a teaching corps whose purpose was to supplement through technical demonstration the theoretical concepts taught at the

Faculty of Medicine in Paris was thus a major step in the establishment of experimental science and its empirical methods. Whether or not the success of the Garden's educational goals was immediately evident, it is significant to find Cureau de La Chambre centrally involved in another of the most progressive institutions of his time. One can con- elude from his contacts with Saint-Mande, Mersenne' s company and the founders of the te Jar din des Plantes" that he was not only an eloquent spokesman for the advancement of human knowledge, but also participated at a very concrete level in the transmission of the most up-to-date

95 Dulieu, p. 7 .

96 Cited, from the Act of 1635 which appears in Jussieu's account of the early period of the Royal Gardens, Annates du Mus§ums II, 6-7. lh discoveries and theories to future practitioners of his own profession.

Cureau and seventeenth-century medicine

As we saw in chapter 1, almost everything concerning Cureau* s medical activities is shrouded in uncertainty. Nothing at Montpellier gives substantial proof of his having completed his degree there; yet, his work at the "Jardin des Plantes" and his frequent visits to Mersenne* s and Foucquet1 s indicate that he was in contact with the large group of

Montpeilierains whose good fortune brought them to the capital. If

Cureau did share the penchant for iatrochemistry characteristic of

Montpellier graduates, it does not enter directly into his theories— at least he offers no opinion in his works regarding the use of contro­ versial drugs like "quinquina." .

Generally speaking. La Chambre*s medical ideas are in line with the teachings of Hippocrates, who regarded sickness as an external 97 manifestation of an inward struggle towards equilibrium. However, while many doctors in Cureau*s time used this doctrine of temperamental balance as a pretext for blood-letting, purgation, and other such direct methods of ridding the body of "sinful" humors $ Cureau*s approach was psychophysiological and in keeping with the philosophy which teaches that mind and body are interdependent. Illness or emotional distress, for example, reveals in outward signs an inward, organic struggle for survival and perfection. To this end, the physician's role is to learn

07 See EpttreSs Letter XIII, p. 93, where Cureau ranks Hippocrates above Aristotle in terms of his own thinking. how to read these signs, which include such things as changes in the size, shape, color, and texture of the skin and external sense organs.

Like Hippocrates, Cureau believed that temperamental balance depended on the dynamics of body metabolism whose by-products— the spirits— are the organic source of energy. Moreover, as we shall see in chapter 6 ,

La Chambre regards the most refined and subtle of the spirits— those contained in the nervous system— as the necessary subject for image transmission, or the process by which the cognitive faculties are put in touch with the outside world. Hence, one could say that the physi­ cian's real task consists in regulating the internal balance on the basis of his knowledge of the individual's "soul," i.e., by surrounding the sick or distraught person with soothing music and scenery, thereby easing his stress. In any event, according to La Chambre, such mea­ sures are just as important as administration of medication to the body since both are actually aimed at restoring the spiritual equilib­ rium.

On a long-term basis, "doctors of bodies and souls," as the

Greeks called them, could learn to apply behavior modification to their patients by a conditioning process which, as we shall see in Part II, is not far removed from today's behaviorist theories. Consequently, one of the primary goals of La Chambre1s medical approach was to arrive at a system for classifying men that was dependable enough to serve as a framework for behavior control. Like his Spanish predecessor, Huarte de San Juan, CuTeau conceived his typological design not only as a guide to medical therapy, but also as a political and governmental tool. 76

Since the.feudal system, of class stratification could no longer he ap­ plied to an aristocracy whose•ranks were divided in their loyalties to the king, a new and much more individualized method for screening the character of potential public servants had to be instituted if the monarchy was to maintain central control over France. Hence, interest in human typology was not merely an intellectual game, it was an over­ riding concern of the French monarchy and the ultimate goal of philos­ ophy’s most pragmatic aim since the time of Plato: the building of a

"republic" led by an enlightened king and supported by genteel folk whose nobility would be measured in generosity rather than in birth­ right.

There is no way to measure the success of La Chambre’s medical theories except to note with Kerviler and Doranlo that the patients committed to his care generally enjoyed long end productive lives. At least one advocate of his medical attitude can be found in Madame de

Sable, whose "Discours centre les mSdecins" emphasizes the importance of patient-doctor relationship, implying that a doctor should not treat only the body, but that he is also responsible for the psychological well-being of his patients. Highly critical of practices like blood­ letting and suppositories applied without regard to. actual circum­ stances, she writes:

Pour moy, je m'en suis entiSrement desabusSe, apres avoir bien considere la pratique presente de tous les Medecins: je dis tous, parce que ceux des provinces se faisant honneur d ’imiter ceux de Paris, I'on n ’en trouve plus qui suivent la Medecine ancienne, et ce dereglement est ll tel point, que si on en connoissoit la consequence, I'on craindroit autant les Medecins, que les maladies, puisque la nature 77

toute seule lea guerit tres souvent, pourveu qu'on ne la trouble pas comme font les Medecins d'aujourd'hui en espuisant lea forces par les saignees frequentes et les lavemens continueIs qu’ils ordonnent indifferement a toutes sortes de personnes en toutes les maladies quelles qu'elles puissent estre en toutes saisons-— sans autre fondement que celuy de certeins principes qu'ils se sont faicts sans examiner quelles en sont les suites. Ils sont contents pourveu qu'ils puissent dire qu'ils ont faict selon la raison. Car on peut remarquer, qu'en quelque maladie, et en quelque age que ce soit et quelque temperament que I'on ayt, ils diront toujours que c'est la chaleur d'entrailles, et les obstructions qui font toutes les maladies.

In the Marquise's opinion, this mania for harsh treatment for all ail­ ments, whether minor or severe, stems from the theory that all illness is caused by an excess of heat, and that this maxim has become so estab­ lished in the minds of physicians "que I'on ne void plus personne qui ne die, qu'il faut manger d'une telle viande parce qu'elle rafraichit, et qu'il ne faut manger d'une autre parce qu'elle eschauffe, et ce qui est plaisant> c'est que cela va jusqu'aux cuisiniers, et jusqu'aux patissiers, qui ne font pas leurs potages, ni leur patisseries de bon sel, pour suivre cette maxime que les medecins etablissent par tout

Turning next to the psychology of the doctors of her time,

Madame de SablS goes on to suggest that perhaps their eagerness to simplify the art to such a degree is not without some practical moti­ vation. She notes that doctors are driven by self-interest and greedi­ ness, and that one can remark frequently in their demeanor signs of

■^Mme de Sable's Discoups eontre les m&deeins is reproduced in Ivanoff, pp. 109-20. This text appears on pp. 107-10.

^Ibi

. . . partout ou ils vont, ils ont 1 'esprit si distrait par 1 *impatience qu’ils ont d'aller ailleurs, qu'ils paroissent tons egares et des qu’ils ont le pied dans une maisons ils croient pour y estre entrSs avoir desia gagne leur escu et s’imaginent qu’ils n ’y avoit plus rien a faire.iOO

As a means of rectifying this deplorable situation, the Marquise recommends a return to traditional principles;

, . . pratiquer divers remedes, et, eomme autrefois, examiner les maladies, les crises, les he tires, et les temps de faire une saignee Men a propos; echauffer, quand il y a trop de froideur, et rafraichir, quand il y a trop de chaleur, et enfin, se servir de divers remedes, comme de pillules, de topiques, ou il en est besoin, et de tons les autres qui se pratiquoyent anciennement, et qui mesme he se trouvent pas chez les apoticaires, a cause que 1 *usage en est entierement perdu.101

In her criticism of medical practices, Madame de SablS did not exempt any doctor; in fact, although she does not mention Cureau di­ rectly, he may well have been included in the category of "excellens

MSdecins, qui avoyent baucoup de soin, d*attache, et mesme d'amitiS pour les personnes qu'ils traitoyent." . As she goes on to comment about the profession and the demands comported in its lofty ideals since the time of Hippocrates;

. „ . il semble que la corruption des temps, qui est dans tons les Estats, en a fait une plus grande partie dans celuy dont je parle que dans tous les autres et qu'en cette profession la maxime se trouve fort veritable, que la, ou il y a plus de perfection, la

10°J2>id., p. 113.

10:Ll2)td., p. llU.

1Q2Ibid., p. 120. 79

corruption y est encore plus dangereuse, car les Medecins ayant un objet si nobles je veuz dire la vie et la sante, pour lequel Hippoerate demande tant de vertus et de perfections, il semble que dans ces. demiers temps ils se soyent abandonnez S. des abus et a des desordres, d1autant plus grans qu’ils est.oyent plus obligez de les eviter et de pratiquer tout le contraire.103

Whatever the opinion Madame de SablS might actually have had of La

Chambre in terms of his medical practices, we do know from their letters that she did reproach him on occasion for his ’’manque d'amitiS” towards her insofar as his letter-writing habits are concerned. Whether or not such remarks are to be taken too seriously in the light of the hyper­ bolic style of preciocity is another matter, for there is no allusion to any doctor-patient relationship in their written exchange that would imply a mistrust on Madame de Sable’s part of La Chambrees medical expertise.

Looking back over the wide range and variety in La Chambre's intellectual and social contacts, one is left with the distinct impres­ sion of a man who loved the conversation and stimulation of the literary and scientific salons so popular in his time. Perhaps, as Madame de

Sabi# noted regarding doctors in general, monetary gain was a primary motivating force behind what appears to have been a rather high-paced, sometimes frenetic life stylej however, there is no doubt as to the sincerity of his love for science and his optimism with respect to the bright future of his country in the advancement of human knowledge. In many ways, Cureau resembles Fontenelle who, at the end of the century

103Ibid., p. 120. enjoyed entertaining elegant marquises, on the "pluralite des. deux mondes," just as our physician delighted in regaling educated women like Madame de Sable or Christine of Sweden with his stories about animal behavior or with excerpts from his Charaet'&ves des Passions,

All told. Curean was a man who took advantage of the best his century had to offer, and as we shall see in the final chapter of this part, he shared the fate of most men upon whom fortune chooses to smile so favorably, and was not always as well-loved as he might have wished. CHAPTER 3

CUEEAU AS SEEN BY HIS CONTEMPORARIES: CHARACTERIAL STUDY OF THE MAN BEHIND. THE WORKS

When dealing with historical figures$ it is important to obtain as complete an idea as possible of the relations between the individ­ ual's psychology and his professional goals before attempting to analyze his works. Taken in themselves, the texts tell only what a man thought about certain things, and while such knowledge is useful in situating the person with respect to events and other people of his time, somehow we always come back to the fundamental questions what inner drive, or psychological motivation operated in conjunction with his life experi­ ences to cause him to write or do what he did when he did? Of course, there will never be.any answer complete enough to account for all the parameters involved. Nevertheless, each thread we are able to weave into the tapestry of a person's life adds new dimensions to the entire fabric, and helps us to see all that was previously believed in a dif­ ferent perspective. But more than this, specific characterological studies of important men of the past provide the possibility for better insight into history's fundamental problem: to explain why, as Shake­ speare observed, there are certain "tides in the affairs of men" that can transform one century’s hero into another's whipping boy.

•81 82

nLe Grand.Homme Melancolique"; A Psychomoral Portrait of La Chambre

The most famous portrait of Cureau is an engraving by Hanteuil, intended as a part of a collection of "Famous Men" begun by Michel BSgon % and completed by Charles Perrault. The print is a bust representation, encircled by a wreath bearing the La Chambre coat-of-arms and the Latin inscription: "Marin Curaeus de La Chambre, regi a Sanct. Consil. et

Medieus Ordinarius." In contrast to the rather unfortunate reputation seventeenth-century physicians suffered at the hands of their contempo­ raries , Kerviler has observed:

Est-ce lei m e de ces physionomies doctorales, telles qu’on se les imagine, grotesques ou flegmatiquement guindees, d’apres les comedies de Moliere? Non pas. Cette perruque ondoyante, ee rabat finement empesl, ces glands S. la riche toumure, cette robe de satin aux brillants reflets, aux plis recherches et aux msmches largement flottantes, tout ce costume elegant denote un conseilleur royal qui salt faire sa cour, qui a 1 'habitude du monde et des societes polies. Et cet air spiritual et bon, ces yeux doux et brillants S. la fois, cette fine moustache qui encadre si bien m e bouche pr#te a sourire he representent nullement les traits de ces pedants de la facultS, toujours prets a disserter devant leurs malades dans un langage mSme inintelligible pour leurs doctes confreres.^

E.-T. Hamy, "Note sur un medallion de J.-B. Tuby reprSsentant le portrait de M. Cureau de La Chambre, demonstrateur au Jardin Royal (1635-1669)," in Butteiin du Mus&um de t ’Evstoive natvcpen,e3 n° 6 (Paris, 1895), p. 231. In a letter to Cabaret de Vilermont dated Febru­ ary 8 , 1689, Begon writes: "J'ai le portrait de M. de La Chambre grave par: Nanteuil, qui est tres beau et a m e belle epreuve." According to Hamy, Begon intended to use this portrait as a model for the type to be included in his gallery of famous men.

^Kerviler, Revue du Maines II, 170. 83

Although Kerviler.leans a bit he a vi ly on the cultural context

in the'tracing of this psychological portrait of La Chambre, it.is in­

teresting to., compare the gentle-featured, affable personality captured

in the artist's representation to.the stereotyped notions of doctors

literary men like Moliere, Boileau and.others have transmitted to pos­ terity. In his appearance as well as in his actions, Cureau was a

cultivated, sensitive gentleman who is perhaps best described by the

dean of the Paris Medical Faculty , and his professional colleague Guy

Patin, who wrote in a letter to.Falconnet shortly before the former's death; "Cest un grand homme mSlancolique, qui a beaucoup Scrit, et principalement Les Charaet^res des Passions. . . . II est savant, tout

ce qu'il ecrit est fort bon. Mais les honnetes gens meurent comme les O autres, et encore quelquefois plus tGt." .

The typological indication "melancolique" which appears in the above text is important, particularly because it comes from a member of the profession fully qualified to make such observations. Even though

I have found no other direct reference to La Chambre's temperament, a reading of the letters included in his collected correspondence quickly

confirms Patin's judgment. For example, there are a number of allusions to a personal loss in letters dated 1652 or 1653^— the year during which

Cureau attempted to acquire the title of Premier M&deoin du Roi after

O .. Letter to Falconnet dated November 23, 1669, DCCXCVI.

See EpttreSj, Letters X?, XVI and XVII. 84

Vautier's death9 and was outbid by Guillemeau. The feeling expressed in all references to this event is one of deep disappointment bordering on bitterness. Despite the propensity towards exaggerated sentiments prevalent in the prieieux society he frequented so regularlys there is evidence that he became ill upon hearing the bad news, and stayed in bed 5 for three months to recover from the shock.

The sensitive nature typical of the melancholic temperament also manifested itself in other aspects of La Chambre*s personal conduct. By all accounts, he was a man who felt intense loyalty to his friends as well as to his country. As the co-historian of the French Academy

D * Olivet expressed it, Cureau ”... etoit a tous les hommes de lettres 6 un ami qui ne leur manquoit jamais au besoin.” D ’Olivet also notes that these qualities were largely responsible for endearing Cureau to those who patronized his efforts: "Pierre Seguier voulut I1avoir pres de lui non-seulement comme un excellent medecin, mais encore ccmme un homme consomme dans la philosophic et dans les belles lettres. Le cardinal de Richelieu en porta le m§me jugement et en fit une estime singulilre."^

«5 Epttres, Letter XXXI.

6 Kerviler, Revue du Mainej II, 170. No reference or date to D * Olivet’s remark is cited.

7 Pellisson et D*Olivet, Ristoire de I'Academie Fvanqaises ed. by Ch. Livet, I, 263. 85

One very interesting dimension to Cureau1s regard for his friends and superiors is his reiterated dislike.for writing letters and the rationale he provides in his own correspondence for this attitude.

In his estimation, the language men. use in their day-to-day contacts is filled with equivocation and duplicity. Thus, when it comes to ex­ pressing sincere feelings of friendship and love, one is forced to use a language that has lost all of its.vigor and aptitude for communica­ ting heart-felt sentiments of love, admiration, and tenderness. Since letters are but the written counterpart of social bien&eonoess it be­ comes difficult, if not impossible, for sincere individuals to distin­ guish true sympathy from social obligation. For Cureau6s part, he much preferred to let actions speak louder than words; the Only way he saw fit to give testimony to his deepseated loyalties was to do something for the other person. This is why, as he explains in the following passage of a.letter to the Swedish royal physician Bourdelot, he con­ tinually postponed answering mail, hoping that in the meantime he would have the opportunity to render some service instead of returning a letter:

Quoy qu*en toutes les Lettres que vous avez escrites & vos Amis de deg&, vous ne m*avez point mis au rang de ceux que vous honorez de votre souvenir; jVai si bonne opinion de ma Personne, • que je n'ay point creu que vous avez fait cela par . mespris ou par oubly: au contraire, je me suis flat- te de cette pensee, que vous vous teniez si asseure de moy, que vous n ’aviez pas besoin de me traiter avec ces petites civilitez, qui ne sont bonnes que . pour des Amis communs. De sorte qu’au lieu.de vous en faire des reproches, je me trouve oblige de vous remercier, d*avoir separe nostre amitie des affections vulgaires, & de 1’avoir conservee toute entiere dans le coeur, sans la dissiper sur le papier en de vains 86

compliments & de protestations inutiles. Mais j’attends de vous la mesme justice que je vous rends en cette rencontre,.& je dois croire.que vous faites le mesme . jugement de mon silence, que je fais du vostre. Et . certainement, quand vous sauries, que je tiens pour suspectes toutes les paroles qui font le commerce . ordinaire du monde; Et que je ne puis souffrir que ' I 1on employe dans 1'amitie les mesmes termes qui servant aux fourtes & aux trahisons; vous jugerez bien que jusques & ce que I’on fait [sie] de nouveaux mots qui expriment nettement les choses, je ne m ’empresseray pas • a escrire a mes Mis, & que je reduiray tous les tesmoignages d'amitie que je leur doibs, aux services', que je pourray leur rendre [Epttrea, pp. 69-71),

In addition to the reasons given in the above passage for not liking to write letters, Cureau had another very personal one that is also related to his melancholic temperaments prudence. Since he was, by his own admission, a person of very strong and intense emotion, he recognized the risk involved in responding to an upsetting piece of news while still caught up in the heat of passion. By waiting awhile for the feeling to subside, Cureau assumed that one could acquire the distance necessary to respond objectively and sympathetic ally.

Insights such as those evident in La Chambre1s correspondence are extremely valuable in reconstructing the personality of the author of Les Charact'&res des Passions. Obviously, the interest he manifested for this particular aspect of medicine was not of academic motivation alone; it was deeply rooted in his personal experience and psychologi­ cal makeup. A man of such intense feeling was perhaps more aware than most of the dangers involved in allowing sentiment to override reason.

Through greater knowledge of the passions, an individual like Cureau could learn to cope with his own sensitivity by devising methods for understanding and dealing effectively with the cause or causes of 87

irritation and distress. He could, for example9 try counteracting one

emotion with another, or change his environment to soothe and relax him­

self. In short, the "doctor of bodies and souls" had to be his own best

friend and physician before he could really be anyone else *s. After probing the motivations concerning his own behavior, his task— if he were socially oriented like Cureau— was not only to tell people what to do in a given situation; it was also to teach them how to handle themselves on a day-to-day basis by providing an "art of knowing men."

• ' ' 1 The Writer Ho one has better described the intimate connection between

Cureau1s temperament and his writing style than his fellow "Manceau"

Manage, who recalled the following conversation;

II m ’a dit que quand 11 prenoit la plume, il ne savoit ce qu'il alloit ecrire, qu’une plriode produisoit une autre plriode. Je ne savois de meme ce que j’allots faire que quand je faisois des vers. . . .8

As the above text indicates, writing was for La Chambre a kind of ex­

ercise in transcribing the "sounds" and rhythms of his inner being. In those letters, pertaining to his Chc&aat&pes des Passionst he frequently

alludes to the exhaustion he felt upon completing the analysis of the various emotions, for in describing each state, he inadvertently ex­ perienced the passional movements. Incapable of writing without some

emotional input, he notes that even the composition of the simplest

^Menagianas p. 177. 88

"Lettre de menage'* cost him dearly in terms of time and energy con­

sumed.^

For the most part, those of his contemporaries who read his works agreed that he was an excellent judge of human character and ex­ ceptionally perspicacious with regard to human nature. As Guez de.

Balzac wrote in a letter addressed to the author of Les Charaot&res des

'Passions in 165k, just after the appearance of the second volume:

Apres avoir bien consider!, examin!, StudiS votre livre quinze jours entiers, je conclus que jamais homme n'a connu 1 fhomme a I’egal de vous. Jamais le dieu de Delphe n*a St! plus ponctuellement ohei; non pas m§me par celui d qui il rendait temoignage d'une parfaite sagesse, ni par celui qu’on appela autrefois 1’Entendementj ni par cet autre qu’on appelle encore aujourd’hui le D$mon de la nature [Descartes]. . . . II n ’y a ni coin ni cachette de 1’esprit• humain oil vous n ’ayez penStr!; il ne se passe rien • - • la-dedans de si vide ni de si secret, qui echappe a la sub- tilit! de votre vue, et dont vous ne nous apportiez des nou- velles tres-fidelles et tres asseurees. . . . On pent done • dire, sans en dire trop, que vous etes philosophe en chef. ^

Even those who did not exactly approve of all La Chambre’s methods for judging men, like Guy Patin who referred to the Discours sur les Principes de la Chiromanae et de la Mitoposcopie as • rien que du babil, admired the physician for his special ability to attract and to deal successfully with people through exercise of these arts of divination. As Patin wrote in another letter to Falconnet just after

Cureau’s death:.

^Epitres, Letter XXXII.

^Lettres de Balzacs II (Paris, 1666). Letter dated September 15, 16^5, and quoted by Kerviler, Le Chancelier Pierre Siguier, p. 430, note '2. ... 89

II.etoit de I’Academie frangoise et.m .des.premiers • et des.plus Sminents, tant a raison de sa doctrine, qui n'etoit point commune, que pour le credit qu'il avoit chez M. le Chancelier, en vertu de quoi il Stoit officiexix et bienfaisant a ceux a qu il pouvoit servir, et qui avoient affaire en ce pays de chancellerie.il

Another of La Chambre1s close associates, Chapelain, agreed with 12 13 the favorable opinion Patin and others, including Sorel, Niceron, and Bayle,^ expressed concerning La Chambre1s works. However, in

Chapelain*s case, one very interesting reservation is made which de­ serves some consideration; the physician’s rather mediocre capacity for writing history. In the academician’s words;

C’est un excellent philosophe, et dont les ecrits sont purs dans le langage, justes dans le dessein, soutenus dans les orneinens, et subtiles dans les raisonnemens. Son application est dans les matieres physiques et morales, en tant que celles-ci regardant la nature; je ne le tiens pas dans les politiques, et je doute qu’il fut propre a ecrire 1’Histoire, quoique fort judicieux. . . .15

"^Letter to Falconnet dated December 13, 1669$ DCCXCVII.

^Bibl'iot'h'&que Franqoise (Paris, 1664), p. 238.

I 3 e • Memo-ire pour servir a I ’H'istoire des Hotmes Iltustress XXVII, 392-97.

^According to Kerviler in Le Chancelier Pierre Siguier3 p. 27$ Bayle refers to La Chambre in his Dictionnaire as "le meilleur ecrivain qu'aient eu les mSdecins au XVIIe siecle," but I have not been able to locate the passage.

■^"Memoire> de quelques.gens.de lettres vivans en M.D.L.X.III," . dresse par ordre de M. Colbert— Autres ecrivains franqois LII, in Melanges de litt&rature tires des lettres manuscrites de M, Chapelain 90

Following the. observation of Haureau in L'Histoire ti-ttevaive du

Maine^ Chapelain's brief allusion to.Cureau’s ineptitude for writing history is a direct reference.to the rather modest success of his po­ lemical work Les Observations de PhilaltZthe. sur vn tibette intitule

"Optatus GalluSj " published in 1640 at Richelieu’s request.^ . However, the remark is unique as far as I have been able to ascertain, and seems to be related more precisely to the author’s emotional nature. If in­ deed Cureau was as' sensitive a man as his letters indicate, it is likely that those who knew him well might have viewed his intense loyalty to his friends and patrons as an obstacle to maintaining any sort of sustained objectivity with regard to past events. Such an ob­ servation might be particularly well taken in the light of Cureau’s quasi-mystical patriotism, which claimed not only his heart but to a certain extent, his intellect, as we shall see in chapter 5 in connec­ tion with his theory of climates. Hence, Chapelain’s comment might have been prompted by a more personal and profound opinion of La Chambre’s character, and not merely meant as an allusion to the polemic with

Hersant over the Gallican Church.

uLe Parvenu”

We saw in chapter 2 that Cureau’s intellectual and social efforts were generally well rewarded at the Court as well as in the

(Paris, 1726). Cited by Kerviler, Revue du Maine* II, 170-71.

■^Kerviler is of a similar opinion. See Le Chanceliev Pierre S$guiers rp, 1*52, note 1. 91 intellectual circles. However, success can breed jealousy on the part of some, particularly in a society where artists who are not indepen­ dently wealthy have to depend on patrons for monetary support. Menage, as we noted in chapter 1, was not unlike Boileau in his feelings towards the French Academy, and both poets took their respective opportunities to poke fun at La Chambre's ideas. For Menage, the pretext was the

"modernistic" notion of using French instead of Latin for scientific discourse; for Boileau, it was the high-flown style of Lee Cha^aetepes des Passions which merited La Chambre's inclusion in the list of authors of works on the passions (Senault and Coeffeteau) who consistently try 17 to "dogmatiser en vers, et rimer par chapitres."

Although Boileau's criticism of La Chambre is ostensibly di­ rected at his verbosity and preoccupation with elegant.language, there is nevertheless an underlying suggestion that the author of L 'Art po&tique shared Descartes' low opinion of Les Charaot^pes des Passions.

According to the latter, this work contained nothing but words, and for 18 this reason, did not deserve the effort required to read through it.

At the opposite end of the spectrum from those who exaggerated

La Chambre's faults, there were those whose praise for him was too ex­ travagant. Take, for example, the following poem by Richelieu's favor­ ite Boisrobert, who heralds Cureau as a new "Eseulape," gifted with

"^"Satire VIII, a MM. . . Morel, Docteur en Sorbonne," lines 113-118.

18 Coppespondanoe du Plre Mepsenne3 ed. by B. Rochot, X, Descartes to Mersenne (28 Jan. l64l), p. 483. 92

extraordinary healings powers that border'on the magical:

La Chambre a Esculape.nouveau, Qni.te regies surle niveau De ce dieu:dont la medecine Tire son illustre origine; Esprit sans homes . et sans esprit s: Fameux entre les grands prix, De qui I ’adresse et la science . Et la force et 11 experience $ Pent d1entre les bras de Caron, Du fond de I’obscur Acheron Rappeler une ame ravie ^ Dans un corps depouillS de vie. . . .

All flattery La Chambre might have derived personally from such hyper­

bolic praise put aside, poems such as these, if published, would hardly

have impressed his professional and intellectual compeers at Mersenne’s

or at the Paris Faculty of Medicinal

Some Guidelines for a Charactero- . logical Analysis %- - As a conclusion to the section of our study concerning Cureau’s

relations with his contemporaries, We would like to attempt a charac­

tero logical portrait of the man using the methodology outlined on by Roger Mucchielli in his book Caraet'&res et Visages. From what we

have been able to gather from letters written by La Chambre together with the opinions proffered by both his friends and his enemies, his

patrons and those who looked to him for favors, the physician is best

exemplified.by the type EnAP, or Enotif (excitable), Secondaire or

Boisrobert, Epistres (Paris, 164?), p. 39.

20 Paris, 1963. See Chapters 1-3 in particular. 93 non-A6tif (persistently influenced by past experiences, principles or

distant projects) and Flastique- (adaptable). The" couple Emot'tf-

Seaondaive designates the structuring properties of temperament, which

in classical typologies such as those of Hippocrates and Galen, is the

equivalent of the Melancholic or nervous individual of a predominantly

cold and dry humoral disposition. Plasticity, on the other hand, re­

fers to the individual’s relative openness or closedness with regard to

the world around him. In the typology of C. G. Jung, an individual having such a character might be described by the general term "intro­ vert .

Leaving aside the many details that would be involved in making a complete char act erologi cal analysis, we can see how Cureau expresses each of the three basic aspects of the type EnAP according to our knowledge of his personal habits. With regard to emotivity, we have

seen clearly in the information provided by his letters that Cureau

considered himself an excitable person possessed of an innate propen­

sity to strong feelings. However, this first aspect of his character

cannot be properly understood without relation to his cautiousness, which is represented in the idea of Secondaire. Taken together, this

combination accounts for the strong attachment Cureau felt for his

friends, his patrons, his country, and the Tradition, all of which.have

an important bearing on the way in which he viewed himself as a writer.

Finally, in his relation to himself,.the world and to the people around him, Cureau tended more towards plasticity than he did towards in­ transigence or inadaptability expressed by the term S&jonet'Cf. This aspect of his.attitudinal orientation is particularly apparent.to.those familiar with his disposition as a philosopher., IMlike Descartes, who admitted with.great difficulty to.accepting the ideas of.others and in consequence was a great theoretician adept in matters requiring analytic and abstractive ability, Cureau was instinctively drawn to concrete, pragmatic ideas and sensualist philosophy. His art of knowing men was conceived in view Of helping individuals to adapt to their surroundings and to live harmoniously with their fellow man. However, as Mucchielli points out, plasticity and intransigence do not constitute real human types, for one or the other taken to its extreme would destroy the indi­ vidual: the first by denying him a personal conscience vis-a-vis the world and other men; the second by cutting off his vital link with things outside himself and rendering him incapable of tending to his 21 needs. Thus, while Cureau advocates, adaptability to bis patients, he also encourages them to be strong and to hold steadfastly to their principles, for he realized that only hearty individuals capable of expressing both generosity and love, possess the kind of characterial traits, necessary to becoming leaders whose abiding concern will be for the governed.

As we leave the man to look more specifically at the theory of man expounded in his works, it will be very useful to keep, in mind the intimate connection between La Chambre * s characterial dispositions and the overall design of the art of knowing men. In the eyes of most

^Mucchielli, p. Uo. 95 historians s the techniques advocated for the discovery of human nature— physiognomy, chiromancy, metoposcopy, and related astrological sciences— do not appear to have survived the initial wave of Cartesian idealism with its emphasis on equating what is real with what is evident. Yet, in looking more closely at the moralist literature during the last half of the seventeenth century, there remains among writers like La

Rochefoucauld, Malehranche and Mme de Sable a tendency to view man in greater complexity and detail than Cartesians might have originally be­ lieved necessary: instinct, imagination, the senses— Z 'amoicr px'opre in sum— together with la fortunes exert an undeniable influence on the course of human actions in spite of, or in the case of the lucky, in conjunction with, the strength of a person’s inward resolve. This is not to say that man is without any control over his fate; it merely raises the possibility that despite our clear and distinct understanding of what causes should produce what effects, there are parts of our psychophysical and moral being which continue to elude us. -PART II

THE THEORY OF MAH ACCORDING TO CUREAU

96 /

CHAPTER 4

FORMATION OF THE METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE ART OF KNOWING MEN

When examining the list of works by La Chambre, one is immedi­

ately struck by the number of titles which promise "new" information or

methods for the study of problems as seemingly diverse as light, the

Nile's fertility, digestion, rainbows, and the thought of Hippocrates

and Aristotle. This adjective comes as somewhat of a surprise in the

light of what we have said in previous chapters concerning Cureau's

reputation among his contemporaries as a leading adversary of the cen­

tury's most iconoclastic philosopher, RenS Descartes, and as an ardent

defender of Traditional thought. Yet, the word appears so frequently

and in connection with so many different questions that we cannot over­

look the obvious relation between "innovativeness" and Cureau's atti­

tude towards his own ideas in comparison with systems of thought ad­

vanced by his compeers. Thus, it seems fitting to begin our study of

his works and the theory of man they formulate and defend by coming to

terms with the ideological and methodological implications of "new" as

it applies to the title of his first major contributions NauveVles

Vensees sur tes causes de ta lwni'&res du desbordement du et de

t'amour d'inclination.

97 98

La Chambre's Early Works and the Hew Scientific Spirit; Revolution Versus Reform in His Approach

There is no doubt that one of La Chambre1s principal aims in selecting the three topics to be examined in the first volume of essays

•was to win favor among the various interest groups comprising the in­ tellectual elite of Paris. Checking the literature of the period around

163^s we find that light was a fashionable topic of conversation among the associates of Mersenne's academic circlewhile the theory of 2 t tcanoup d ’inctinat-Lon fascinated poets and scientists alike. The short essay on the Nile was certain to please Siguier and the residents of his hotel who studied the culture and civilization of Ancient Egypt, but more than this, the mysterious property that caused this particular river to overflow its banks and fertilize the surrounding valley was a curiosity that had captured the imagination of the Renaissance natural philosopher, Jerome Cardano, who came up with the interesting theory

Gassendi and Descartes both advanced theories on the nature of light consistent with their respective methodological theories. (See Descartes® Le Monde3 "Traite de la lumiere,M which was in private cir­ culation as early as 1633$ Peiresc's correspondence with Mersenne be­ tween 163b and 1635 pertaining to the experiments with the mechanism of vision he and Gassendi were conducting at his residence in Aix-en- Provence at that time, and Mersenne1s L'Optique et la Catoptvique (1651), where all the major theories on light during the first part of the cen­ tury (those of Della Porta, Descartes, and Gassendi) are systematically discussed and refuted as having too little concrete data to support the conclusions drawn. 2 See Th. Renaudot, Premieve Centurie des Questions Traitees ez Conferences du Bureau d'adresse2 "Table des Points.” Some examples are listed in note 4 of chap = 2. 99 that the "occult virtue" was really saltpeter, or le nitre. Hence, a volume bearing the intriguing title of Nowettes Pensees sur tes causes de la lumi'&re, du desbordement du Nils et de 1 'amour d*inclination was certain to achieve an immediate, if not an enduring, success for the provincial doctor from Le Mans.

While establishing a diversified audience for himself was one of La Chambre's obvious goals, it does not suffice to explain why he elected to publish the essays in a single volume rather than as separate tracts— a choice he might well have made if his only purpose had been to cater to the tastes of the various academic and social circles of

Paris. As he promises in the opening pages of Bouvelles Pens$es sur les causes de la lvmV&re3 the essay which heads the volume:

Et s'il est tel que je le desire, ce ne sera plus par obeissance, mais par inclination, que ie te feray part de mes autres estudes\ ou tu verras, a mon advis, les plus rares desseins que la Medecine & la Philosophic puissent donner, conduites par des routes qui n ’ont point este battues, et qui t *obligeront sinon d’ap- prouver mes sentimens, pour le moins de louer mon courage (Lwz., av.-pr. ).

Thus, the reader who begins with the essay on light is advised from the outset that the thoughts about to be revealed to him in the pages that follow are presented in view of elaborating a methodological theory ap­ plicable to a broad spectrum of scientific problems.

Turning to the essays themselves, we find no introductory state­ ment announcing a break with Scholastic methods comparable to the famous preface Descartes was to publish three years later in explanation of the method used in analyzing the problems considered in each of three 100

illustrative essays respectively concerned.with dioptrics, meteors, and

geometry, Nevertheless for the author of NouoeZZes Pensees s u p Zee causes de Za ZvmV&Pet formerly held theories of light are of interest only insofar as they serve to confirm his own ideas regarding the nature of this phen omen on— -i de as which originate with the Biblical revelation, but which become intelligible to the human mind only through observation.

Hence, the choice of light as the point of departure for scientific in­ quiry becomes imperative for man, since both the Bible and human expe­ rience confirm its excellence.

According to the author of Genesis, light represents the first creation, fashioned by God as ”le veritable caractere & la parfaite image de sa divinite qu'il vouloit imprimer sur la face de I'univers" .

{.Lum., av.-pr.). As for man's role in relation to light, Cureau re­ marks :

. . , ie croirois estre coupable envers le Pere de la Lumiere, si ie n’avois applique mon esprit a considerer attentivement cette divine Qualite, qui est tout ensemble, s'il faut ainsi dire, le coup d1essay & le chef-d'oeuvre de ses Ouvrages; Si ie n ’avois tasche de faire quelque decouverte dans les tenebres, ou il dit luy-mesme qu'elle est cachee; Et si apres cela ie ne faisois part au public des connpissances que ie pense y avoir acquises \Lym3 av.-pr.).

The fact that light was created first is of prime importance to man's understanding of the nature of his world, because as Cureau ex- ' plains, "les choses les plus parfaictes s'approchent de 1'unite de la ‘ multitude" (Lum.3 p. 87). In this sense, light "ayant cette unite de nature par sa simplicity, & cette multitude par le nombre des effets differents plus qu'aucune des formes sensibles, a plus d'essence & est 101 plus parfaicte en son action que pas m e d'elies'* (Lim., p. 88). Thus $ we see that for Cureau, light, by virtue of its "created" nature, is sensible and therefore less infinite and less pure than its creator, even though it remains for man the most worthy object of contemplation in the universe.

But "contemplation" for La Chambre does not mean world renounce­ ment . As he intimates in the last line of the passage cited above, the beatific vision is a privilege to be shared with others by the "seer," according to his talents. Whether the vision is communicated verbally or represented graphically, this activity constitutes the noblest oc­ cupation in which individual men.can engage, because it glorifies the

Creator through multiplication and expansion of being. In Cureau*s words:

On peut. . .dire. . .que la Gloire augmente en effet le merite des choses excellentes, & qu'elle leur donne quelque accroissement qui les rend plus grandes qu'elles ne seroient sans elles. Car puis qu'elle se fait par la Connoissance, & que la Connoissance n'est rien que la Representation & 1*image des objets que 1'ame se forme en elle-mesme; il est certain que la Gloire multiplie en quelque sorte I’estre des choses excellentes, & qu'autant qu'elle se respand dans 1'esprit & dans la bouche des hommes ee sont autant de pourtraits vivans & autant de nouvelles productions que 1'ame fait de ces choses-la. Et c'est de ill sans doute que precede cette ardente passion que 1'homme a pour 1'estime, pour I'honneur & pour la louange, parce qu'il aime sa grandeur & qu'ils se voit accreu par elles, & comme renouvele dans la pensee de ceux qui les luy donnent, ou qui en sont les tesmoins.

Que s'il est permis de parler des pensees que Dieu pent avoir par les sentimens que nous esprouvons en nous-mesmes; nous pouvdns dire aussi qu'il se plaist a la Gloire que nous luy rendons 102 .

en considerant la Bonte, la Sagesse & la Puissance qu’il fait paroistre en ses Ouvrages; parce que nous les multiplions & leurs donnons un nouvel estre,.qui sert a nostre perfection propre & qui aceroist en quelque sorte la nature & le nombre des choses qu'elle a produites ( Lvm^s av.^-pr.). .

Thus, in Cureau’s opinion, we can see that human knowledge be­

gins with "enlightenment” in the most concrete sense of the word. By

comprehending light's multiple effects, i.e., its figures and images as

signs, the seer affirms the existence of an intelligent plan behind the

apparent chaos of cosmic diversity. The instrument that enables him to -

identify recurrent patterns apart from the phenomena in which they im­ mediately occur is language— a sacred trust invested by God in man for

the purpose of confirming the excellence of His order. Language is the

only dimension of human existence capable of transcending the continual

flux of sensible existence by separating quality from the accident in which the observer apprehends it. It is in the act of discovering and naming these qualities as existents in their own right that man not

only confirms, but also reinforces through intensification, the orderly

design of creation.

Keeping in mind the emphasis Cureau places on the need for an

individual effort to apprehend the signs of divine presence, it is easy

to understand what his perspective on Tradition might be; man's order

of knowledge is, always has been, and always will be, nothing more than

a commentary on truth as it is glimpsed through study of the phenomena

of the natural world; but in perfecting one’s understanding of sensible

phenomena by. striving for precision and clarity in the details, man

moves closer to achieving truth-likeness in his science which, in effect. 103 can be the only ultimate goal of a body of knowledge conceived, in terms of a spatiotemporal existence.

Hence,.while it is true that Curean believed in the infinite wisdom contained in the principles, already discovered.by Ancient thinkers like Aristotle, Democritus, and Plato, he was not convinced that the terms of application such laws might have to the study of empirical phe­ nomena had ever been properly understood. Otherwise, he notes, impre­ cise phrases like "occult property" and "secret virtue" would not appear in scientific discourse intended to aid in the discovery of phenomena.

In fact, as he postulates in Les Charact&res des Passions just a few years later s "... .bien qu'il soit veritable qu'il y ait de ces vert us ou proprietez occult es, il est certain qu’il y en a bien mo ins que 1‘on ne pense, & que souvent on fait passer de choses tres claires & tres manifestos pour de grands secrets de la Nature . . ." (C.P.3 III, 208).

In the carrying out of his actual scientific work, Cureau re­ mains essentially faithful to the Aristotelian system which, in his words, . .est fond# sur une demonstrat ion composSe de notions communes ausquelles il faut donner les mains" (Epttress p. 95)• These general notions about nature are often reiterated in La Chambre’s works in phrases of the type ; "la nature suit toujours le.ehemin le plus court" or "la nature ne fait rien en vain." However, it would be mis­ leading to say that Cureau was an "Aristotelian" unless one understands by this term the authentic method of the Stagirite, which consisted primarily in the observation of phenomena. For his own part, La Chambre considered himself more of a disciple of Hippocrates than of Aristotle, 104

and indicates in his correspondence that his esteem for the former 3 slightly outweighs his regard for the latter. In advising a friend as

to the way one ought to go about using the ideas of the Ancients, we can

see the general outline of the physician's own methodology; . .11

ne seroit point de besoin de ruiner les systemes de la philosophie

ancienne. . . . [l]l suffirait de montrer. . .que les principes d'Hippo-

crate conviennent avee les premiers que ces grands Hommes [Platon,

Ddmocrite, Aristote] ont poses” (Epfctres, p. 95)• By "first principles,”

he means those "qui sont insensibles, & qui ne se peuvent connoistre,

que par de subtiles abstractions de 1'entendement” as compared to those which are "sensibles & palpables coxmne ceux de la Medecine, de la

Chimie, &c." {Epttx>es3 p. 95).

In taking account of his own talents and interests, Cureau de

La Chambre saw his role as a methodologist in terms of form as well as

in terms of content. Since his mode of communication had to be verbal,

his first concern was to cultivate the language to a point where it was

both precise and accessible to the widest possible range of individuals.

In other words, his discourses were not only intended to be read for

their content; in his role as an Academician and early advocate for the

development of a scientific French language, Cureau wrote for purposes

related to the cultivation of lexicography and semantics, for in his

^See Epttves, Letter XIII, p. 93. • .j'ay une veneration singuliere pour Aristote, & . . .apres le grand Hippoerate je ne conhois personne dans 1*Antiquite qui ait parle si raisonnablement de la Nature que luy. ..." mind there could be no knowledge in scientific matters without a means of verbal expression.

The cultivation of French goes hand-in-hand with the second aspect of Cureau's self-styled mission— the continuation of natural philosophy's traditional aim: to account for phenomena through the correlation of size, situation, figure, and movements. Making phenomena

"reasonable" means making them intelligible— a task which remains im­ possible as long as the linguistic instrument of expression is equivocal and in consequence, obscure. For Cureau, as for the rest of his edu­ cated contemporaries, there was only one model for precision and clarity mathematics. As he wrote to the Bishop of Cahors upon being asked whether the blood of an individual could remain pure even after death, or whether in the instance in question— the death of a man of God— it was connected with his exceptionally spiritual natures

Vous m'avez donne une Commission qui est fort delicate, & qui me fait trembler, quand je pense qu'elle me rend juge entre la puissance de Dieu, & celle de la Nature, & qu'elle me met au hazard d'oster a un Saint la Gloire d'un Miracle, ou de luy en attribuer un qui sera peut- estre faux. C'est pourquoy vous ne devez pas trouver estrange si je forme des difficultez sur une chose qui a paru tres-evidente a d'autres: Farce que je tiens qu'en ces matieres il faut agir comme dans la Mathematique; sur des hypotheses, & par des principes qui soient si certains qu'ils ne laisseroient pas le mo indre doufce dans 1'esprit {Epttres, p. 257).

With the ideological, methodological and epistemological prem­ ises of Cureau's approach to science in proper focus, the frequent ap­ peal to "novelty" we noted in his work becomes easy to explain. To begin, the very fact that his discourses are written in French smacks 106

of innovation, for in 1634, it remained the exception rather than the

rule to use any language other than Latin for philosophic writing.

Second, his fidelity to Aristotle is quite different from Scholastic

Aristotelian!sm, which is authoritarian in the sense that it substitutes

philosophical concern for classification for the empirical concern of

direct observation of phenomena. Therefore, while La Chambre frequently

expresses his admiration for the Ancients, it is not out of any belief

in their superior intelligence, but rather because, as he notes in

L'Art de oonnoistre tea Homnes in 1659, they were "plus justes observa-

teurs que ceux qui sont venus apres eux" (Airfc, p. 383).

In conclusion, we can now see that Cureau acted in good faith

when he characterized his thoughts as "new" even though his constant

frame of reference includes the principles which are as old as philos­

ophy itself. As E. Gilson has demonstrated in his careful examination

of the Cartesian system in relation to Scholastic philosophy and theol­

ogy, even the seventeenth-century thinker whose break with "authority"

is regarded as the most dramatic of his time found himself continually

drawn back into the framework Tradition had established for discussing

the problems of physics and biology.*1 For Cureau, as for Descartes,

the "Tradition" was not only the foundation of science, it was also the

basis for religious dogma. Hence, any departure from the accepted

teachings had to be thoroughly justified in terms of the consequences,

E. Gilson, Etudes sw? le role de la pensee midi&vale d an s la formation du systems cartisien (Paris, 1930). 107 \ involved, for as we shall see next in reviewing the basic lines of syn­

cretic attempts between Christian theology and pagan philosophy, the

risk of limiting God’s power at the expense of man, or vice versa, was

for all practical purposes unavoidable.

Christianity and Platonism: Outline of the Major Ideological Conflicts from Aristotle to the Renaissance Natural Philosophers

Since the time of its inception, Christianity had been a melting

pot of Judaic and pagan customs, rites $ and cosmological doctrines which

appeared superficially reconcilable, but which in reality were often at

complete odds. On the one hand, there were the external pressures?--the

history of Western thought is punctuated by periods of strong intellec­

tual resistance to the advance of Christianity, most of which are in

some way reminiscent of the earliest, most obstinate opposition leading

up to the Middle Ages $ the Neoplatonist School, whose major represen­

tatives include Plotinus (205-270), Porphyry (233-304?), lamblicus

(d. 330), and Proclus (d. 485). However, as C. S. Lewis observes in

The Discarded Image, the reason why Neoplatonism always held such a sway

over Christianity has less to do with pressures exerted from the outside

by Neoplatonists than it does with internal pressures arising from the

doctrines themselves. As he comments; “There was [at the time of the

Neoplatonist School] and is still, a Christian 'left,* eager to detect'

and anxious to banish every Pagan element; but also a Christian ’right’ 108 who, like St. Augustine, could, find the doctrine of the Trinity- foreshadowed in the Vlatorvio-i.

Strictly speaking, the conflicts that beleaguered Christian theologians down through the centuries fall into one of two categories: either they are inherent to the affiliated Platonic tradition, which

A; 0. Lovejoy has shown to be in fundamental contradiction with itself over the Idea of the Good;^ or else they stem from the basic disharmony between the Judaeo-Christian and pagan world views which imply radically different conceptions of the Divine and, subsequently, of man.

Plato and Aristotle on the Idea of the Good

The Platonic Idea of the Good introduced in the Republic as the

Idea of Ideas is portrayed as a Perfect and Self-Sufficient Being, a position which leaves no rational explanation for the existence of the world. In the Timaeus, Plato attempts to provide such an explanation by taking advantage of the negative corollary modern Greek usage had attached to the word for good = self-sufficiency, which was good - free­ dom from envy. This metaphysical polarity, when extended to the idea of perfection, has interesting repercussions: if the Good were not somehow productive of, or responsible for, the existence of other creatures than himself, it would, as Lovejoy remarks in The Great Chain of Being3 "lack a positive element of perfection and would not be so complete as its

5C. S. Lewis, The Discarded Image (London, 1964), pp. 48-1*9.

^A. 0. Lovejoy, The Great Chain of Being (Cambridge, Mass, 1936). 109 7 very definition demands that it is.” . Thus, by a bold inversion of logic, the idea of a Self-Sufficient Being is transformed into a Self-

Transcending Fecundity whose necessary objective is to fill all parts of the universe with as diverse a range of creatures as there are ideas endemic to the Idea of the Good.

Aristotle versus Plato on the Idea of the Good

In studying the teachings of his master $ Aristotle adhered to the original notion of self-sufficiency as the essential attribute of

Good, while acknowledging the inner necessity of a relationship between the Unmoved Perfection and the sensible world of phenomena. In other words, he did not view the Supreme Being as a World-ground, or explana­ tion as to why other things exist in actuality, and in his Metaphysics he even goes so far as to reject the notion that all potentialities should be realized. The primary refutation of the contradictory Pla­ tonic doctrine of the Good, however, comes in the Evmedicot Ethies where, as Lovejoy has remarked, Aristotle argues according to the purest logic on this point: "One who is self-sufficient can have no need of the service of others, nor of their affection, nor of social life, since 8 he is capable of living alone."

^Tbid.f p. ^9. 8 Ibid.y p. 1*3, quoted from Aristotle ’s Eth. Eum«s VII, 12l*l*b- 12l*5b. In a footnote (#27, p. 339) $ Lovejoy later mentions that there are passages elsewhere in the works of Aristotle that conflict with the doctrine of complete self-sufficiency defended here, e.g., Magna Moratias 1213a. 110

Christian application of the Idea of the Good to the Godhead

Through its early association with Classical philosophy, Chris­ tianity absorbed the Platonico-Aristotelian dialectic of the Idea of the Good in all of its inherent contradiction and applied it to God.

In consequence there existed, according to Lovejoy, side by side the conception of at least Two-Gods-in-One,

of a divine completion which was not complete in it­ self, since it could not be itself without the ex­ istence of beings other than itself and inherently incomplete; of an Immutability which required and expressed itself in Change; of an Absolute that was nevertheless not truly absolute because it was re­ lated, at least by way of implication and causation, to entities whose nature was not its nature and whose . existence and perpetual passage were antithetic to its immutable existence.9

In its confrontation with the Judaic all-powerful God, Chris- . tianity1 s confused Platonism fostered an effort among Church doctors to reconcile the problem of evil. This debate became particularly virulent during the twelfth century, when Bernard de Clairvaux chal­ lenged Pierre Abelard's notion of the "best of all possible worlds" on the grounds that God would not have included evil in his plan unless . there was to be an evolution towards perfection over time, as the Bible teaches. In the thirteenth century, the controversy took on a new di­ mension, as Thomas Aquinas, in his Stoma Theologica, set out to estab­ lish a rational link between man and God which would supplement the ex­ periential love-based faith taught by St. Augustine. He was opposed

9a. 0. Love joy. The Great Chain of Being 3 p«: 50. Ill

by a group of British theologians whose chief exponent. Duns Scotus,

argued against the Aquinian doctrine of free will enlightened and di­ rected by the superior understanding faculty in favor of a voluntarist theory, according to which will, and not understanding, is viewed as the prime ingredient in the constitution of reality. As we shall sge

in chapter 7, the issues under discussion among these theologians— free will and grace— were revived again in the seventeenth century, at which time they involved not only theologians, but philosophers and theore­ ticians of science as well. In addition, another important current in

Medieval philosophy, Averroism, which taught that God had created the world in one fell swoop, leaving the work to regulate itself through the innate balance of its component parts, helped to bridge the gap be­ tween Renaissance natural philosophy and the first phase of the scien­ tific "revolution" in the seventeenth century because, unlike.the other thought systems of its time, it offered a positive rationale for the continuation of human inquiry into the nature of things.

With Marsilio Ficino, the emphasis is unmistakably placed on man, whom the author of De vita eo&iitus aompapanda (lA70) saw as the cosmic mediator in maintaining the natural balance between good and evil. Inspired by his discovery of an alledgedly ancient set of manu­

scripts known as the Corpus Hermeticum in 1U60, Ficino proposed a theory of the cosmos whereby man could invoke the "powers" of celestial realms by working upwards through solicitation of the innate correspond­

ing properties of natural phenomena. According to the philosopher- tumed-magician, this definition of man was consistent with a system of 112

aboriginal theology everywhere harmonious with, itself or una prisca

theologica ubique si-bi consona seota which had culminated and was syn-

cretized in the more recent revelations of Christianity.

Throughout the Renaissance period, theories of the magical prop­

erties of the universe abounded— some "demonic,” some "white" and, most importantly, others which lay claim to the ancient Hebraic cabbala. On the one hand, it was assumed that the world and all of its parts were

"alive," and that this universal life was maintained by secret virtues that the magician could not really understand, but which he was perfectly

capable of invoking. At the same time, technology developed rapidly in the applied sciences, thanks to the interest which cabbalistic study

generated in mathematics, the one "true" science, and the consequences

of this positive science suggested that what seemed occult and unknowable

in nature obeyed laws not unlike the ones that governed the man-made machines which produced intricate fountains and the like. Thus, while magic affirmed the alchemical design of living things, mathematicians worked out designs for building elaborate machines to decorate the estates of nobles and the palaces of kings, leaving the door open for the formulation of a philosophy of nature which would reject the notion of "secret" or "occult" properties along with Aristotelian final causes

and substantial forms in favor of "clear” and "distinct" ideas such as the principles on which geometry was based.

History shows that man's confidence in his abilities to unravel the mysterious relationships binding the universe together was not merely discouraged by the Church; the challenge was met on intellectual grounds by defenders of Scholastic philosophy who found sufficient ammunition within the actual texts touted by the self-proclaimed magi­ cians to deal a crippling blow to the magical side of natural philos­ ophy. The recently discovered Hermetic documents, for example, which included Pimander and AsalepiuSf were attributed to the thrice-great philosopher, priest and king of Egypt named Hermes, whose existence had never really been documented. Moreover, the Huguenot scholar Issac

Casaubon^ had meticulously dated the manuscript thought to be the authentic work of Hermes to the first century A.D., thereby destroying the magicians' argument in favor of its antiquity. But even if the natural philosopher refused to accept these proofs, he had to admit that the author of the texts in question, whether Hermes himself or one of his later commentators, was not an advocate of natural magic so much as he was a world-renouncing mystic who, like the real Plato and not the invention of the Neoplatonists, held worldly things in utmost contempt.

As Lewis remarks, it was actually through the commentaries of late

Christian translators like Chaldius who left an incomplete version of the Timaeus in the fourth century, that Plato gained the reputation of. having been, next to Moses, the great monotheistic cosmogonist and philosopher of creation.^ Finally, man's position at the center of the

■^Chalmers' General Biographical Dictionary3 Vol. viii (1813) places Casaubon (pseud. Hortentius) "among those learned men who in the beginning of the [seventeenth] century were very solicitous to have a union formed between the popish and protestant religions" (p. 357).

11 C, S. Lewis, The Discarded Images p. 52. 114

universe turns out to be a gross exaggeration of the ancient astrologi­

cal cosmology; in truth, the world and mankind were deemed marginal

elements in the universal scheme, made from the dregs of matter and

situated on a planet located on the outermost rim of the action. Ac­

cording to this view, the so-called magus is really nothing more than

a peripheral observer— at best an afterthought— who would have to be worse than slightly pretentious to regard himself as a cosmic coordina­

tor!

But doctrinal rebuttals such as these did not discourage natural

magicians of the early seventeenth century who remained undaunted in

their loyalty to the yviscae theologicae* Following in the tradition

of Giordano Bruno who, according to Lovejoy, made the incongruity of the

entire compound of preconceptions in medieval philosophy "far clearer

than ever before, by developing each with bold and rigorous logic within

its own sphere, and with a fine indifference to any lack of harmony be- 12 tween it and the others,11 many were touched by what Frances Yates has

called the "Rosicrucian enlightenment." Far from dying out at the end of

the sixteenth century, alchemy and the astrological sciences experienced a new wave of enthusiasm which was intimately connected to the political am­ bitions of Protestant states in Germany, England, and Bohemia, as Miss 13 Yates has shown. Paracelsian physicians like the Englishman, Robert

Fludd, together with latter day cabbalists and hermeticists in France

12 « A. 0. Lovejoy, The Great Chain of Beingx p. 121.

^F. Yates, The Rosieruaian Enlightenment (London, 1972). 115 like J. Gaffarel and A. Kircher,.continued to promote.the occultist ap­ proach to science well into the mid-century, provoking flagrant criti­ cism and denouncement in some cases by solid members of the scientific community like Mersenne and Gassendi.

Despite the wide diversity: in the methodological approaches to science proposed by different individuals and groups within the intel­ lectual sphere of the first half of the seventeenth centurys it was clear that the Renaissance had succeeded in establishing one universal principle: man stood firmly at the center of this world regardless of whether the position of the planet itself was cosmically significant or not. Whether through contemplative thought or magical operations, man was a mediator 5 capable of dominating the terrestrial realm through his understanding of the. celestial one. Unless one were a world-renouncing pietist, in which case all human endeavor short of submitting to divine will was futile, the consensus seemed to be that science was the pri­ mary goal of human existence. The problem was to decide the proper points of departure for scientific inquiry and to select a method or series of methods that would enable one to eventually separate fact from fiction.

Cureau and the Methodological Debate in the Early Seventeenth Century '

In the academic circle of Mersenne, professional bias came to be an important dividing line among scientific thinkers: mathematicians and physicians, for example, could not be expected to maintain the same priorities as theologians; yet, representatives from different 116 professions obviously felt.compelled, to universalize the approach best suited to their discipline to.all areas of scientific inquiry. Hence, one of the popular methods of demonstrating the versatility of a method­ ological approach among those who disagreed was to compose a volume of essays on seemingly different areas of investigation and to show how the same methods could apply to each case. As we know, this was the intent of both Descartes and Cureau in their respective statements on method, although the former was more explicit in admitting his design. In spite of such attempts at cordiality, there were eventual clashes between in­ dividuals over the issues which were at the heart of their respective theories of nature: light, animal intelligence, the nature of the soul and of the passions, and the possibility of a vacuum in nature. Some­ times, as in the case of Gassendi and Descartes on the theory of light, the disagreements took on exaggerated proportions and set men at odds for unduly long periods.

Dy extension of his theory of a natural hierarchy of essences based on the multiple effects of light, Cureau espoused the Hermetico-

Platonic doctrine of universal life expressed in the formula of Hermes

Trismegistus, "la lumiere est I 1amour & le commerce des choses les plus dissemblables & les plus opposees” (Lwru3 p. 63, marginal note to

Pirnancbe). Hence, his approach to the study of living things remains essentially animistic in the sense that he believed in the existence of an organizing principle which controls all organic development and be­ havior. Following the teachings of Hippocrates, he assumed that com­ merce between body &nd soul is maintained by a light-like quality or 117

spirit which Hse nourrit d’une pure & lumineuse substance, parce q.u’il

est vray que dans les esprits 11 y a une lumiere inter!eure, & qui est

la plus subtile, rare, legere & mobile partie du corps" (Lum*3 p. 63)..

It is on this basis that Cureau attempts to formulate his theory of the

organism, which assumes that within a material body animal spirit has been synthesized from the luminous substance contained in vital or heat-.producing spirits and desposited in the nerves, provides the neces­

sary medium for transmitting the cognitive signals required for the performance of any voluntary action (see chapter 6).

Since by this definition spirits are considered to be of a nature similar to that of visible light. La Chambre posits that the ob­

server of phenomena can expect their presence in a material body to make

itself known through some recognizable forms. If an organism is highly

spiritual in composition, its body should have a luminous appearance,

like the stars whose content is primarily light. However, in examining nature, one finds that there are denser, more solid bodies which reflect

light from their surfaces but are not really luminous, and others of an

even denser composition that contain light but are not ostensibly

illuminated. Hence, he establishes three classes for physical bodies:

luminous bodies, illuminated bodies, and visible species (esp^oes

visibles)* , However, the distinctions between these categories are not

as important to Cureau as their common cause, diaphany, which makes them

all light-emitting bodies proportional to their compositional ratio of

spirit, and therefore, colorful. As he explains, citing the Platonist

theory: 118

. . . il est vray que "1e Diaphane est en tons les corps plus ou moins, & c'est la cause pourquoy la couleur se trouve en chacun d'eux." Car a mesure que la matiere est sous m e plus grande ou moindre quant it e, il y a plus ou moins du diaphane; et ou il y a plus .ou moins du diaphane, la lumiere est aussi a proportion. De sorte que la couleur estant une lumiere se trouve en chaque corps. . . {Lum** pp. 70-71).

Light and the Order of Perfection

Of all things known to man through his senses, Cureau believed that light "ayant cette unite de nature par le nombre des effects differens, plus d’aueunes des formes sensibles, a plus d*essence & est plus parfaicte en son action qu’aucune d'elles" {Lum.s p. 88). Since it comes closer than any other creature to carrying out the incarnative- transformative activity characteristic of pure form, or God himself, it was La Chambre's wish that visible light be used as the model for

..analyzing the patterns of change exhibited by the more inhibited, less perfect phenomena of nature. Hence, he begins the study of natural forms with the most obvious and impressive group of light bodies in the sensible world, the stars.

The fact that celestial bodies are visible to man indicates that they are of a mixed composition. Cureau imagines their substance to be fluid-like or humoral, permitting the continuous absorption, emission, and transmission of esprits. Considering their size, distance, and relation to the terrestrial realm, it is obvious that they influence the dispositions and behavior of the lower creatures of nature through their spiritual effluences.

In the terrestrial sphere of the cosmos, or sublunar world, the only substance resembling stellar composition is fire, the first of the ■ . . -V'.. - .. . ' ' - ■ • 119 four elements whose physical nature incorporates the two male qualities» hot and dry. The mixed bodies of natural phenomena have only a small portion of this igneous or spiritual substance in their systems; other­ wise they are composed of cold, moist components native to fire's ele­ mentary opposite, water. Thus, color as a-key to psychophysiological nature exists only within the humors of the denser bodies of men and animals, for what appears on the surface to be the natural color of something is the net product of its structure and organization. In

Cureau's words: ”. . .la couleur ne suit pas la quantite, mais bien la vertu des elemens, laquelle est bien souvent en celuy qui est en moindre portion & quantit6” (Lum. 3 p. 111). A good example of the unreliability of superficial color can be seen in the appearance of water itself, which is outwardly transparent, but whose metaphysical components guarantee its cold moist and therefore material nature. The true com­ position of water is only evident in the effects or traces left by its passage over something. As Cureau points out, Aristotle is correct in assuming that the principle of blackness lies in humidity, for the char­ acteristic marks or chca’det&res left by water are indeed black (Lum. j p. 22). A further example is that of charcoal, which as he explains be­ low, is primarily composed of water:

Les charbons deviennent noirs par 11humeur que la chaleur attire du centre a la superficie. Et de fait quand toute 1*humeur est consommSe, la noireeur du charbon se perd. Or ie n 'entends pas ici le centre du corps, ny les superficies exterieures; mais le centre, la circonference, & les superficies du meslange, qui se trouvent en chaque partie du corps (Lum* s p. 22 ). 120

Analysis of the organism through external characteristics; the theory

In living organisms capable of self-initiated and self-generated movements, the same compositional-decompositional, creative-destructive cycles which characterize the interaction between the composite entity and its environment is internalized- Like the celestial bodiess each organic part strives to maintain its integrity against the stresses imposed from within and without by the constant struggle of esprits to regain their freedom only to reunite again with another mixed entity.

Cureau imagined that free spiritual bodies moved from place to place in nebula-like formations vibrating together at a certain frequency. If such a mass were to encounter a similarly inclined spiritual nebula ? he thought that attraction would cause the two to merge, and the resulting effect of their vibration would be proportionately intensified. Thus, spiritual masses as understood by La Chambre are capable of stimulating inanimate bodies of similar composition, impelling them to resound in the same manner that two chords strung to the same tension will affect one another. As he explains in L 'Amour d finclination:

Or comme il y a des mouvemens proportionnez, & d'autres qui ne le sent pas, & des subiects disposes a tels mouvemens, & non pas a d'autres; il faut aussi, ce me semble, avouer que 1'esmotion spiritueuse a ces mesmes conditions, & que rencontrant un corps dispose a recevoir le mouvement qu'elle a, elle I'excitera assurement en luy; ou bien le fortifiers, si le_ mesme s'y trouve desia, comme nous venons de dire qu'il se fait dans la chorde, qui est tendue a la mesme proportion de celle qui est touches. Mesme s'il arrive que 1'impression soit bien forte, elle ne laissera pas d'esmouvoir des esprits du mesme mouvement qu'elle a, quoy qu'il ne f ussent pas disposes a le recevoir {Inal. ^ pp. 73-TU ). 121

Through its involvement in the transmission process, each organ­

ism expends spiritual energy in proportion to the puissance active or

essence of its moving parts (the humors and internal organs), and the measure of this dynamic exchange is the body temperament. Unlike tem­ perature, which registers only relative levels of heat and cold— or

destructive alteration— temperament refers to all four qualities of ele­ mentary composition— hot, cold, dry, and moist— end is directly con­ cerned with the cognitive operations of the soul (see chapter 6). Thus, body temperament constitutes not only an index to physical activity, but also to the entire range of psychophysiological and moral dispositions of every living thing, and may consequently be considered as the basis for classification according to type by interpretation of the individ­ ual's external features and behavioral patterns. •

Temperaments and Humors as the Premise for a Science of Human Character and Behavior

Cureau believed that what was needed in the seventeenth century was a method of judging the temperament as both the momentary disposi­ tion of a given individual and as an indication of type. Strictly speaking, Aristotle's theory on the relations between temperament and inclination had already established the framework for typological classification by creating categories to correspond to the predominant qualities. However, in La Chambre's opinion, Aristotle' system was but a beginning since it designates only the dramatic differences between men thereby failing to account for the fact that the inner world is not in static equilibrium, but is instead a constant and dynamic struggle to 122

create order among the changing levels of vital heat. Although the

psychological understanding of man in the seventeenth century was by

and large framed, in the typological categories of Aristotle, those who,

like Cureau, had studied Greek philosophy and civilization realized that

-there never.had been a consensus among thinkers as to what the true

cause or causes of temperament might actually involve.

The theory of temperament before Cureau

Empedocles was the Greek physician to first advocate the doc­ trine of four elementary qualities in nature. A student of Egyptian medicine, he believed that air, fire, water, and earth were the basic

ingredients whose proportion in living things had to be kept in equi­

librium in the interest of survival. This doctrine became a primary point of controversy between Aristotle and Democritus; the first

espoused the Empedoclean view of biology while the second argued in

favor of atomism and maintained that all things were essentially made

of a homogeneous matter that could be more or less dense.

The rejection of materialism and subsequent equation of the

"substantial forms" with soul was precisely what made Aristotelian

thought more amenable to the neoplatonized Christian theology than the

atomistic philosophy of Democritus and the Epicurean school he inspired.

Hence, along with the physics of the Prime Mover and the Moved, Aris-r

totle's biological analogy of the heart as Mover or generator, and 123

distributor of vital spirits via the humors or Moved entities dominated lit Western psychology and shaped the medical outlook of the Middle Ages.

The Greeks themselves were not strictly Aristotelian in their medical practice$ however. Inspired by the Platonic confusion between

subject and object arising from the apparent identity between God and

Goodness or Productivity, Hippocrates (460-375 B.C.) emphasized the role played by spirits in the production of the vital heat needed for anima­ tion. In the physician’s view, animation consisted in the body’s ability to synthesize the inner light of spirit into energy. Consequently, movement could not be reduced to a mere transfer of impulse from one place to another; instead, it had to arise from the innate capacity of a material substance to transform itself into a spiritual one. Thus, the difference between the humoral outlook of Aristotle and the Platonico-

Hippocratic tradition essentially comes down to the different prereq­ uisites of their respective theories of animation: on the one hand,

Aristotle searched for a principle, or fountainhead, from which all movement could be shown to originate, a position which ultimately leads to the mechanism of an electrical circuit; by contrast, Hippocrates, like

Plato, does not appear to have insisted on the separation of subject and object, assuming instead that the inherent capacities of matter are al­ chemical, or self-transformative and hence biochemical.

. 1 . '

h^The analogy between Aristotle's doctrine of the Prime Mover and its counterpart in the human system— the heart— is developed by G. Ganguilhem in the first chapter of La Formation du oonoepte de reflexe anx XVIIe et XVIIIe sieoles (1955) entitled: "Etat du problSme du mouvement musculaire avant Descartes," pp. 9-26. 124

The two attitudes which characterize the systems of Plato and

Aristotle give rise to different theories of health and well-being. For

Aristotle, the point of departure consists in recognizing that health is a static state or fortress whose sanctity is threatened from without by spiritual nebulae whose vibrations cause humoral and organic spirits to resonate out of kilter with the internal mechanism. Hippocrates, by con­ trast , begins with the premise that health is the net product of dynamic equilibrium between the individual and his environment 9 and that good health is fostered through control of that interaction. Consequently, the medical techniques suggested by Aristotle's view include measures helpful in restoring the inner balance such as blood-letting and purga­ tion in addition to preventive methods such as appropriate dress to counter the deleterious effects of extreme heat or cold. Hippocratic medicine makes use of all these techniques, but at the same time encour­ ages the implementation of external controls including soothing music, good company, and pleasant surroundings. In fact, it was this theory of therapeutics that led to the formulation of the classical Greek notion that the physician cares for both the body and the soul.

The legacy of Greek medicine to Western civilization can largely be viewed as an attempt to dissociate the theory of animation from the philosophical impasse inherent in the application of either Platonic or Aristotelian physics to biology by bringing it into line with the fruits of observational science. In the third century, B.C., Erasistra- tos, the Greek doctor after whom we might remember that Le Vayer de 125 •

Boutigny named the physician of Tarsia et Zilie reputedly modeled after 15 the personality of Cureau de La Chambres. .identified, the life-giving spirits.of the organism with pnevma* or the atmospheric substance re­ newed to the body through respiration and instrumental in the functions of the brain and nervous system. Continuing along similar lines, the

Roman physician Celsus (53 B.C. - 7 A.D.) posited that the life-giving principle inhaled from the air was assimilated into the organism's blood and then circulated throughout the body via the veins and arteries.

Finally, in the second century A.P., Galen taught that this vital prin­ ciple maintained the muscular tone that distinguishes living animals from dead ones since, he observed that in the latter, the muscles soon

16 ■ become flaccid.

By comparison, "psychology” or its historical antecedent in the typing of human character and behavior through analysis of external ap­ pearance, initially pursued a much less empirical course than other aspects of medicine. Most likely the reason for its retarded develop­ ment into a scientific discipline lies in the fact that it had little to gain in the way of concrete information from the primary techniques of early physiologists— -dissection and gross anatomy— and thus remained the derivative of mathematical logic. The same Galen who investigated muscular tone through dissection categorically applied Euclidian

15 ' See chap. 2, note 39•

■^Canguilhem, p. 10. 126 geometry.to.the Aristotelian theory of four elements, and arrived.at the concept of temperament as a predictable proportion between %the four bodily humors, choler or yellow bile, blood,.atra- (black) bile or melancholy, and phlegm, which allegedly are formed by.the combination of the non-polar qualities, respectively hot and dry, hot and moist, cold and dry, and cold and moist. Using this system, men could be di­ vided into psychological types on the basis of their humoral disposi­ tions, making it possible.to foresee emotional as well as physical dis­ orders peculiar to a given category.

Traditional "psychologists" agreed that the ideal temperament was typical of mankind, who as a species stood at the midpoint of nature, where all four qualities of elementary composition are proportionately distributed. If an individual exemplifying the attributes, of perfect temperament were to exist, he would be classified as "temperate,11 while all others would fall into one of the eight remaining subcategories of intemperate or imperfect temperament, in which case one or two of the qualities predominated. If one quality held precedence over the other three, the resulting individual could be classified as being of hot, cold, dry, or moist temperament. These four classes constitute the group known as the simple intemperate temperaments.. If, on the other hand, two of the non-polar qualities shared the dominant role, the individual possessed of such a temperament would be described as hot- dry, cold-moist,. hot-moist, or cold-dry . Traditional medicine referred to these as the mixed intemperate temperaments, and usually designated them by the name of the humor of the same mixed nature. Hence, the 127 hot-dry mixture was "bilious or choleric, the cold-moist type phlegmatic, the hot-moist type sanguine, and the cold-dry type atrabilious or melan­ cholic.

Persons of mixed intemperate temperament were expected to look and act according to the characterial dispositions native to the con­ trolling humor or humors. Moreover, humoral types were often linked to their astrological counterparts: cholerics were considered to be of

Martian temperament, or highly active and aggressive, quick to anger; phlegmatics were passive, dull and slow to move like the moon; sanguines were deemed jovial and magnanimous like Jupiter; and melancholics possessed the cautious and often recalcitrant and taciturn nature of

Saturn. As for appearance, hot-dry men had angular features and were large of frame as a result of heat, with the hairy, rough-textured skin caused by excessive dryness; cold-moist phlegmatics, soft and round due to a preponderance of moisture, and small of stature from the retractive effects of cold; sanguines, warm to the touch, large and round from the combined effects of heat and moisture; and melancholics, hirsute and small of stature, or typical of cold-dry mixtures. 17 According to Aristotle's syllogistic rule of physiognomy, a man's character could be inferred from the effects known to proceed from the qualitative dispositions of his humors. Thus, a choleric man who appeared yellow-faced, lean and hairy from the predominance of bile in

"^For the text of Aristotle's syllogistic rule quoted by La Chambre in L 'Art de connoistre les Hormess see chapter 5. 128

his system was expected to display those behavioral traits associated

with a highly active and noble nature» i.e.„ prides ambition, vengeance

and shrewdness.

From the Greeks down through the Middle Ages, the notions of

temperament and humors derived from Aristotelian categories of being

formed the basis for the psychological understandings of man, an astral being existing in a cosmos regulated by sideral movements and aspects.

By the late sixteenth century, however, the word humor had acquired

another meaning in addition to the one derived from astrology, creating

as it were an interesting dichotomy in the theory of man which is re­

flected in the ideas put forth by La Chambre. Therefore it deserves brief mention before consideration of his version of the theory of temperaments and humors.

During the sixteenth century, the theme of humoral psychology

enjoyed an unprecedented vogue among literary writers of international

acclaim whose works were being read in France. We find, for example, that the theory of humors serves as the basis for analyses the differ­ ent characters make of one another in the plays of Shakespeare. ^ .

Towards the turn of the century, the theater of Ben Jon son known as the

”comedy of humors” shows that the characterial types have become so

entrenched in the minds of people that a man could assume a certain humor or guise as his public personality in order to hide what he really was. In other words, the word humor was gradually being

There are numerous examples, but in Shakespeare the inter­ action between Caesar and Brutus is particularly interesting from this vantage point. 129 assimilated.to the word character, as the enterprising individual dis­ covered the means of mastering his destiny, or nature,. through con­ sciously creating a self-image.. The fashion of thinking of man as hav­ ing a real and affected, humor is an important ingredient in the 'pr^cieux and burlesque literary styles of early seventeenth-century France where the demarcation line between being and appearing (etve/pcQ?a$tve) became less clear. Thus by the time of Cureau de La Chambre, the word humor had distinctive reference to both a physiological reality and a charac­ ter! al type from which personality traits could be selected and adopted by the individual.

The sixteenth-century discrimination between these two notions of humor is reflected in the two categories of chavoQt'&vess or exter­ nally manifested traits,, established by La Chambre% the ohaxact^ves ooi’povelSj or unaffected gestures and features owing to the inclination, and the eharact'&pes movauXy or conscious supplement to verbal communica­ tion, such as eye and forehead movements, wagging (tremoussement) of the tongue, voice inflections, laughter mad body carriage. However, in

Cureau‘s theory of man, the word humor retains its medical authenticity as a bodily fluid, or causal factor, not to be confused with the exter­ nal effect, or participation in a complex of external effects, which together constitute character qua personality. We shall take up this problem in greater detail again when discussing the various categories of signs used by La Chambre as the means, by which men might be known.

For the present time, however, let us examine the fundamental contrasts between La Chambre*s psyehophysiological understandings of human charac­ ter and behavior.and the medical outlook of the early seventeenth century. 130

.La Chambre8 s Modified Theory of Temperaments and Humors

In summing up the medicine of seventeenth-century France 9

Levy-Valensi wrote:

D 1avoir connu Hippocrate et Galien, sans la deformation des traductions arahes, semble dtre ne chez nos prede- cesseurs un renouveau d*adoration idolatre. La doctrine medicale frangaise, c'est Hippocrate accommode par Galien a la sauce pSripateticienne! 1'observation du medecin^g de Cos est remplacee par 1*induction aristotelicienne.

While it is true that Cureau de La Chambre ? like most of his contempo­ raries , does not appear to depart significantly from Aristotle's teach­ ings, he does not apply the Stagirite's inductions without reservation.

Instead, he attempts to follow the advice of Hippocrates, interpreting what he observed in the light of his spiritual transmission theory to which he attributes "la cause de la dissolution universelle des corps,

& de ce que I 1on dit que le temps ronge & devore tout" p. 13).

Like the Greek physician, Cureau de La Chambre believed that alteration in the balance of external and internal conditions was a continuous process which worked.to either reinforce the individual's innate dispositions or inclinations, or else to weaken them by fostering the acquisition of new behavioral patterns or habits. Thus, the theory of spiritual transmission is at the heart of Cureau's theory of man just as we

^^Levy-Valensi, La Medeoine et ies Medeoins frangais au XVIIe sieole (Paris, 1933), p. 12. 131 found it to be.the basis of his.cosmology. This theoiy .permits' him to make the traditional qualitative.statements about human.temperament within the quantitative frame of reference provided by the spirits, as shown in the following texts

Ceux qui ont beaucoup d'esprits, actifs & remuans; ont 1'emission plus facile & plus vigoureuse, aussi bien que ceux qui ont le cuir plus rare & plus ouverte & tout ce qui aide a fortifier le sexe, 15aage, les alimens, les passions, I’exercice, la saison, le climat, & les autres. Car les sanguins & les bilieux en ont davantage que les melancholiques & les phleg-' matiques; les hommes que les femmes, les ieunes que les vieux; ceux qui se nourrissent debons alimens, subtils & transpirables, qui sont en un air & une saison temperee, qui sont ioyeux ou choleres. Car toutes ces choses rehdent les esprits plus actifs & la peau plus ouverte ' (Incl.3 pp. 55-56 ).

Cureau’s understanding of spiritual transmission was very im­ portant in shaping his attitude towards the Aristotelian system of classification by humoral type since it emphasized the compositional nature and circulation of the humors themselves, which he believed constituted the body’s system for distributing vital heat: espvits moving through the body during digestion and respiration cause fluctua­ tion in the natural equilibrium of all organic parts; since certain humors contain more espvits in their composition, and are therefore more easily altered than others, their innate spirituality renders them much more susceptible to similar spiritual masses reaching the body from the outside. Alteration in the concentration levels of espvits in the humors subsequently would modify the action potential or essence of that humor by rendering it either more or less viscous. It was particularly in its failure to recognize the qualitative differences 132

that exist in the humors themselves and modify their behavior accord­

ingly that caused La Chambre to be critical of the medicine of his own

time. As he explains in L'Art de oormoistve tes Eormea:

Mais.de toutes les qualitez secondes il n'y en a point de si considerables pour les Inclinations que la subtilite & 1-epaisseur; Car chaque humeur pent estre subtile ou espaisse, & une melancholic subtile est plus differente d’une melancholic espaisse, qu’elle n ‘est de la bile. En effet elle causera la promptitude, I’inconstance, la cholere, comme la bile, au lieu que la melancholic espaisse produira la paresse, la stupidite, 1'opiniastrete. Et c’est en cela que la Medecine ne s'est pas assez etendue dans la division des Temperamens, car elle n'en marque que neuf, un qui est tempere, & huict autres qui sont dans I'ex- cez, qu'elle pouvoit multiplier par 1 ‘addition de I'espais & du subtil, & par les divers meslanges que les hommes souffrent comme le sanguin bilieux, le sanguin melancholique, &c. . . (Ar*, pp. 106-07).

Cureau blamed the alteration in humoral viscosity on the con­

stant circulation of the esprits vagabonds, or free spirits contained

in the blood but capable of separating and activating humors during the transportation of vital heat from one organ to another. He con­

tended that the most subtle and refined free spirits continuously

associate with the espri-ts fixes, or animal spirits attached to the

various organs as the neural part of their composition, producing a proportionate increase in the level of organic activity. Thus, each

organ, and in particular those called the noble parts (heart, liver,

pancreas, and brain) from which the humors blood, bile, black bile, and

phlegm respectively originate, strive.to maintain a certain temperament

against the alterative tendencies, of the espvits vagabonds.

Of the four primary humors, Cureau affirms that blood is by far

the most directly involved in the production and circulation of the 133 esprits— in fact, in its ..purest form, he supposed .that the "matiere” . of blood was made up of espri-ts vitaux* or the spiritual bodies which transmit vital heat to all body parts. In its course, blood picks up or loses material through its mixture with other bodily humors, and thereby becomes impure, either because it has more then the optimum level of spirits, in which case La Chambre calls it "sang bilieux," . or less, in which case he calls it "sang pituiteux."

The theory we have described above incorporates what we have already shown to be a number of basic ideas found in the philosophical doctrines of Plato, Aristotle, and their successors, and attempts to skirt certain inconsistencies, or at least certain problematic issues.

First of all, the doctrine of four separate humors is acknowledged; yet, there is a constant tendency on La Chambre*s part to differentiate more specifically between the various altered states these humors might assume due to the continuous circulation of spirits. Cureau's theory of spiritual transmission, in turn, bears strong resemblance to the

Celsian notion that the principle of life is found in the pneuma3 but by the same token, the seventeenth-century physician maintains that the organs and humors are innately endowed with life-sustaining properties above and beyond what they acquire from the air. Thus, it remains un - . clear at this point in the development of his physiology exactly where he places the source or fountainhead of animation— in the heart, as

Aristotle's Prime Mover, or in the spirits which actually carry out the transfer of vital heat from one part of the body to another and in this sense constitute the principle of life. This problem is not really 13U confronted directly until 1664 in the last book of Le Systems de t 'dme, where Cureau explains that animation is made possible by images present in the neural substance of the body whose task it is to inform the appetite. However, even as early as 1640, in volume 1 of Les

Charaeteipes des Passions, It is clear that in Cureau's estimation, any movement in the spirits must be preceded by the "movement" of the soul itself, since it is the quality which imparts a direction to what would otherwise be blind, or at best, habit-conditioned movement. Thus, he remarks:

C'est* . .une chose M e n certaine, que le corps s'altere & se change quand I'ame s'esmeut, & que celuy-cy ne fait presque point d'actions qu’elle ne Tuy en imprime les marques, que I 1on peut appeler Characteres, puisqu'ils en sont les effets, & qu’ils en portent 1 1 image & la figure.(C.P., p. 3).

To be sure, the practitioner of Cureau's art of knowing men would do well to know something about the internal process leading to the outward manifestations of the oharaat^pes. However, the author of the 1659 edition of L 'Art de oonnoistpe Zes Horrmes assures us that an in-depth knowledge of the inner system of the soul is not mandatory at this level. The "physical" or "natural" foundation of the principles of the art can to some degree be separated from the interpretation of the external signs. As he explains, knowledge of man is of two sorts,

I'une Physique & Naturelle, qui examine la composition de 1'homme, la nature des facultez de I'ame, & 1'oeconomie admirable qui se trouve ; dans leursfonctions; 1'autre Morale qui regarde les moeurs, & qui fait connoistre les Inclinations, les Passions, les Vertus & les Vices"

(L 'Art, p. 5). The art of knowing men leaves "1'entiere & 135

1 'exacte.recherche".characteristic of the former to medicine and phi­ losophy, and applies itself to "la plus belle & plus curieuse partie de la Physique," the interpretation of temperaments, humors, spirits, the conformation of the parts, the inclinations, passions and habits through the study of chca'aet'&ves«

As we have seen in the foregoing, the methodological theory elaborated in Eouoetles Pensies sur les causes de la lumV&ve was b o m out of a desire on Cureau de La Chambre’s part that was really no less ambitious in its undertaking than Rene Descartes1 attempt to univer­ salize the mathematical method; to place all scientific problems with­ in the context of an organic, rather than a mechanistic, theory of na­ ture. That Cureau*s primary concern— man— dictated the overall design of this effort, is evident in the organization of his first volume of essays, which culminates with L ,Amowc d'inclination and the formulation of a theory of the passions whose utilization in the founding of a science of human character and behavior was to be spelled , out more precisely in Les Charact^res des Passions3 and eventually synthesized in L ’Ant de connoistre les Eormes.

By the very nature of the project, Cureau was forced to align himself with practitioners of divinatory arts, for it was in the princi­ ples that underlay these practices that the author of L ’Art de connoistve les Rotrmes recognized the beginnings of a "science" of man.

In his view, these "rules" were no different from the concepts that formed the basis of all other sciences inasmuch as they were products of a methodology involving the synthesis of "revelation" and observation. Therefore, he saw no reason why these arts: should be dis­ carded as mere superstition when it was apparent that their rules could be explained according to the same natural law that helped mathemati­ cians and physicians of his own time in the formulation of principles for predicting the action of such phenomena as light— as in the case of

Fermat in his discovery of the law of least time (see chapter 2). Thus, initially in setting out to establish rules for knowing men. La Chambre undoubtedly expected the support of his compeers whom he regarded as intelligent men willing to admit the intuitions of their "common sense," so to speak, and to affirm the two orders of change in the physical world— one external to the subject and explained through geometric laws of local movement, the other internal and generated by the presence of something quite real though completely unknowable in its essential form but observable in its predictable outward effects. Little did the physician realize then (as he was to understand completely by the time he wrote Le Systhne de fame in iSSb and had lived with Cartesianism for thirty years) that the Aristotelian notion of substantial forms was the true object of Descartes' attack on Tradition because these "forms" or

"qualities" were precisely what could not be conceived as clear and distinct ideas; and, therefore, in accordance with the True Philosophy, could not exist. CHAPTER 5

THE ART OF KNOWING MEN: METHODS PRESCRIBED

To understand and analyze a man's character according to La

Chambre's methodology, two orders of understanding are necessary: first, a model or archetype to serve as the standard for all men; and second, a series of prototypal, models representing the common varieties of deviation from the primary or archetypal paradigm. From these models, each man can he evaluated first in terms of theexpectations for the species mankind, and then in terms of anticipated variations on that ideal. Using the same procedure, a man can learn about other men as well as about himself so that he might exercise wisdom and pru­ dence in society.

The Androgyne: Mankind as the Middle Term of Mature

Cureau considered nature in terms of discreet classes which, like numbers, marked the limitations of each species:

. . . les especes des Nombres sont indivisibles, & d'autant qu'a mesure qu'ils regoivent le plus ou le moins, elles se changent, & ne sont plus ce qu'elles estoient. Ostez ou adioustez quelque chose a quatre ou cinq; ce n'est plus ni x4. ni 5. . . {Lwn.3 pp. 122-23).

As with the numerical system, higher species contain the virtues or

137 .138 potential capacity to become the smaller ones. In living things, the degree of transformability depends on the soul's power to move toward and ultimately possess what perfects its beings and this power is com­ mensurate with the body's spirituality. The hierarchy of animate crea­ tures thus culminates with man, whose constitution embodies all that is possible in microcosmic form:

. . .eomme les plus grands nombres contiennent les moindres parce que le plus contient le moins; on void aussi que telles especes possedent encore la vertu des autres, parce qu'elles ont la portion de 1'essence qui constitue celle-cy. Ainsi 1'ame raisonnable contient en soy la vegetative & sensi­ tive (comme "le Tetragone contient le Triangle," dit Aristote) voire mesme tout ce qu'il y a dsns le monde: d'ou vient qu'on appelle communement "Microcosmeou bien comme S. Paul, "toute Creature"; parce que la portion de 1'essence qui constitue I'espece vegetative & sensitive, &c. est contenue dans celle qui fait la raisonnable pp. 124-25).

It may seem rather surprising to find such a strong reaffirma­ tion of the Thomistic hierarchy of being in the seventeenth century by an author who, by his own admission, was interested in doing away with concepts that are difficult to relate to concrete observations. How­ ever, one should keep in mind the fact that in La Chambre's system, the term "essence" implies both quantitative and qualitative dimensions: it,refers to the spiritual content of the animal which is proportional to his capacity for self-determination in addition to designating his psychomoral place in the hierarchy of being. Thus, when man is de­ scribed as having more "essence" than other sensible creatures, it means that he has a greater proportion of spirits to matter in his phys­ ical structure than they.do and is therefore capable of achieving a 139 higher degree of perfection through alteration of his substance.. In

Cureau's words:

. . .a raison de son temperament, de la quantite des esprits qui luy sont necessaires, & qui estant le plus parfait de tous ceux que la Nature a compose, il doit avoir cette vertu qui se trouve es autres, qui est une marque de la perfection servant a I*union des parties de tout 1 'univers {lnat.3 pp. 14-15)..

As the apotheosis of the lower order of natural phenomena, man can therefore be expected to possess in virtual form all degrees of essence belonging to the species of that order, wherein lies the per­ fection of his nature; to be equally disposed to all actions and de­ terminated to none in particular. Cureau finds support for this theory in the practical observations of his medical experience. For example, in Eouvelles Conjectures sup la Digestion3 he argues that man has ,!un corps proportionne a ceste indifference, ayant la plus juste tempera­ ture qui se puisse trouver dans les choses anim^es" (Dig*, p. 9)> To support this premise, he contends that the powers of human senses point to the fact that man is the midpoint of nature since , .ceux entre les Sens qui sont attaches a ce parfait temperament, sont excellens en

I'homme, comme le Toucher & le Goust, dont 1*action est plus exquise, plus le temperament est egalli {Dig*s p. 10). Furthermore, of the re­ maining senses, smell depends on a specific quality of temperament for intensification and is therefore less perfect in man than in other animals:

. . .ceux qui ont besoin d'une qualite particuliere, qui doive estre plus forte que les autres, ont este foibles en I'homme, comme I'Odorat qui demande beaucoup de secheresse (Pig., p. 1 0 ). iko

Similarly5 he posits that hearing and sight are dependent on the com­ bined effect of external and internal conditions and thus the perfec­ tion of these senses has only in part to do.with the temperament:

Mai s. la Veue & I'Ouie ont este mediocres, parce que bien qu'elles ne dependent pas precisement du temperament, mais de la disposition du diaphane, I ’oeil ne laisse pas d 1 avoir besoin d'humiditi, & I ’oreille de la secheresse (Dig.3 p. 1 0 ) •

The ideal human temperament described above is, of course, a model for the species and not for its individual members. The latter fall into categories of intemperate temperaments based on the propor­ tion between the elementary qualities of hot, dry, cold, and moist

(see chapter 4). The midpoint of nature is like an ever-receding re­ flection of mirrored images— the closer one gets to the "real" object, the more elusive it becomes. Just as the extreme poles of nature represent metaphysical abstractions, the ideal temperament is a myth inasmuch as it may not be ascertained through empirical means, but only inferred from what does exist. Plato attributed this archetypal tem­ perament to the androgyne, or human being as he is supposed to have been prior to division into sexual categories. According to Cureau*s account of this tradition, the primary division was a measure under­ taken by the Creator for the purpose of conserving the species through love, or more precisely, through " 1.'amour d*inclination." Thus, he writes concerning the androgyne;

De sorte qu’il est vray que le Temperament iuste & egal dont nous avons parle, est celuy qui convient a la Nature humaine; mais parce que 1'Homme & la Ifcl

Femme ont deu avoir des qualitez differentes, ce iuste temperament a este partage entre deuxs & sans s ’eloigner beaueoup de cette parfaite temperatures 1 1Homme a eu un pen plus de chaleur & de secheresse, & la Femme un pen plus de froideur & d ’humiditS. C ’est la le veritable sens qu'il faut donner It la fable de 1 ’Androgyne„ quand Platon dit que 1 ’Homme & la Femme ne faisoient an commencement qu'un mesme corps qui estoit de figure ronde; qu’ils furent. apres separez en deux; & que 1 'amour qu'ils ont I ' m pour 1 * autre n ’est que le desir qu'ils ont de se reunir, & un moyen de se perpetuer. Car cette premiere union de 1'Homme & de la Femme n'est autre chose que la Nature humaine qui contient deux sexes, & qui a pour corps ce juste Temperament qui est semblable a la figure ronde, dont toutes les parties sont Sgales & uniformes« Mais dans la separation qui a este faite de cette nature en deux sexes, ce Temperament a este divise en deux, & s, forme deux corps dissemblables pour les qualitez differentes qu'ils ont deu avoir pour la conservation de 1 'espece \Avts pp. 27-28).

Since individual male and female members of the species only tend towards the perfect equilibrium represented in the androgyne, standards of beauty must be taken from the prototypes rather than from the archetype, and therefore must reflect the procreative function for which the sexual categories were originally established. Beauty can then be defined as "un just assemblage de toutes les dispositions qui sont necessaires aux corps pour faire les fonctions auxquelles il sont destinez" (C.P., p. 127). Consequently, the sphere or figure vonde of the androgyne is not suited to the tasks for which the sexes were created, as Cureau explains in the passage below:

Ainsi la figure Ronde qui est la plus parfaite de toutes, parce qu'elle est la plus simple & qu'elle contient toutes les autres, ne se peut accommoder avec les actions de toutes les parties du corps humain, qui seroit monstrueux & horrible s'il n 'avoit que cette figure. II en est de mesme des plus belles Couleurs qui n'ont pas de conformite avec le temperament de 1 'homme, & qui mar- queroient une extreme alteration dans les humeurs si Ik2

elles paroissent sur le visage. Le Ton mesme de la voix qui doit estre aux horames plus fort & plus esclatant, seroit un dSfaut en une femmes parce qu'il n ’est pas conforme k son tenperament qui doit estre proportionne et la puissance naturelle de son sexe (C.P. s p. 1 2 8 ).

If beauty is relative to function, and function is determined by psy-

chophysiological nature, then no man’s perfection can be compared to that of another since each man is expected to act according to the inclinations or qualitative dispositions of his compositional nature.

The Inclination: A Reconsideration of the Term in Reference to Morality

The inclination is "une disposition permanente, & une facilitS contractSe de longue-main 9 que 1 ’Appetit a de se mouvoir vers certains objets qui luy sont agreables" (Arts p. 90), or conversely, "que

I ’Appetit a de s'lloigner de certains objets qui luy sont desagreables"

(Art, pp. 108-0 9 ). At the biological level, then, the inclination as defined by Cureau is neither virtuous nor vicious, but indifferent since it arises from natural conditions (temperament) which have no inherent reference to good and evil as such. Instead, claims La Chambre, all inclinations are faults which detract from the indifference of ideal temperament, and therefore are equally disposed to becoming virtues or vices if carried to extreme. Here is his argument as it appears in

L ’Art de conncrLs tre les llomnes:

Et certainement on n'a gueres veu que ceux qui ont eu de naissance quelques vertus excellentes, n ’ayent eu de plus grands vices qui les ont accompagnies, parce qu'il faut de necessity tomber en des deffauts quand on s'eloigne de la perfection. Or la Perfection de 1'Homme est d'estre indifferent & sans estre determine a une 11*3

vertu particuliere, il fatrfc qu'il soit capable de toutes; Car les vertus qui viennent avec la naissanee ne sont pas de veritables vertus; ce n *en sont que des commencemens , ou plustost ce ne sont que des inclinations que l ‘on a pour elles. Enfin ce sont des h o m e s & des limites qui restraignent la capacite de I'Ame, qui est universelle3 & une habitude particuliere. L'Azne de sa nature n'est point determinee & doit estre capable de toutes les actions humaines p. 2k).

Implicit here is the idea that mankind— not individual men— is capable of realizing the perfection of the ideal temperament. It would be un­ realistic to apply the perfection of the species to the individual as his actual goal since his natural perfection has to do with the psy- chophysiological composition of his sex, and not with the androgyne.

In short 5 good and evil are irrelevant to the individual members of the species, "le Bien est ant une chose convenable S. la nature, cela doit entendre aussi bien de la nature depravSe cozmne eelle qui est parfaitej car conrnie un malade prend plaisir a des choses qui Ivy sont eontraires,

& les hoimnes vicieux trouvent du contentement dans leurs debauches; parce qu*elles sont conformes il leur nature corrompue & desreglee”

(C.P., p. 177). Given this fact, Cureau poses the following question in the introduction of L ’Art de eonnoistve tea Horrmea as a consideration relevant to all men alike:

. . . toutes nos inclinations & nos habitudes nous plaisent, toutes nos passions nous semblent raisonnables, Qui pourroit done les sentir & les condamner estant soutenues du plaisir & de 1 'apparence de la raison, qui sont les deux plus grands corrupteurs de nos sentimens pp. U-5 ). Ikk

Morality as the Justification for La Chambre^s Art of Knowing Men

Despite the apparent contradiction between the orders of nature and morality in man, the two are really interdependent, and the art of knowing men cannot consider one without constantly referring to the other. For Cureau this means that

. . . comme 11 [the art for knowing men] est obligS d*examiner & fonds les choses qui regardent les Moeurs, il est impossible qu'en cherchant leurs • causes, & la maniere dont elles se foment dans I'ame, il ne fasse entrer en son dessein la plus belle & la plus curieuse partie de la Physique, & qu'en parlant de la Conformation des Parties, des Temperaments, des Esprits & des Humeurs, des Inclinations, des Passions & des Habitudes, il ne decouvre ce qu'il y a de plus each# dans le corps & dans I'ame (Ar*., p. 6 ).

Because the individual must ultimately be evaluated in terms of both himself (compositional nature) and the species (archetypal structure), it must be understood that moral actions do not necessarily coincide with human actions:

. . . 1 1 faut remarquer que notre ame fait deux sortes d'actions; Les unes qui sont necessaires, les autres qui sont libres. L'Eschole appelle les premieres Actions de 1 'Homme, & celles qui sont libres, Actions Humaines, parce qu'elles sont propres k 1'homme en tant qu'il est raisonnable, estant le seul de tous les animaux qui ait la literte. Quelques-uns confondent celles-cy avec les Morales, qui sont les bonnes ou mauvaises moeurs: qui meritent la louange ou le blasme, la recompense ou le chastiment. Mais si entre les actions libres il y en a d'indifferentes qui ne sont ny bonnes ny mauvaises, comme beaucoup de Philosophes croyent, il faut qu'il y ait quelque diyersite entre les actions Humaines & les Morales, & que celles-la soient comme le genre de celles-cy, en sorte que les actions Morales soient Humaines parce qu'elles sont libres, & que toutes les Humaines ne soient pas Morales, parce qu’il y en a qui ne sont ny bonnes ny mauvaises (Art, pp. 2h5-k6). ll*5

Moral actionss he concedes $ lie in the realm of the spiritual and are understood by men through the knowledge they acquire from both within and outside themselves through perception. The soul then .acts on the information it receives from.perception to form its ideas or concepts.

Such knowledge of the highest level is the basis for "right reason and according to Cureau, proceeds from God, Nature, or ratiocination, for as he explains; "Dieu fait connoistre aux hommes ce qu'il veut d ’eux; Et cette connoissance est la regie Souveraine" (Art, p. 24%).

As the above text indicates, ratiocination is not only the in­ dividual’s prerogative; it is also the means by which society uses ac­ quired knowledge for the general purpose of forming its rules for the arts and sciences, civil laws for the regulation of individual and

In Cureau*s system, Za Droite Raison is defined as "une con­ noissance iuste de la fin & des moyens que 1 ’Homme doit avoir pour se rendre parfait" (Art, p. 246). Generally speaking, human exercise of this knowledge consists in avoiding any extreme behavior since man's perfection as exemplified in his balanced temperament tends towards mediocrity. There are four puissances which Cureau regards as being regulated by right reason, and each of these has its particular kind of virtue; Z 'entendement, whose virtue is prudencej ta volont$s whose virtue is justice; Z 'app&tit conaupiscible, whose virtue is temperance; and Z ’app&tit irascible, whose virtue is force. By looking at each of these virtues, and by analyzing how they may be corrupted by one of the various weaknesses in the psychophysiological constitution of the organs involved either directly or indirectly in the operation of each puissance, Cureau arrives at a series of four lists of psychomoral types which contrast the virtue to its corrupted counterparts. For ex­ ample , under Prudence he names L fIngenieux ou ie bon -Esprit, whose op­ posite is Le ludicieux; under lustice, Le Veritable is opposed to Le ' Menteur, and this second type is further subdivided according to whether the individual lies with words or in his actions— in the first case he can fall into one of three classes designated by Le Vain, Le DissimutS, and Le M$disant, and in the second case he is either L ’Arrogant or . L 'Hypocrite; under Temperance there is Le Hardy versus L 'Impudent and Le Timide; and under Force, Le Constant versus L'Inconstant and L'Obstinant. For details see Art, pp. 262-74. Ik6

group activities, and maxims for appropriate public conduct. Together

these provide men with a context in which to.formulate their,goals and

aspirations as well as to control behavior which is detrimental to the

attainment of these goals. Although it appears that Cureau is merely reaffirming here the golden mean of Antiquity as the ultimate guide for morality, the basic thrust of his statements is somewhat special: actions, not men, are virtuous or vicious; a man is labeled as such be­ cause of the habits he acquires which either reinforce or moderate innate inclinations of the soul. As L'Avt de connoi-stre te.8 Eotmes explains:

Les Actions Morales qui ont done la mediocrity que la Droite Raison prescrit, sont bonnes & honnestes, & celles qui sont dans 1 ’excez ou dans le defaut, sont mauvaises & privees de I'honnestete morale. Elies sont appelees vertueuses ou vieieuses, mais elles ne communiquent pas ce nom & ceux qui les font: Car un Homme pour faire une bonne ou mauvaise action, n'est . pas appellS vertueux ou vicieux, il faut qu’il en ait fait plusieurs, & qu'il en ait acquis 1 ’habitude, dautant qu'il ne peut estre appelle ainsi, que parce qu'il a la vertu ou le vice, qui sont des habitudes. . . (Art* pp. 250-51).

Having taken such a stand, Cureau would agree that mi art of knowing men is mandatory for all men inasmuch as each person is blinded by his own self-love, or amour-propre. Individuals are incapable of

2 Although Cureau was not directly involved in the controversy over the doctrine of grace and human free will between the Jesuit fol­ lowers of Molina and the Oratoriaas, his remarks in L 'Art de conncristre Zee Hormes regarding "indifference" in human actions indicate that his sympathies coincide with the Molinist viewpoint (Art3 pp. 251-56). See chap. 7 of Part III for discussion of this problem in relation to Cureau. judging what is ultimately good, and unless each man sees the potential

dangers of his inclinations mirrored in others, he will continue to use

his own idiosyncrasies as the measure of all men. As Cureau observes;

"Pour s5avoir les defauts qu'elles [our habits and inclinations] ont,

il les faut voir en autruy, c’est un miroir qui ne flatte point" (Art, p. 5). In looking at others as a key to understanding oneself, a second order of perfection based on the well-being of the species or common good is possible. Unlike natural perfection which rules the individual, this second order directs all men to some degree of perfection in spite of their differences of temperament. Inasmuch as this order of perfec­ tion is as "unreal" for each person as the androgyne's ideal tempera­ ment is unattainable, it is just because it provides the standard from which deviation can be measured and evaluated as "good" or "evil" for society as a whole.

The Practical Context for Judging Men;, General Categories

Sexual types

Beginning with the archetypal construct or androgyne, models having specific reference to men as sexual beings can be deduced to rep­ resent the standard deviations from the absolute perfection of mankind.

The first and foremost division applies to the entire animal kingdom

and is derived from the metaphysical conception of nature as having male and female poles. Though Cureau adds nothing new to the tradi­ tional theory of sexual typology, he does draw an interesting comparison between his own models and those of Aristotle. Faithful to the androgyne 148 myth, Cureau could not accept the full implications of Aristotle’s cor­ relation between animal and human types because he believed that such comparisons overplay the differences while they underestimate the simi­ larities between men and women. Thus, he warns against the analogy be­ tween man and the lion, or woman and the panther in the following text;

. . . il y a apparence qu’Aristote n ’a pas icy consider^ 1 ’Homme simplement selon la vertu de son Sexe, mais selon la qualite qui estoit la plus considerable dans 1 ’opinion des Hommes, & sgavoir la Force Heroique, qui est la source de la valeur, qui a droict de commander, & i, qui on a tousiours reserve les plus grands honneurs & les plus nobles recompenses. En effet quand il propose la Panthere pour I'idSe du Sexe feminin, il fait M e n voir qu’il considere bien plus la force dans les Sexes que leur perfection naturelle; puis que c'est un animal qui est fort courageux & qui n ’a point la docilite, la timidite & les autres qualitez qui conviennent S, la Femme (Arts pp. 42-431*

It is important to note that although Cureau rejects the Aris­ totelian primary sexual types in favor of the Platonic androgyne, he continues to strive for the kind of concrete frame of reference that

Aristotle established for typological classification. As U s e Foerster has demonstrated in a major study of La Chambre’s philosophy entitled

Mca'in Cureau de la Chambre (1594-1675): Bin Beltrag zur Gesckichte der psyahomoralisohen Literatur in Frankreich (1936), one of the important

vThis book constitutes the most complete analysis of Cureau de La Chambre's thought to date. The author’s thesis is concerned with the materialistic aspects of La Chambre's theory of nature in relation to Ancient and Medieval sources. His objective is to demonstrate the important role played by Cureau’s psychomoral litera­ ture in the formulation of eighteenth-century mechanist and sensualist doctrines, as in the works of La Mettrie and Locke. 149 traditional sources of the physician's views regarding morality is

stoicism, a philosophy which underwent a period of intense revival dur­ ing the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In reality. La Chambre's androgyne is a synthesis of Platonic myth and the practical striving after virtue recommended by the Stoics; whereas, the androgyne fable recounts the "history” of man's former idyllic state, the latter pre­ scribes the exercise of restraint in view of annihilating or neutral­ izing all passion and achieving the maximum level of happiness in this life.

The criticism La Chambre levels against Aristotle in the above passage is also of interest in the light of French seventeenth-century social typology whose ideal is expressed in the notion of honne8tet$»

As a courtly man, our physician was very concerned with man's role in society— certainly the honnite horme would not confess to having modeled himself after the lion, nor the honnete femme after the panther! Practi­ cally speaking, the mean was far more conducive to the maintenance of social institutions and moves than either of the two extremes which bet­ ter suited a fiercely competitive social order. In defending his king,

Cureau was likewise conservative with regard to radical social change. _..

Thus, we find his political and philosophico-medical ideas charting an identical course for mankind as a body of polite, honest men and women.

The sexual prototypes delineated in A'Art de connoistve tes

Hcrnnes are conceived in strict relation to one another: men are hotter and dryer, while women are colder and moister, and these qualities are responsible for basic differences in appearance and behavior. As the 150

following texts.show, there is an abiding concern on the physician's

part to relate the characteristic size, shape, color and texture of dis­

tinguishing sexual features to the quantity of certain qualities pre­

dominant in the humors. Of men he writes;

. „ .la grandeur de la taille, de la teste & de la bouche, 1'ouverture des narines, la grosseur du col, la largeur des epaules & la poictrine, la vivacite des yeux, la force de la voix, la liberte des join­ tures , & la noblesse de la mine, du maintien & du marcher, sont les effets de la chaleur qui estend ■ les parties, & qui en rend le mouvement plus actif & plus vigoureux, D1un autre coste la durete du poil, la fermete des chairs, la solidite des jointures, 1'inegalite du front & sa figure mo ins ronde, la subtilitS des . iSvres, la figure du menton plus obtuse, & celle de tout le visage presque quarree, sont les effets de la secheresse qui endurcit les parties, & qui resiste aux Mouvemens des humeurs, les empeschant de prendre la figure ronde qui leur est propre & naturelle. . . Urt, p. U5 ).

Similarly, the woman's appearance belies the cold, moist temperament which shapes and texturizes her individual features and determines her psychomoral dispositions:

De toutes ces parties, celles.qui sont petites, courtes & deliees sont des effets du temperament froid qui resserre les matieres, & qui empeschent qu'elles ne s'estendent. Les charnues & les molles viennent de 1'humidite, car elles marquent une abondance de sang pituiteux. Mais de celles qui sont rondes, il y en a qui dependent du froid, & les. autres de 1'humidite: Car ou elles viennent de la graisse qui remplit les entredeux des muscles, comme aux bras, aux ioues, aux.cuisses: ou du froid qui resserre la figure des parties, & la presse de toutes parts: Au lieu que la chaleur qui pousse tousiours en avant, cause des inegalitez & des angles, qui en corromptent la rondeur; c'est pourquoy le front & le visage de 1'Homme sont de figure quarree, & ceux qui sont bilieux, ont des coins du front en.pointe & le visage fort long, tout au contraire des pituiteux, qui les 151

ont de figure ronde. La douceur4 la' modestie & la pudeur qui paroissent sur le visage & au reste des actions, sont encore effets du froid qui abbat le courage, & qui retient ou alenfcit le mouvement des parties.: C ’est luy encore qui rend la voix gresle & foible, en estressissant le gosier ou elle se forme, & affoiblissant la faculte vitale (Avts pp. 60-6l).

To summarize La Chambre1s account of sexual categories in the context of his art of knowing men, we see that the division of man­ kind into male and female merely marks the primary level of differen­ tiation among members of the species. Like number, however, these categories represent absolute barriers insofar that no woman of bilious temperament is capable of achieving the degree of hotness and dryness characteristic of the bilious man, or vice versa. Thus, in character!al analysis, sexual identity is sure to be the point of departure in pre­ dicting an individual's innate strengths and weaknesses.

The influence of climate .

The second most important consideration in the classification of men after sexuality is climate, or the major influence proceeding from the environment. Following the classical theory of racial types originating from certain climatic zones, Cureau contends that men and animals inhabiting a given area will mimic to some degree the qualita­ tive composition of their surroundings:

De moy ie pense qu’il faut dire que le Climat donne . une eertaine disposition au corps, & luy fait changer son temperament, & que telle [sic] temperament donne telle inclination & telle puissance a I ’ame. Or parce que le corps doit estre proportionne aux puissances, c1est une suite necessaire que les corps ayent les marques de ces inclinations (C.P., p. lUU). Mor eover * he adds; 152

. . . la Beaute consistant dans la proportion que les corps ont avec leurs vertus & leurs puissances, & les hommes ayant telles puissances en certains Climats, . il faut qu'ils estiment beaux ceux qui ont ces marques; parce que ces inclinations leur sont naturelles & communes; ainsi ils iugent de la beante suivant leur inclination naturelle. . . (C.P. 4 pp. 144-45)«

Since climatic zones are governed by the same laws as body tem­ perament, Cureau suggests using the location of the most even-tempered zone as the means to finding concrete examples of the most temperate human types:

. . . la perfection naturelle du Corps humain consiste dans la medioerite du temperament & de la conformation des parties, pour les raisons que nous avons dites [see above passage], & que les Sexes qui ne I 1ont peu conserver a cause des qualitez differentes qu'ils doivent avoir, ne s'en eloignent que fort peu. Car il s 1ensuit de la que le Climat ou se trouve la parfaite Beaute, est celuy qui s'oppose le moins a cette mediocrity, & qui par son exacte temperature la conserve & ne I'altere point [Arts pp. 68 -6 9 1 .

It is not surprising to find that this ideal climate is located at 45° 4 elevation, and that its perfection is not only contingent on the posi­ tion of the heavenly bodies, but also on the nature of the soil and vegetation. Cureau can thus eliminate both China and America on the grounds that the American soil is too cold and the Chinese soil is too humid. This leaves only Europe as the potential seat of true beauty, and since France is precisely at the center of that continent, it stands

By 45° elevation, Cureau means the position of the sun at high noon, which in France would be at an angle of 45°, compared to the sun's position calculated at the equator. 153 to reason that it is the country most suited to the fostering of the per­ fect beauty that results from humoral equilibrium. It is interesting to note the psychological rhetoric Cureau uses to construct his chauvinis­ tic argument in favor of the preeminence of the French:

le sgay qu'il y a des pays qui sent en cette situation [^5° el.] ou elle [perfect beauty] ne se rencontre pas, comme dans la partie de la Chine & de 1 1 Ataerique, qui est sous le mesme degre. Mais il ne faut pas icy considerer la seule position du Ciel, il y faut joindre la nature du terroir, 1 *origins & la police des peuples. Car ce qui est dans, la Chine est trop humide, a cause de la quantitS de lacs & de rivieres qui y sont; Ce qui est dans I ’Amerique est trop froid, a cause des bois & des montagnes $ comme la Nouvelle France. Dailleurs, il y a des peuples qui habitant des lieux fort temperez qui n ’en sont pas originaires, & qui neantmoins ont conserve la Conformation que leur premiere demeure leur avoit donne. Enfin ces nations sont barbares & mal policees, & il est certain que les desordres de 1 1ame se communiquent au corps, en alterent a la fin le temperament, & en corrompent souvent la figure. De sorte qu'il ne faut pas chercher la veritable Beaute hors 1'Europe, & I 1on peut dire que la France en est 1'unique sejour, est ant iustement au milieu des extremitez du chaud & du froid, du sec & de 1 'humide: En un mot, du Midy & du Septentrion (Art, pp. 69-70

Although the argument in favor of a superior French race based on perfectly equilibrated temperament is not pursued at length, we can see how a concrete demonstration of national superiority by temperament would have enhanced the case for French cultural predominance advanced in the preface to Nowelles Conjeetupes sup la Digestion (see chapter l).

However, climate, like sexuality, is one of nature's rudimentary divid­ ing lines, and its influence must thus be considered as general enough 154

to affect all animate creatures inhabiting a given region. As Cureau

contends in a later section of L ’Apt de oonnoistre Zes Hormes devoted

to the reevaluation of Aristotelian physiognomy, because the influence

of climate is so all-encompassing and difficult to relate directly to

human individuals, it remains one of the least certain criteria for

passing judgment on a person's character:

Celle [the rule] des Climats est plus generale que 1*autre qui se tire de la ressemblance des animaux; mais elle n 'est pas si certaine, parce que tous ceux qui sont d'un mesme Cli- mat, ne sont pas d'un mesme Temperament, & n'ont pas tous une mesme conformation des parties, & la consequence n'est pas necessaire, que parce qu'un Homme est ne dans la Grece, il doive estre vain, inconstant & menteur, & ainsi des autres (Apt, p. 314).

In summary, we have seen that in focusing his attention on the

composition of the humors as the media for spiritual transmission,

Cureau is able to explain any change' in outward appearance and behavior

" in terms of either a loss or gain in spirituality, i.e., quantity of

esprits. Thus, the external signs of temperament are the most reliable

keys to understanding an individual's predisposition to certain be­

haviors since, as Cureau reasons:

. . .quand on voit un effet, il faut de necessity que la cause ait precede. C'est pqurquoy la connoissance que 1'on a des Temperamens par les marques qu'ils laissent sur le Corps, est plus certaine que celle que 1'on a des Incli­ nations par le Temperament, d'autant que ces marques sont les effets du Temperament, & que le Temperament est cause des Inclinations (Art, p. 28l).

From knowledge gained about the quantitative aspects of tempera­

mental control, Cureau saw the possibility for what B. F. Skinner calls

in his recent book entitled Beyond Freedom and Dignity an actual technology of behavior” which would be applicable to both the individ­ ual and the society. The human being, like all other organisms, sur­ vives through interplay between his inward dispositions and the environ­ ment in which he finds himself. His relationship with this environment has both passive and active aspects; on the one hand, he responds to the stresses it imposes on his system, and on the other hand, he ac­ tively selects things from it in view of perfecting, i.e., expanding, his being. Through an understanding of the nuances of this quest for survival and perfection on both individual and social levels, it seemed possible to some men in the seventeenth century, just as it does to be­ havior! sts today, to reinstitute the "heaven on earth" or utopic dream that has haunted mankind since the dawn of civilization, by setting up a system of "positive" and "negative" reinforcers.

But not all seventeenth-century intellectuals were persuaded by this theory of man and its implicit ideology of national preeminence.

Pascal,, for one, could hot dismiss from his mind the cosmic view of man, "un neant I 1 'egard de i einfini, un tout & 1 ‘egard du neant, un milieu entre rien et tout: Infiniment eloigne de comprendre les extremes, la fin des ehoses et leur principe pour ltd invinciblement cachSs dans un secret impenetrable, Sgalement incapable de voir le nSant d'otl il est tirS, et I'infini o& il est englouti" (fr. 7 2 ). For

Pascal, man without grace is doomed to the servitude of concupiscence or amour-propves that inner voice which deceives us into believing that we are the best judges of our needs. Moreover society can be no better than the individuals that compose it, for "l.1 union qui est entre les hommes n ’est fondee que sur cette mutuelle tromperie" (fr. 1 0 0 ). ; 156

The observations of Pascal are of central importance here be­ cause they strike at the heart of one of the very matters at issue in the scientific controversies of the seventeenth century; the knowledge of final causes. Incapable of understanding the ends of their actions without the grace of God, men cannot build a society that sooner or later will not fall victim to the corruption of self-love; God alone is perfect, and the best we can do with our mortal lives is to direct ourselves toward Him. In the words of the famous ’’Pari,” we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by doing so.

Under the circumstances, Pascal saw the only possibility for a decent earthly existence in the society of man in honnestet§s which could serve as a kind of provisional morality. For Cureau, by contrast, this society was not perfect, and never could be— but it was certainly worth improving on! In the physician's view, there is an important distinction between finality and the natural principle of perfection, and the second by no means precludes the first. Therefore, the study of external signs, though incapable of revealing the original or first cause, which is the soul and by definition unknowable in its absolute form, is nevertheless useful in understanding the secondary, or effi­ cient cause, which is the temperament. Hence, the term "sign" refers to evidence concerning the intermediary stages in the sequence, and this intermediary knowledge is valuable in inferring a probable first, or final, cause. Such knowledge, in Cureau's estimation, was the key to building a social order that was infinitely perfectible, just like the organism, though never perfect.

I 157

The "Arts" of Knowing Men

Analysis of the signs

In the second book of L 'Art de connaistre tes Hormes entitled

"Des Moyens par lesquels on pent connoistre les HcmmesCurean estab­ lishes the various kinds of signs that may be used to understand human character and behavior, and their importance in relation to other cate­ gories of signs. But first he begins by clarifying what he means by the word "sign" with respect to the causal relationship between inclina­ tion and temperament. Taking as his example the melancholic individuals he writes;

Ainsi en connoissant un Homme de temperament melancolique * on peut dire qu'il a 1*inclination a la Tristesse, parce que le Temperament est cause de cette inclination, & alors la cause est signe de I ’effet: Au contraire, par 1*in­ clination naturelle que quelqu'un aura a la Tristesse, on presume qu'il est de temperament melancolique, & en ce cas 1'effet est Signe de la cause. Enfin la Timidite & la Dissimulation precedent toutes les deux de,1a foiblesse qui accompagne le Temperament melancoliques & c'est alors que 1'effet est Signe de I ’effet [Artj P. 2761.

Having thus established that signs may appear at any point in the cause- effect sequence, in which case they may be regarded as either "causes" or "effects," Cureau then proceeds to the first step in outlining his art of knowing men— the enumeration of causal factors and the sources from which they proceed, either from inside the individual or from his surroundings. According to Cureau, the division should be made as follows:

Les interieures sont des facultez de 1'ame, le Temperament, la Conformation des Parties, 1'Aage, la Maissance noble ou vile, les Habitudes tant 158

Intellectuelles que Morales, les Passions. Les Exterieures sont les Parens, les Astres, le Climat, les Saisons, les Alimens, les Peines & les Recompenses ( Art, p. 277 )•

EText, the internal and external signs of cause are divided ac­ cording to spatiotemporal factors such as size, degree of spirituality, and distance from the individual in order to determine which ones exert the most notable influences. Those directly concerned with temperamen­ tal alteration are called next causes (causes prockaines) and include instinct„ temperament, and the conformation of the parts 5 all others are classified as remote causes (causes &lo'ign&es) and include the celestial bodies, age, alimentation, and disease. Of these two groups, :/ the next causes are the more important to the art knowing men since they are closely linked with corporeal effects, as Cureau explains be­ low;

. . . comme il y a des Causes Prochaines, & d'autres qui sont Esloignees, les premieres donnent un iugement plus certain, parce qu’elles ont une connexion plus estroite avec leurs effets; Ainsi la connoissance que l eon a du Temperament, decouvre mieux les Inclinations que ne fait la Naissance, l*Aage ou le Climat, &c. (Art, p. 2 8 2 ).

Although Cureau was convinced that the surest judgments of human character and behavior could be made through discovery of the causes since in his words, "pour connoistre la cause d 8une chose, il ne s 8ensuit qu’elle la produise, & raison des divers empeschemens qui y peuvent arriver" (Art, p. 28l ), he nevertheless admitted that only the effects, are certain indications that an emotion has been experienced.

Moreover, of the signs related to the passions or humoral movements, those leaving clear impressions on the body surface are the most 159

reliable of all. Hence, the second problem he faces in the elabora­

tion of his art is the classification of the various kinds of effects

and their relative importance in the estimation of character.

The natural signs or effects

All effects fall into one of two major categories inasmuch as

they mark either the individual’s outward appearance or his behavior

and mannerisms. Those belonging to the first group are corporeal ef­

fects (effete eovpovele) and include changes in the size, shape, color,

and texture of the external features. In the second group are the

spiritual effects (effete eptvituets) which encompass the qualities of

the Mind, the inclinations (meant here, as the effects proceeding from

the temperament or immediate cause), habits and all actions and move­

ments of the soul. Taken together the corporeal and spiritual effects

are regarded as the natural signs (signee natw?ele)j which may also be

referred to in La Chambre1 s works as the ostensible characters of the

passions. Following the example set by Aristotle, Cureau included in

this category the following traits which he lists in L ’Avt de cormoistTe

tee Homines: ~

"1. Le Mouvement du Corps, comme le Marcher, le Geste, le Maintien

"2. La Beaute & la Laideur

"3. La Couleur

L 1Air du Visage

"5. La Qualite du Cuir

"6 . La Voix 160

"76 La Charnure

"8. La Figure & 1 f" Des Parties" "c?.. La Grandeur

{Arty p. 287).

Commenting on this list, he explains that all of the signs mentioned

come from either internal or external causes. What is more, he adds,

"cette distinction (between internal and external causes) est si necessaire qu'elle fait presque toute la difference de ceux qui sont utiles & in utiles11 {Art3 p. 287).

Cureau then goes on to differentiate further between the na­ tural signs according to the specificity or generality of the causes

involved in producing them: those which proceed from a single quality

such as heat or cold are the proper signs (signes propres)3 while those like, the air of the countenance which are the combined product of

several causes are the common signs (signes eormtuns). Moreover, he notes that the natural signs are not equally stable, and must there­

fore be divided according to their relative permanency: those includ­ ing age and climate are the stable and permanent signs (signes stables

& permanens)3 while those arising from temporary conditions such as

stress or sickness are regarded as transient signs (signes passagers).

These subgroups, claims Cureau, are essential in determining the rela­ tive importance of the various cause-effect sequences in judging men.<

As he explains: -

. . . ceux qui viennent des.Causes Externes ne . signifient rien d'asseure. Et de ceux que les ' Internes ont produit, les Stables marquent les Inclinations Permanentes; les autres peuvent bieh l6l

marquer les Passions presentes; mais.non .les Inclinations naturelles, si ce.n’estpar accident, comme parle Aristote. D ’ailleurs, les Signes qui se changent moins facilement par les causes Externes, sont plus certains, tels que sont la Figure, I'Air du visage, & le Mouvement; mais la Couleur, le Cuir, la Chamure & la Voix, ne le sont pas tant {Arts PP* 290-91).

As for the value of common signs, like the air, Cureau concludes that they can only designate something certain if among the causes involved there is a proper sign that points hack to a specific cause. It is for this reason that the characters of different passions are impossible to identify without prior understanding of the inclinations or qualities of temperament which are the immediate cause. Removed from the context of humoral categories, Cureau finds it easy to see why these characters which impart a certain "air" to the individual's appearance and manner- 5 isms came to be known in literary circles as the "je ne sals quo!."

On void bien que chaque Passion apporte ie ne sgay quel Air sur le visage; que la vertu fait couler dans ses actions une certaine grace & une contenance agreable qui ne se trouve pas dans les vicieuses. Mais comme on a toujours appele cela 11 Le je ne sgay quoyil semble qu'on ait aussi voulu enseigner que I'on he pouvoit dire ce que c'est. Car ie suppose, comme il est veritable, que les Char acteres que nous cherchons, ne sont autre chose que "l.’Air" dont nous venons de parler: Or il se trouve en tant de choses differentes, qu'il est presque

5 o In TpT&e'teux circles, where Z ’Equivoque was cultivated and in fashion, the ge ne sais quoi was a favorite expression for alluding to something intangible in a person’s demeanor, appropriate by dint of its calculated imprecision. For the Academician La Chambre, on the other hand, f Equivoque was anathema; the ge ne sais quois like the air of the countenance, was obviously related to.the psychophysiological and moral character of the passions, and the very existence of such a vague term was evidence of the need for clarification in.these matters. 162

impossible de marquer ce qu'elles oat de common, d ’ou . I ’on puisse establir son essence " (C.P., p. 7)•

Thus, it is through association with the internal, stable and

proper signs that designate the subject's natural inclinations that

information regarding the passions and habits might be inferred using

the deductive method of Aristotle outlined by his Syllogistic rule:

o . .eette Regie Syllogystique marque les Inclinations & Passions presentes, tout au contraire des autres, parce qu'elle ne demands point de Signes propres; mais d'une inclination & d'une Passion connue par ces marques, elle tire la connoissance d'une autre qui n'en a point. Et cette Regie est fondee sur la connexion que les Inclinations, les Habitudes & les Passions ont entr’elles: Car 1'une estant [l]'effet de 1'autre, on pent iuger qu'un Homme a 1 'Inclination a une telle Passion ou Habi­ tude, quoy qu'il n'y ait point de signe qui luy soit propre, & qui la puisse faire connoistre, sgachant qu'il . a celle qui est cause de eelle-cy. Ainsi apres avoir sceu qu'un Homme est Timide, on pent dire qu'il a 1'Inclination naturelle a 1'avarice, en suitte qu'il est mesquin, qu'il est artificieux & dissimulS, que la crainte le fait parler avec douceur & soumission, qu'elle le rend soupgonneux, deffiant, incredule, mauvais amy, ' &c. (Art, pp. 312-13)*

Despite the inherent limitations involved in judging human

character and behavior on the basis of momentary moods or fleeting dis­ positions arising from emotional stress, Cureau felt that such transient

signs were relevant to gaining knowledge of deepset inclinations and

habits. It is for this reason that he devoted so much of his literary

career to outlining the characters, or expressional patterns, of pas­

sions: if a passion could be shown to produce specific kinds of change

in a person's appearance and behavior, then these changes could be mea­

sured against his normative state, and the normative state against the

category of temperament in which his more permanent characteristics 163

placed him. In this way, the practitioner of La Chambre’s art of

knowing men might make statements regarding not only a person's perma­

nent dispositions, hut also with respect to the impact that specific

kinds of change or stress might have produced in the past, or would he

likely to produce in the future:

. . .De sorte qu'en connoissant ces Causes, & sgachant le pouvoir qu'elles ont, on peut iuger de leurs effets. presens ou a vehir: Et remarquant aussi ces Effets, & sgachant a quoy ils se doivent rapporter, on peut en diviner les causes presens ou passees (Art., p. 279!•

As we have seen in the foregoing, Cureau wagered that the most

certain information concerning a person's characterial dispositions

comes from knowledge Of the internal system of the humors. However, his theory of spiritual transmission with its emphasis on the constant

influx and emission of esprits also implies that the distant spiritual

centers like the stars and planets are capable of affecting appearance

and behavior. Hence $ the category originally established to counter­

balance the natural signs is termed "astrological," and includes those

external markings such as the lines on the palms, feet, and forehead which cannot be explained as the direct result of any single, inter­

nally controlled cause. Traditionally, the astrological signs had been

closely studied by magicians who practiced divination through chiro­

mancy and metoposcopy as well as through consideration of the facial

and body features, or physiognomy. However, the paramedical use of

physiognomy had suggested all along that the so-called astrological

signs were intricately related to.the natural processes, and could

therefore hot be explained entirely on the basis of sideral movements 1 6 k

and aspects - Cureau surmised that the same confusion between.astral and

humoral influences probably had something to do with the formation of

lines on the forehead and palms. Thus, he was led to posit that all of

these practices could be shown to have a basis in physical science that

had yet to be firmly demonstrated. In keeping with this theory, the

final chapters of L ’Axrt de oonnoisfcpe les Hormes incorporate the consid­

erations published six years earlier in the Discows sur l.es Principes

de la Chivomance et de la Metoposccrpie; in so doing, they introduce into

the fabric of what has pretended up until this point to be an empirically

oriented methodology for discovering human character and behavior the

ancient arts of astrological divination.

The astrological signs

The study of relationships between the features of the human

body and innate behavioral dispositions is one of the lesser known

aspects of the Greek legacy to Western thought. According to Paul

Delaunay, author of two informative pamphlets tracing the evolution of

chiromancy and physiognomy from their Biblical and Oriental origins

neither of these divinitory methods, seems to have been regarded as an

esoteric practice in Aristotle's time. In an apochryphal book en­

titled De Pkysicgnomoniai we find Aristotle reinstating the ancient

belief; "Physiognomonia . . . est de naturalibus passionibus quae sunt

. in anima et accidentibus quaecumque adveniunt, et transmutant signa

^De la Physiognomonie a la Phrenologie (1928) and Chivomancie et Chivognomonie (1 9 2 8 ). 165 7 physiognomizata.** . While no comparable work on chiromancy is attributed to the Stagirite, the brief mention he makes of its principles in his

Problems suggests a similar matter-of-fact acceptance. Answering his own question? “Cur qui manus coesuram per total obtient palmiam, vivere diutius possint?" he posits: "Pars interior manus vola dicitur . . . scissuris vitoe indicibus distincta; Iongioris siilicet vitae singulibus aut binis ductis per totam, brevoris binis s quoe non longitudinem tot am designent

In retrospect, Aristotle's indulgence for divination was, in

Delaunay's opinion, forgivable at its best— after all, the Greeks did not have the means to study man without constant reference to their cosmological beliefs. By contrast, remarks Delaunay, the sixteenth century produced such avant-garde thinkers as J.-B Porta who, in the tradition of anatomist Leonardo Da Vinci, regarded man as a subject worthy of attention in and for himself. Given such progress in scien­ tific thought from Aristotle to the Renaissance men, the historian ex­ pressed impatience for the likes of La Ghambre who, in the seventeenth century continued to propagate "toute cette fantasmagorie -

scolastico-oecultiste" which' hindsight shows clearly headed for its. doom

"au vent de la revolution cartesienne.. He invites us to examine the

7 Aristotle, De Phy8iognomias Chap. II, in Delaunay, De ta Physiognornonie . . . , p. U.

®La Ch'Lromxncie . . . , p. 1.

^De ta Phys-iognomonie . . . p. 9- 166 progression he sees from Descartes' Les Passions de f a m e (1649) 9 through Bos suet "s La Connais sance de Dieu et de soi-rneme (1 6 7 2 ) and

La Brxjylre's CaPaet^Tes (3.688) to measure "le chemin parcouru en moins d'un demi-siecle" with respect to knowledge of the relationship between 10 the passions and physiognomy; then,, in conclusion9 he quotes the phrase of La Bruy ere: "La physiognomie n'est pas une regie qui nous soit donnee pour juger des hommes; elle peut nous servir de conjee— ture."^

With all due respect to Delaunay's talent for writing medical history and his interest in consecrating to his ancestral compatriot

La Chambre a significant place in the evolution of its practices, it seems that his Judgment of seventeenth-century attitudes towards the occult practices is too categorical and oversimplified. Physiognomy» metoposcopy and chiromancy were, to be sure, essential tools in La

Chambre's art for knowing men, and as we shall see his assessment of the rules governing each practice generally reinforces the ancient theories. However, La Chambre himself did not regard his views as

B.stvotogical so much as he considered them to be astvals or physically valid assumptions. As he writes in Diseours s u p tes Ppinaipes de ta

Chiromanoe et de ta Mitoposoopie regarding the implementation of these rules as a method for knowing men:

C'est assez pour la Chiromance que la Physique soustienne ses premiers fondemens: tout ce qu'elle regoit apres de

10 De la Physiognomonie,.., p. 9.

^ L a Bruyere, Caracteres, XII, "Des Jugements" in Delaunay, De la Physiognomonie, * * s p. 9. 167

I'Astrologie luy doit estre alloue, ou du moins estre mis en surseemce iusqu’a ce qu'on examine le fonds de I'Astrologie mesme {.Chi. & p. 122)..

In fact, if Cureau's official function at the Royal Garden as "demon- 12 strateur de I'interieur des plantes" was, as Jussieu has suggested, more oriented towards human anatomy than hot any, it seems likely that

any modification he introduced into the system of human-astral corre­

spondences, stemmed from direct'inspection of the human body and his own

success and failures in treating diseases according to astrological principles. Like Porta, Cureau was primarily a physiologist interested

in controlling the temperament by medicine, and not by calculating the power angles of celestial houses. Unlike Descartes, however, Cureau's pragmatism did not permit him to lay aside all except that which was

clear and distinct, but instead forced him to venture into those areas which, by his own admission, were direly lacking in concrete evidence.

Though public and private enthusiasm for Cureau's ideas on knowing men might have served to further the promotion of "toute cette

fantasmagorie scolastico-occultiste," this does not seem to have been

in any way the intention of the author. Rather than disagreeing with

La Bruyere1s observation, Cureau would be more likely to have supported

12 Annates du Museum, II (l803), 6, states: "Au milieu des reproches justes faits a Vautier, on aime cependant a rappeler qu'il substitua definitivement les legons d'anatomie au cours design# sous le nom insignifiant de t *int^vieun des ptantes. II paroit que Cureau de la Chambre, nomme dans 1'edit de fondation du jardin, renongant a ce genre de demonstration des vegetaux dont il avoit d ’abord St6 charge, fut le premier professeur d'anatomie, et que son fils, Frangois de la Chambre, lui succeda dans cette place." 168 it, with the sole reservation that it was man's knowledge about phys­ iognomy , metoposcopy, and chiromancy that was lacking, while the foun­ dation of the principles governing the rules was in itself reliable.

In other, words, Cureau believed in the eventual confirmation of cor­ respondences rational philosophy expected to find between the internal and external human structure through the application of empirical methods. However, when in doubt, the conclusions he reached were more the result of his overriding faith in traditional cosmology than of his experimentation with human subjects.

Theoretical basis for physiognomy, metoposcopy, and chiromancy.

In presenting his views on physiognomy, metoposcopy, and chiromancy,

Cureau is careful to establish from the outset that astrology as a science of natural phenomena grounded in similarities between microcosm and macrocosm is quite different from the popular practice of casting

•horoscopes or judiciary astrology. In variation with this latter branch of astral sophistry, Cureau remarks that the science of interest to him

. .n'est pas soustenue du calcul scrupuleux des Astrologues, & nous ne disons pas comme eux, que le Soleil & la Lune se trouvant en des lieux infortunez, produisent cet effet-la; Parce que cela suppose la direction des Maisons celestes, & des Aspects qui appartiennent purement

& la ludiciaire" (Art, PP« ^33-34).

For Cureau, the stars and planets are indeed responsible for certain influences affecting the natural cycles of all organisms be­ cause they are, after all, the primary sources of spiritual transmis­ sions in the cosmos. Spiritual influx produces alteration in the 169

quantity of espxn-ts composing the .humors ■ and noble parts which, like all

vehicles or organs of movement, are highly susceptible to change.. The

sort of natural affinity or inclination that exists between man and the

celestial bodies is, in any event, more specific than the single di­

mension of organism to planet; all spiritual centers, including the

separate organs and humors of living things, exert a particular in­

fluence on those of similar composition and proportion. Thus, within

each organism there is an independent system of relationships at work,

the structure of which corresponds to the macrocosmc or astral model.

Just as the planets come in various sizes and colors according to their

compositional nature, Cureau assumes that the major organs of the

human system are pre-arranged in a similar hierarchy of nobility, and

that this hierarchy,is established during the prenatal period of de-

.. velopment. The most active organ, the heart, is the first to be formed,

thus placing it in sympathy with the most powerful luminary, the sun;

next comes the brain, ruled by the moon; then the two major external

organs, the eyes and mouth, ruled respectively by the sun, moon and

Mars (also the ruler of the belly); next, the organs of progressive

movement; and finally, the pancreas and other viscera, each with its

astral ruler (Chi. & Meto.s pp. 53-5^)« Since the.most spiritually

active parts require a quantity of vital heat proportional to their

essence, La Chambre infers that "la chaleur naturelle est plus forte TO chez les premieres parties formees" {Chi. & Mito., p. 5 6 ). Thus,

TO As Cureau explains this idea, in L ’Apt de oormoistre tea Hormes: ". . .il est certain que tout le soin que la Nature prend des parties, 170 temperament in man, as in the general scheme of natural phenomena, corresponds respectively to the two primary orders of effect-— physical and moral— stemming from the organic utilization of esprit s.

If nobility can be correlated with a time factor in those organ isms like man of mixed composition, it must also have a reference to space, since it is within a spatiotemporal continuum that human life occurs. As Cureau explains in the passage below, nobility of position, is relevant only to those creatures whose physical constitution places concrete limitations on the manner and direction of their movements:

Pour donner un solide commencement B, cette recherche: II faut remarquer qu'il y a trois ordres de SITUATION, dans lesquels toutes les parties des Animaux, si on en excepte le Coeur, se trouvent placees, le Haut & le Bas, le Droit & le Gauche, le Devant & le Derriere. Mais ils ne sont pas egaux en origine ny en dignitS, & il y a diversity de perfection non settlement entr' eux; mais encore entre les termes & les differences dont ils sont composes. Car le devant & le Derriere sont plus nobles que le Droit & le Gauche, & ceux-cy que le Haut & le Bas: Mais encore le Devant est plus noble que le Derriere, le Droit que le Gauche, & le Haut que le Bas. La raison de cette diversity vient premierement de ee que ces trois ordres de Situation rSpondent aux trois dimensions qui se trouvent en tout corps naturel, la Longueur, la Largeur, & la Profondeur; comae celles-cy rSpondent aux trois especes de quantitS, qui entrant en tout corps Mathematique, la Ligne, la Surface & le Solide: Car la ligne fait la Longueur, 1 & la longueur produit le Haut & le Bas; De la Surface vient la largeur, & de celle- cy le Droit & le Gauche: Et le Solide produit la profondeur, comae la profondeur fait naistre le Devant & le Derriere. "" ' Or comae la ligne est plus simple & premiere par nature que la surface, & celle-cy que le solide; aussi la longueur devance naturellement la largeur, & celle-cy la

soit en les formant les premieres, soit en avangant leur perfection, depend de la chaleur naturelle qu’elle leur communique” (Art, p. 3 6 9 ). profondeur: Et en suitte 1'ordre.de la situation du Haut & du Bas est plus simple & premier.que celuy du Droit & du Gauche, comme celi3y-cy est a I ’egard du Devant & du Derriere. De sorte que la nature faisant toujours ses progrez des choses les moins parfaites a celles qui le sont davantage, il s ’ensuit non seulement que la ligne & la longueur sont moins parfaites. que la solide & la profondeur; Mais encore que la mSme diversite se trouve dans les ordres de situation qui repondent a chacune d'elles: Et que par consequent celle du Devant & du Derriere est la plus noble; que celle du Droit & du Gauche 1'est apres, & que celle du Haut & du Bas I'est moins, comme estant la premiere & la plus simple detoutes. En effet, nous voyons que toutes ces choses ont est£ distribuees aux corps selon I 1excellence qu'ils doivent avoir: Car ceux qui sont vivans, croissent premierement en longueur, & en se. perfectionnant ils acquierent la largeur & la profondeur: Les Plantes ont bien le Haut & le Bas; mais elles sont privies du Droit & du Gauche, du Devant & du Derriere. II n ’y a que les Animaux qui possedent ces dernieres differences: Encore y en a-t'il qui ne les ont pas toutes, cela n ’estant reserve que pour ceux qui ont les parties mieux distinguees, & le mouvement plus regulier. Ce n'est pas pourtant §, dire que toutes ces sortes de Situation ne se puissent trouver dans les corps purement naturels; mais elles y sont incertaines & estrangeres, n ’ayans aucun principe interne qui les arreste & les determine, & ce n ’est que par rapport aux choses animies qu1elles s ’y font remarquer. Car ce qui est le Haut & le Devant d ’un pilier, en pent etre le Bas & le Derriere, & celui qui est a Droit, pent estre mis a Gauche, sans mesme qu'il change de place. Mais il n ’en va pas ainsi dans les choses vivantes & animies, ou toutes les differences de Situation qu'ont leurs parties, sont invariables, estans fixees & determinees par les vertus & par les observations de I ’ame. Voire pour ce qui conceme les genres de Situation compares entr'eux. Mais qui voudra considerer les termes & les dif­ ferences dont chacun est compose, trouvera encore qu’il y en a tousiours m e qui est plus noble que 1 ’autre, parce que c'est le principe, & que le principe est plus excellent que ce qui en depend: Car le Haut est le principe du Bas, & le Droit I ’est' du Gauche, comme le Devant 1 ’est du Derriere. En effet, le commencement est une sorte de principe, & le commencement des trois principales observations de I'Ame se fait en ces trois 172

differences de situation. Car la Nutrition commence par le Haut, le Mouvement par le Droit9 & le sentiment par le Devant. Et de vray la Bouche qui est la premiere porte des alimens d'ou ils sont apres distribuez par tout le Corps, fait le Haut dans tous les Animaux, comme la Racine le fait des Plantes: D'ou vient que la langue Latine appelle hautes, les Racines qui sont profondes; Et 1'on a dit que 1'Homme estoit un arbre renverse, non parce que ses cheveux qui ont quelque ressemblance avec les racines, sont en haut & celles-cy en bas, mais parce qu'il a sa bouche directement opposee a celles des arbres; Car on ne peut douter que la Racine ne soit la bouche des Plantes puis qu'elles prennent par la leur nourriture & que de la elle est portee a toutes leurs autres parties. Le Sentiment commence aussi par le devant, car hors le sens du toucher qui a deu estre repandu par toutes les parties de 1'Animal, tous les autres sens sont placez au devant, parce que les sens devoient conduire & regler le Mouvement qui se fait toujours en avant, & qui commence par le coste droit. . . . D'ou il s'ensuit que le Haut, le Droit & le Devant sont les principes des autres & qu'ils sont par consequent plus nobles qu'eux (Arts PP« 35^-591*

Thus, for mankind, nobility connotes spatlotemporal relation­ ships which determine the order of being. Upper is the principle or vertu of the lower, just as right contains the virtue of left and front the virtue of rear, for it is the first point that initiates, or has the potential to become, the other. And even more important, as Cureau ex­ plains at a later point in his discourse, nobility of situation is correlevant to the excellence of the various organs and parts and is therefore defined as a quality "qui se tire de 1'utilite qu'elles [the parts] apportent" (Art, p. 367). Hence, in La Chambre's theory, nobil­ ity, like beauty, is an attribute that has direct reference to.intended function and thus points to the essential pragmatism underlying his basic assumptions about nature.

\ . 173

In summary. La Chambre’s methodological theory for knowing men

presumes that the microcosm, or man, is a self-contained unit whose parts are structured, composed and ordered in the image of the macro­

cosm, or astral system. Relationships between the sun, moon, and each

of the five planets and the human organs are based on similarity of

compositional nature, while the humors of a. man are the equivalent of

astral effluences in their various proportions of hot, dry, cold, and moist qualities. Moreover, the emissions from the various celestial bodies constitute only one dimension of intercosmic rapport, i.e., that

of one discreet entity to another, and while sideral effluences are generally experienced by the organism, they are more specifically re­

ceived in the noble parts of similar composition. As Cureau explains:

. . . il y a a deux sortes d 1Influences que toutes les parties regoivent des Parties Robles; L ’une qui est commune & generale; I 1autre qui est particuliere & Specifique. Par la premiere les Yeux ont correspon­ dence avec le Coeur & avec le Cerveau par le moyen de la chaleur vitale & de la vertu sensitive qu'ils regoivent d ’eux; Et en cSt egard il est vray de dire que le Soleil & la Lune qui dominant sur ces deux principales parties ont aussi une direction generale sur les deux Yeux. Mais si 1'on considers la sympathie & la societS particuliere que les membres ont les uns avec les autres, qui est une veritS que nous avons demonstrSe par 1'experience & par la doctrine d'Hippo- crate, on verra bien qu'il y a raison pour croire que le Coeur & le Cerveau peuvent avoir plus de liaison avec un oeil qu'avec 1 ‘autre; Et par consequent, que I ’un peut estre sous la direction particuliere du Soleil, & 1'autre sous celle de la Lune. Or comme I'oeil Droit est dans une plus noble situation que le Gauche, qu'il est fort & plus exact en son action que luy, & que c'est le seul qui fait la rectitude de la veue. . .; il n'y a pas lieu de doufcer qu’il ne soit aussi gouveme par I'Astre qui est le plus noble & le plus puissant (Art, pp. U35-36). rru

This "sympathie & societe particuliereV between internal and external parts is maintained by the humors,' whose'compositional ratio of esppits

relates. them to the planets and subsequently determines outward be­ havior. It is in this regard that disease and humoral imbalance are

influenced by astral aspects, and that one can draw parallels between the invisible humoral qualities, their outward expression in charac­ ters of passions, and the possible kinds of alteration in organic com­ position that produce them. The passage below is one of the many ex­ amples drawn from medicine by La Chambre to support his premise of

cosmic unity with empirical evidence:

. . .Les Levres ont un rapport avee le ventre, & les Seings qui se trouvent sur elles en designent d ’autres en cette partie, qui est sous la direction de Mars.■ loint que les Levres s'ulcerent dans les fievres tierces, qui sans doute viennent de la Bile, laquelle est gouvemee par cette Planete. Et c 1 est une observa­ tion qui merite d'estre icy exactement consideree: Car comme cette ulceration est critique, & qu'elle est propre a ces sortes de fievres, ilfaut que les Levres ayent une sympathie particuliere avec I ’humeur qui est la source du mal, & que ce soit la cause pourquoy elle se iette plustost sur cette partie que sur quelque autre que ce soit (Art, p. 451)•

The physiognomical characters. Like traditional physiognomists,

Cureau believed the face to be the mirror of the soul, or an even more microcosmic resume of the microcosm. As he reasons:

.' . .la Sagesse infinie de Dieu, qui reduit toutes choses a 1'unite pour luy estre plus conformes, apres avoir racourcy tout le Monde dans 1'Homme, a voulu racourcir tout 1 1Homme dans le visage: Car on ne peut pas dire que cette correspondance dont nous venons de parler, soit simplement dans ces marques, puis qu'elles sont toutes formees d'une mesme matiere, & par consequent elles.ne peuvent avoir plus de rapport avec I'une qu*avec I 1autre; mais il faut qu’elle soit dans les parties mesmes, 175

& que la societe qu’elles ont ensemble, soit cause que I'une ne puisse estre marquee, que sa correspondante . ne souffre en mesme temps la mesme impression. Aussi voyons-nous, outre le secret.. consentement quf elles peuvent avoir ensemble,, un rapport sensible & manifeste dans la situation & dans la structure qu* elles ont. . . WrA, pp. U39-^0 ) •

. The first indications of emotional stress are reflected in what

Cureau sees as the body’s two luminaries, the eyes, which have sympathy with the heart (right eye) and brain (left eye), the two Msources d ’ou

[les passions 1 precedent” (Art, p, ^32). Medical knowledge, claims

Cureau, lends support to the extension of these relationships between human organs and their astral counterparts, the sun and moon, by dem­ onstrating that the right eye is indeed stronger than the left in addition to being the origin of correct optical perspective. As he explains;

Mais que 1 ’oeil Droit soit plus fort que le Gauche, e'est une chose si certain qu’elle n ’a pas besoin de preuves: car outre que toufces les parties droites sont les plus fortes, outre que cSt oeil est moins attaque des maladies que 1 ’autre, & que lors que les avant coureurs de la mort detruisent la vertu des parties, il conserve la sienne quelque temps apres que le Gauche est tout a fait eteint: II faut qu’il soit plus fort que luy, puis qu’il est plus exact en son action. Et une marque evidente qu’il est plus exact, e'est que la Rectitude de la veue entiere & complette qui se fait avec les Yeux depend de luy seul. En effet, qu'on regarde des deux Yeux quelque pbjet que ce soit, si on . vient apres a fermer 1 ’oeil Gauche, 1 ’objet paroistra dans la mesme situation & sur la mesme ligne ou on I'avoit remarquS avec les deux yeux; mais si 1 'on ferme le Droit, 1 ’objet ne paroist plus dans la mesme ligne, & semble changer de situation: Qui est m e marque certaine que la Rectitude de la veue complete vient de 1 ’oeil Droit, puis que la ligne sur laquelle il void les objets est la mesme que eelle qui dirige les yeux (Art, pp. 436-37). 176

By similar token, the nose is :ruled.by Venus, the planet govern­

ing the organs of regeneration. According to Curean, this correspon­

dence may be ascertained through examination of the moles (seings or

sings) appearing in exactly the same situation and proportionately sized

in both parts. The presence of these moles is, in fact, one of the

surest methods of demonstrating the authenticity of association and

communication between the facial features and other parts of the body,

as Cureau explains below; i . . .c'est m e chose admirable, qu1 a mon advis on ne considere pas assez, qu'il n'y a sur le visage aucune de ces marques naturelles, qu’il ne s ’en trouve m e autre sur quelque Partie du Corps certaine & dSterminee, qui luy respond particulierement.' Car s ’il s ’en rencontre m e sur le Front, il y en aura m e autre sur la Poitrine; Et selon que celle-lB, sera au milieu, ou plus haut ou plus has, d’un coste ou d 1autre; celle-cy aura les mesmes differences de situation. Si I ’une se void aux Sourcils, 1 ’autre se rencontrera sur les Espaules; si I ’une sera sur le Nez, 1'autre sera aux Parties [genitales]: si aux loues; 1'autre sur les Cuisses; Si aux Oreilles, 1 ’autre sera sur les Bras, & ainsi du reste {Arts pp. 438-39) •

In conjmction with the similarities one can observe between the parts of the face and other parts of the body, the moles provide additional

assurance that the following assessment of these relationships is an accurate reading of their situation and compositional nature;

. . .la Poitrine qui est la partie du Corps au dessous de la Teste qui est la plus ossue & la plus plate au devant, repond iustement au Front qui a les memes qualitez. Les Parties Genitales sont au milieu du Corps, & avancees en dehors, comme le Uez 1 ’est au milieu du visage. Les Cuisses qui sont fort chamues & a coste, se rapportent aux loues qui sont de la mesme sorte: Le Sourcil a 1'Espaule,.a cause de 1'eminence ou I ’m & 1'autre se trouve. L'Oreille . au Bras, estans tons deux a coste, & comme hors d'oeuvre, & ainsi des autres ( Art, p. 440). 177

While Cureau's argument in favor of a science of physiognomy seemed to him well enough grounded in humors and the system of noble parts which correspond to the sun, moon, and planets, metoposcopy and chiromancy presented him with a perplexing lack of biological data.

The only manner in which he could justify their inclusion in his method for knowing men was to present them in relation to the principles es­ tablished for physiognomy and clearly state what were to be the scope and limits of their usage. Since the forehead is part of the face and therefore has its own relation to the other parts of the body, he begins by examining traditional accounts of the anticipated correspondences between the lines and the stars.

Metoposcopy. In traditional metoposcopy, or what Cureau calls

"la metoposcopie vulgaire" or "ordinaire," the forehead is divided into sections, each of which is deemed receptive to the influence of a par­ ticular planet. For his part, La Chambre did not subscribe to this sys­ tem, and adopted instead the view of a physiognomist whom he regarded as

"un Homme admirable en cet Art" (Art, p. 428). This second approach to metoposcopy (in Cureau's words, "la vraye metoposcopie"). opts for the integration rather than the separation of divination of forehead lines with physiognomical observations: taken in themselves, these lines do no more than define the strength of Saturn in the person­ ality, since this planet is the purported ruler of the forehead. The line of Saturn bisects the forehead as the midpoint between two extreme lines representing Mercury (immediately below Saturn) and Jupiter (the . 178 uppermost line)s with Mars above Saturn „ Venus above Mars and the sun and moon's lines over the right and.left eyebrows respectively (Figure l). According to Cureau, this midsection constitutes "le lieu ou cet

Astre agit plus puissamment, & o& il inprime les lignes qui sont les effets & les marques de son pouvoir” (Art, p. Ml). Comparing the re­ lationships between the various lines in the two schools of thought on metoposcopy, Cureau concludes:

. . .le Systeme du Phisionomiste dont i'ay parlS, est mieux fonde que celuy de la Metoposcopie ordinaire, & que hors la ligne de Saturne qui est au milieu, & qui est eelle qui semble estre la plus propre & la plus naturelle au Front, toufces les autres ne servent qu’S, marquer les rapports & les aspects que Saturne pent avoir avec les autres Planetes (Art, pp. 447-^8).

Attesting to the success both the physiognomist and he had experienced in using this system in preference to the other. La Chambre felt that there was reason to hope for a true science of metoposcopy which, in his words, "n'est pas si vaine & si trompeuse que quelques-uns se pourroient imaginer; mais encore que celle que I'on trouve dans les

Livres, & dont on se sert ordinairement a de faux Principes, & des regies qui ne peuvent donner la connoissance qu'on doit attendre d'un

Art si utile & si merveilleux" (Art, pp. 429-40).

What Cureau is advocating, in effect, is that metoposcopy be used as an adjunct to physiognomy rather than as an independent system of astrological signs. Although its lines cannot be explained by phys­ ical factors such as skin quality and forehead structure, they never­ theless must have a relation to the inner system which in turn relates through sympathy to the astral system. In this sense, then, one can Sun 5. Mars Moon 6 . Venus Mercury 7. Jupiter Saturn

Fig. 1: La Chambre's Metoposcopy 180 conclude that the forehead lines are "astrological1' signs. As he warns;

. . . il faut desabuser ceux qui croyent que le Front est la seule partie du visage qui foumit la Meto™ poscopie des Signes dont elle se doit servir: Car il est certain que toutes les autres y contribuent comae luy: Et 11 n ‘est pas croyable que s'il y a quelques secrets rapports des Parties Nobles & des Astres avec les parties exterieures, il n'y ait au visage que le Front qui aye eonvenanee & sympathie avec eux: Et que.les Yeux, le Nez & la Bouehe qui sont des parties si considerables» & que la Nature forme & conserve avec tant de soin, n'y en ayent aucune {Arts p. U3l).

Chiromancy. Just as physiognomy regarded the face as a micro­ cosm, of the individual, the palmist saw in the hand a resume of all the body parts. In terms of comparison, Cureau claims that ” . . . on a estS contraint de les mettre en par allele avec 1'Bit en dement & dire que eomme il estoit la forme des formes les ay ant toutes en puissance, les Mains estoient aussi 1*instrument ayant tout seul la vertu de tons les autres” {Chi. & Meto.s p. MO .

. Although medicine since the time of Hippocrates had used the principles of chiromancy to establish correspondences between parts of the hand and the organs, Cureau was not satisfied with the rationale that up­ held these relationships.

. . . la grande difficult# est de sgavoir quels sont ces endroits & ces lieux particuliers ou ces influences sont regues. Car bien que la Chiromance nous asseure que le premier doigt a sympathie avec la Rate, le troisieme avec le Coeur, &c.l^ Elle n 1apporte aucune preuve convain- quante de cette verite; Et quelques experiences qu’elle

Cureau disagrees with the traditional system of correspondences between the organs and fingers, which places Jupiter in sympathy with the index, Saturn with the second finger, the Sun with the third. Mercury with the fourth, Venus with the thumb, Mars with the center of the palm. l8l

mette en avaat pour la soustenir, elles laxssent toujours en doute ceux qui ne se veulent payer que de raisons, & passe souvent dans leurs esprits pour des phantaisies & des grotesques que la curiosite humaine s'est for gee {Chi. & pp. 9 7-9 8 ) •

In the light of these difficulties, the method proposed by la Chambre involves the reevaluation of the principles on which chiromancy was ori­ ginally founded to see if there are any reasons that can sustain them.

If so, he claims:

. . . il n'y a point a mon advis de personne raisonnable, qui ioignant les precedens soupgons avec la verite de ces Principes, ne confesse que si la Science qu'on a bastie dessus, n'est pas encore bien asseuree, elle le pexrfc devenir par les diligentes & exactes observations qu'on y peut adjouster. Et que si elle [ne] pent promettre tout ce que I'Astrologie luy fait esperer par les Astres qu1elle a places dans la Main, elle peut du moins iuger de la bonne ou mauvaise disposition des parties interieures qui ont sympathie avec elle, & donner par la de grandee ouvertures pour la conservation de la sante, & pour la guerison des maladies: car quand elle seroit restrainte dans ces bomes, & qu'elle ne se pourroit vanter d’autres choses, ce seroit tousiours une science tres-considerable, & qui par 1 'excellence de ses connoissances & par I ’utilitS qu'elle peut apporter, seroit digne de la euriositS des plus severes Fhilosophes & de tous ceux qui s 'appliquent a la recherche des * merveilles de la Nature (Art, pp. 351-52].

The reconsideration of chiromancy's rules follows the guidelines established for the characters of physiognomy and metopocopy elaborated in the following text:

and the Moon with the lower part of the palm. His own system, though not complete, attempts to base itself on concrete evidence of sym­ pathies between the hand and the internal organs obtained through successful application in the practice of medicine. Thus, he places Jupiter and the liver in correspondence with the first finger, the Sun and heart with the third finger, and Saturn and the pancreas with the middle finger. Or la nature tient cette maxime qu'elle place les choses les plus excellentes dans les lieux qui sont les plus nobles, corame on peut voir dans I'ordre ou elle a mis toutes les principales parties de 1'Univers; Et partant il faut que dans 1 1Homme qui est le racourcy & 1'abrege du monde3 les parties ayent aussi un rang conforme a leur dignite; Et que I'on puisse dire, non seulement que les plus excellentes sont dans la plus noble Situation, mais encore que celies qui sont dans la plus noble Situation, sont les plus excellentes. Car il s'ensuit de la que les Mains, qui sont au haut, sont plus excellentes que ceux qui sont au bas, & la Main qui est au coste droit que celle qui est au coste gauche. Mais comme 1'Excellence des parties se tire de 1'utilite qu'elles apportent a 1*Animal, il faut voir pour le dessein que nous avons entrepris.a quoy peuvent servir les Mains, en quoy elles sont plus utiles que les Pieds, & quel usage a la Droite par dessus la Gauche. Premierement il est certain que tous les Animaux qui sont composes de sang & que pour cette raison on appelle parfaits, ont este pourveus de quatre organes pour se mouvoir d ’un lieu a 1'autre, lesquels repondent aux quatre premieres differences de Situation que nous venons de marquer, a sgavoir au Haut & au Bas, au Droit & au Gauche: Car il n ’y a point eu d 'instrumens qui repondent aux deux demieres, a sg avoir au Derriere & au Devant, ne se trouvant aucun animal parfait qui se meuve naturellement en arriere, & les autres organes pouvans satisfaire au mouvement qui se fait en avant, comme 1*experience fait voir. Cette verite paroist dans tous les genres des Animaux parfaits; veu que la pluspart de ceux qui sont terrestres ont quatre pieds; les oiseaux en ont deux avec deux ailes; les poissons ont quatre nageoires; & les serpens font quatre plis differens. Et toutes ces parties leur sont tellement necessaires pour le mouvement progressif qui leur est naturel, que s ’il leur en manquoit quelqu'une, ils ne le pour[r]oient [sic] faire qu'avec peine. Car les oyseaux ne peuvent voler quand ils ont les iambes rompues; ny les poissons nager quand ils ont perdu quelqu'une de leurs nageoires; ny les serpens ramper, si on leur a coupe les parties du corps qui font les derniers plis de leur mouvement. D'ou il faut conclure que les Mains qui sont du rang de ces quatre instrumens qui sont destines au mouvement progress!!, servent a celuy de I 1Homme, & que s'il en estoit prive, il ne feroit pas ce mouvement avec tant de facilite. En effet on ne peut courir qu'avec grande peine quand on a les mains liees, on ferme & serre les poings quand 183

on vent sauter, & dans le marcher ordinaire le bras se retire tonslours en arriere quand la iambe du mesme coste s'avance. A quoy il faut adiouster que dans l.'enfance elles servant de pieds; que lors qu'on est tombe, on ne peut se relever sans elles, & que s ’il faut monter ou descendre en des lieux difficiles, elles ne sqnt pas moins utiles que les iambes. Qut sont des marques 6vi dentes que ces parties contribuent au Mouve- ment progressif de I'homme. Mais comme la Nature est m e grande mSnagere des choses qu’elle fait & qu'elle en tire tous les services qu'elle peut, elle ne s'est pas contentee de ce premier usage qu'elle a donne aux Mains; elle les a encore destinees si tant d'autres employs qu'il est presque impossible de les marquer & d'en tirer compte. De sorte qu'on a este contraint de les mettre en paralelle [si-o] avec 1 * entendement, & de dire que comme il estoit la forme des formes, les ayant toutes en puissance, les Mains estoient aussi 1 'instrument des instrumens, . ayant tout seul la vertu de tous les autres. Car c'est par elles que 1 'Homme prend & retient les choses qui luy sont necessaires & agreables, c'est par elles qu'il se defend & qu'il vient a bout de celles qui luy sont nuisibles & dommageables; Ce sont enfin les principales ouvrieres de tous les Arts & les outils generaux dont 1 'Esprit se sert pour mettre au iour ses plus belles & plus utiles inventions. Et sans doute elles donnent un si grand avantage a 1 *Homme par dessus les autres Animaux, qui si I*on ne peut pas dire, comme cet aneien Philosophe, qu'il est Sage parce qu'il a des Mains, on peut du moins asseurer qu'il paroist Sage, parce qu'il a des Mains. Apres cela il ne faut pas s 'estonner si elles ont este plaeees au haut bout comme au lieu le plus honorable, & si la Nature les a approchSes autant qu'elle a pu, du siege de la Raison & des Sens, avec lesquels elles ont tant de commerce & de liaison (Art, pp. 359-641.

Inasmuch as the hands are the instrument of instruments, Cureau reasons that they must require a special supply of esppi-ts wCtaux

(carried in the blood) and a complex neural network (esppits animaux 1 in the nerve canals) to provide the necessary strength and capacity for sensitivity and intricate motor control. And while it is true that the feet share these same extra provisions, they are less perfect due to 184

their later formation during gestation and their less noble position9

and are therefore secondary in importance to the hands.

Having established the theoretical framework of his new chiro­

mancy on the premises of geometric principles and drawing supporting

evidence from the biological data of medicine (formation of the noble

parts in utero), Cureau proceeds to reaffirm the traditional idea that .

the hand is a miniature replica of the body parts, just as the face is the soul’s mirror;

Car [the hand] est un racourcy de tons les membres exterieurs, n 'ayant aucune partie qui n ’ait son rapport particulier & manifests avec quelqu'une d ’eux; comme [the face] 1 ’est de toutes les parties interieures, n ’ayant aucun endroit qui n ’ait sa liaison & sa sympathie avec quelqu’une d ’elles p. 388) •

Pursuing this analogy between the face and hand into his home territory of anatomy, he gives relevant structural evidence in favor of his argu­ ment;

Et sans doute c’est lit m e des principales raisons pour laquelle ils ont eu tous deux m e constitution de cuir tout particuliere, & que la peau qui par tout ailleurs est separee des muscles, y est tellement unie, qu'il est impossible de 1 ’en sepsrer; La Nature qui a destine ces parties pour estre comme les miroirs ou se doivent representer toutes les autres, ayant voulu que la chair fust iointe au cuir, afin que 1'impression qu’elle regoit des nerfs, des veines & des arteres qui y sont rSpandues, se communiquast plus facilement & parust plus promptement dehors (Art, pp. 3 8 8 -8 9 )•

He adds that while this condition is shared by the bottom of the feet as well, and serves as an equally solid foundation for a science of podomancy, it is less successful than chiromancy in actual practice

since the foot receives less vital heat than either the hand or face 185

because it is located so much further from the source (heart) and the

characters are therefore less clearly imprinted on its surface.

In the final pages of L 'Apt de oonnoistre les Hormes3 Cureau

confronts directly for the first time the most important assumption of

traditional chiromancy— the liaison between the hands and the stars— a

problem he views as being contingent on the same factors that make the

science of physiognomy reliable:

Toute la difficulte se reduit. . ce point de sgavoir si veritablement ces Astres gouvernent les parties du Corps, & s'ils leur communiquent quelque vertu secrette qui soit la cause de la bonne ou mauvaise disposition qu'elles ont (irt, pp. 404-05).

Though La Chambre believed that his own experience in the practice of medicine together with the assurances of his theory of spiritual trans­

mission clearly suggested a relationship between the fingers and inter­

nal organs, he also willingly admitted that to answer this question

properly would have demanded ”un discours qui passeroit les homes de

nostre dessein, & qui choqueroit meme la methods avec laquelle toutes les

Sciences veulent estre traitees" (Art, p. 405). The method he then pro­

ceeds to describe as the one officially prescribed for scientific in­

vestigation is as follows:

. . .elle ne veut pas qu'on entre en doute, ny en contestation de toutes les choses qui s'y rencontrent [in Astrology]: Elle deffend particulierement de mettre a la censure les principes sur lesquels elles sont etablis, & fait passer ceux qui sont pris des conclusions des Sciences superieures, quelque douteux qu'ils soient, avec le mesme privilege que peuvent avoir les maximes & les notions communes des Mathematiques. (Art, pp. 405-06).

In sum, he concludes with regard to chiromancy (and by association,

physiognomy and metoposcopy): 186

C'est assez pour la Chiromance que la Physique soutienne ses premiers fondemens; tout ce qu'elle regoit apres de 1*Astrologies luy doit estre alloile ou du moins estre mis en surseance iusques a ce qu'on examine le fonds de I'Astrologie mesme (Ax>ts p . 4o6) .

The above passage brings us back to what is not only the prob­ lematic issue of La Chambre's theory of man, but, as we saw in chap­ ter 4, the central concern of his recommended approach to the study of natures the establishment of a methodological framework of principles that are evident like the principles of geometry and perhaps related to them— but without the implicit suggestion that all systems in nature are really machines whose essences can be sufficiently explained by ap­ plication of spatiotemporal laws of local movement. Although astrology was often indiscriminate in its selection of methods and principles,

Cureau did not wish to dismiss those observations and formulations which seemed to be grounded in empirical evidence without careful considera- i tion. Thus, while he recognized the value of mathematics as a model for science, his bias as a physician made it impossible for him to make the leap of faith from a philosophy based on probability, like the tradi­ tional systems, to a philosophy based on mathematical certitude, like the Cartesian system. And so we find him caught in the middle. On the one hand, the observations he makes regarding the basic "laws" of nature are analogies to geometric notions; (l) Nature loves proportion;

(2) Nature always looks for the shortest path, i.e., moves in a straight line unless otherwise impeded; (3) Nature loves to separate its differ­ ent types of movement {vertus or principles for specific direction) since she despises confusion and mixture; and (4) Nature takes such care to conserve the integrity of living things that she almost always divides them in halves, so that if one half suffers alteration, the

other half can hold the total being in check (s'en gccpantiv?) and there­

by preserve the nature of the composite organism. On the other hand,

he is a Platonist whose "world of ideas" consists of complex, enigmatic

figures far more reminiscent of images than of three-dimensional geo­ metric characters. And so when he writes in Le Syst'&me de t !dmes

"Cette Philosophie toute nouvelle qu'elle paroisse est aussi ancienne

que celle de Platon" (System p. 223), he recalls item by item the

Hermetic cosmology of the Renaissance natural philosophers, who would have agreed that

. . .les Idees qui sont dans 1 ‘Entendement divin sont les exemplaires sur lesquels Dieu produit toutes choses; que les Raisons qui sont dans I ’Ame du monde sont les Images des Idees & les modeles sur lesquels la Nature fait ses ouvrages; et enfin tout ce qui est dans le Monde, n'est que 1 1 ombre, c ’est-a-dire 1 1Image de ce qui est dans la Divinite (Sy'st.s p. 223 ) .

Within this traditional cosmological framework, however, Cureau is able

to formulate one of the most fascinating and important aspects of his

theory of nature— the structural understanding of the soul. CHAPTER 6

THE STRUCTURAL UNDERSTANDING OF MAN

From the Art of Knowing Men to a Science of Human Behaviors La Chambre8s Theory of Man's Inner Nature

With Le Systhne de t 'wne^ we come to the final episode in our

study of La Chambre1 s theory of man. Taking up where L tArt de connoistre les Hormes left off in 1 6 5 9 $•this new work continues the search for a more complete understanding of human nature. But whereas the first confines its attention to teaching the reader how to discover the inclinations, passions, virtues, and vices of an individual through interpretat ion of external signs, the second proposes to disclose the entire sequence of events leading up to the formation of these signs which Cureau designates as the soul's movements. As he explains in the preface of this latter treatise, it is only through a more exact knowl­ edge of how the soul acquires and distributes information to the organs of local movement designed to execute its orders that any true science

of man is possible,

Car soit que I'on considers la Connoissanoe de I 'Homme,. comme m e Science qui apprend a connoistre 1 'Homme tout entier; il est certain que la Connoissanoe de I'Ame en fait la plus noble partie. Soit que I'on la reduise a un Art particuller, qui enseigne^a decouvrir les inclinations, les passions, les vertus & les vices, comme nous avons fait; Toutes ees choses-lk presupposent la Connoissanoe & les Mouvemens .de I'Ame; & si on ne montre comment elle se meut, il

188 189

restera quantitS de doutes dans 1 ’esprit, quelque esclaircissement que l ‘on donne d ’ailleurs & ces matieres {Syst., pref.1 .

From what Cureau discloses in a later section of his prelimi- -

nary remarks, the selection of an appropriate title for his last major work was a matter involving careful deliberation on his part. Faced with the problem of dealing with a subject of general interest to the intellectual community, he did not wish to misrepresent his intentions by choosing a phrase that would be either too vague or too restrictive with regard to his understanding of the term "soul." Moreover, the word "system" as it was used by astronomers to characterize their con­ ception of the celestial order appealed to him inasmuch as it did not connote the study of the natures ascribed by astrology to each of these bodies. As he reasons:

. . . le n ’ay pu trouver de terme qui expliquast M e n mon dessein que le mot de Systems* Car de luy donner pour titre, Disoovrs de ta nature divine eust estS trop vague, puis qu'il y a beaucoup de choses qui regardant sa nature, que ie suppose, & que ie n 6examine point. De luy donner aussi celuy des Actions de t 'Ame3 il eqgtv estS trop resserre, puisque mon Discours s ’estend plus loin, & qu’il-traitte d'autres sub jets que des Actions. De sorte qu’apres avoir remarque que les Astronomes en faisant le Systeme du Monde, qui n ’est autre chose que 1 ’ordre & la disposition qu'ils donnent a tous les corps dont le Monde est composS| n ’examinent point la nature de ces corps-la, & ne cherchent que leur situa­ tion, leur figure, leur grandeur & leurs mouvemenss j ’ay creu que ie pouvois emprunter d ’eux ee terme-la, puisque i ’avois les mesmes visees pour le regard de 1 ‘Ame. Car ie n 1examine point le fond de sa nature, ie suppose que c'est m e substance Spirituelles In­ divisible & Irnnortelles & ne veux point affoiblir par mes preuves m e verite que la Religion a establie: Mais ie cherche quelle est sa Situations sa Figures sa Grandeur & ses Mouvemens. Et sous ee dernier mot, ie comprends ses actions principales, & qui luy sont communes avec les autres Substances spirituelles; & 190

sgavoir, Connoistves se Souvenir^ se Mouvoir & Faire Mowoi-v le Corps. Car il est certain que toutes ces actions sont des mouvemens, puisque la Connoissance & le Souvenir appartiennent au mouvement d*alteration; Et les deux autres au mouvement local, comme nous montrerons en son lieu (,Syst. * pref =).

As for the order of topics to he discussed. La Chamhre remarks

that he has reversed the "natural order" of his discourse to begin with

an analysis of the soul's actions rather than with a theory of its na­

ture. His reason for making this change is quite practical, for as he

wagers, . .si ie mettois a 1'entree de mon Livre tant d'espines,

comme il y en a en tout ce Traitte, ie te ferois perdre I ’envie de

passer plus avant (Syst. pref.). However, he has a second motive which

is far more significant in the light of the growing demand among intel­

lectuals during the last half of the seventeenth century for clear and

distinct ideas. By his own admission, the arguments presented in support

of his conception of the soul's nature in this treatise have the double

disadvantage of running counter to popular opinion and being framed in metaphysical premises. In anticipation of criticism from his compeers,

Cureau avows:

Outre que tout ce qu'il contient, est contraire aux opinions communes, qui par consequent ne trouvera pas 1 'esprit prepare pour se laisser facilement persuader; Le commencement se soutient par des raisonnemens Metaphysiques qui te rebuteroient: Et la fin est pleine de Conjectures si fresles & si legeres, qu'elles donneroient infailliblement une mauvaise opinion de tout 1 'Ouvrage, si ie 1 'avois commence par la [Syst.y pref.)

Thus, in order to offset the weaker sides of his theory of the

soul, Cureau's first three discourses are aimed at demonstrating beyond the shadow of a doubt that all human actions, be they ''vegetative,"

"sensitive," or "intellectual,11 are essentially cognitive. For this 191 reason $ he claims* they deserve to be examined from the vantage point of this particular kind of action. As we shall see in examining the various cognitive behaviors in man* what is important to La Chambre is not establishing strict distinctions among these faculties on the basis of traditional ideas about the three-part soul of man. Following the dual guidelines suggested in his title* the purpose of Le Syst'hne de t ’dme will be to explain how the soul’s faculties together with the vital organs are aspects of evolving biological structure * of which the two primordial terms are its instinct and its sensitivity.

Theory of knowledge

TSntendement as a model for cognitive action. Opening his dis­ cussion of the soul's system on a very dramatic and profound note*

La Chambre calls attention to the sharp contrast between the noble status of the human mind in the cosmic scheme— a truth assured to us by religious revelation— and the poor understanding philosophy demonstrates in its general assumptions about the cognitive process. As he comments;

L'Esprit de 1 *Homme qui est si vain & si superbe» doit avoir m e estrange confusion quand il vient & considerer* que luy qui est destine pour connoistre toutes choses, & qui croit en effet connoistre la pluspart de eelles qui sont dans le monde; ne sgait point du tout ee qu'il est* ni ce qu'il fait * ni com­ ment il le fait. II congoit* il juge* il raisonne; en un mot il pense* & neantmoins il ne sgauroit dire ce que c'est que Penser* ni comment il Pense. De sorte qu'on le peut justement comparer a ees Lamies des Poetes, qui prenoient des yeux quand elles sortoient de chez elles * & les laissoient st la porte quand elles y vouloient rentrer. Car il void tout ce qui est hors de luy & ne se peut voir luy-mesme: Et sans le secours de la Foy qui luy apprend qu'il est du nombre de ces Substances qui ne peuvent jamais perir, tous ses raisonnemens le laissefoient en doute de 192

cette verite; Et avec la vanite q.u'il se donne de mettre toutes choses en leur ordre, 1 1 ne pourroit s'asseurer du rang qu'il doit tenir dans 1 'Univers {Syst't p. 2 ) •

To begin closing this deplorable gap he finds in man's knowl­ edge, Cureau proposes to examine the human system from the vantage point of its most noble as well as its most occult, function— to. oormoissanoe— which he regards as "la veritable lumiere de I'Ame, & le plus parfait mouvement qui se fasse dans les choses creees" (Syet.,

P • 3) •

Turning his attention first to the problem of intellectual cognizance, Cureau makes an important distinction between the operation of the understanding faculty as it exists in the separate soul and its operation in the confines of body structure. In the first instance, he notes that the faculty is free to join directly with the objects it en­ counters "parce qu'il a une 6 gale disposition & se changer en tous les objets qu'il puisse connoistre" (Syst., p. 40). When contained in a human subject, however, the entendement cannot leave the body to go to these objects and must therefore make use of Nature's medium which

Cureau describes as "les images qui sortent de ces Objets-lsl1 & qui les representent, lesquelles passant dans les organes des sens s'unissent

& 1*imagination 1 Et alors cette faculte agit sur elles & les eonnoist;

^Cureau's theory of vision is similar to J.-B. Della Porta's, published in 1593 in Be Refraotione, according to which images are either produced by light and carried to the eye, or encountered in transit and communicated to the organ. For further analysis of La Chambre's conception of visible species in relation to ancient and con­ current theories of vision, see V. Ronchi, Hidtoire de la Limi^res (1956), esp. pp. 148-50. 193

& apres qu'elles sont ainsi connues, elles s'appellant Phantosmes" .

{Syst.3 p, 7).

Although this union would appear to constitute cognition,

Cureau is adamant in denying that it is anything more than a necessary

condition to the action which in effect consummates the intellectual

soul's knowledge. As he reasons:

Cette Union ne fait pas neantmoins la Connoissance: Car 1'Entendement ne pourroit connoistre que ce qui seroit represent^ dans ces Phantosmes; non plus que les yeux ne peuvent voir que ce qui est represent# dans les especes visibles. Cependant il est certain qu'il connoist des choses qu'ils ne peuvent representer; comma 1 * universalite des natures , la bontS & la malice, & milie autres choses qui sont de sa fagon, & qu'il ne tire que de son fonds. II faudroit encore qu'il fust tousiours dans la connoissance actuelle de tout ce qui est dans la memoire qui est pleine de ces Phantosmes [Syst., p. 9)•

In La Chambre's estimation, the action of the entendement may best be understood through comparison with the series of operations by which the faculties of the sensitive soul produce these phantoms in the first place. As he explains:

II faut. . .dire que 1 'Entendement sans 1 'intervention d'aucune autre vertu, a la puissance de faire les portraits & les Images des objets sur le modele des Phantosmes qui sont dans 1*Imagination; Et qu'il connoist quand il forme ces Images que 1 'on appelle IdSes pour les distinguer de ces Phantosmes. Car on ne peut douter que la Connoissance ne laisse dans 1'Esprit les portraits des choses qu'il connoist, puisque pour absentes qu'elles soient, il luy semble qu'il les void dans la mesme grandeur, figure, situation, & avec les mesmes couleurs & les mesmes mouvemens qui leur sont propres: De maniere qu'il est necessaire que toutes ces circon- stances y soient representees. . . . Or comme ces Images ne peuvent estre que spirituelles, puisqu'elles sont dans 1 'Entendement qui est spirituel, il est indubitable qu'il n'y a que luy qui les puisse 19h

former: Car ni 1 ‘imagination $ ni les Phantosmes qui sout des choses materielles, ne peuvent rien produire qui ne soit materiel. Mais encore comme il ne reste rien apres la Connoissance que ces Images, il faut que ce soient les effets de la Connoissance: De sorte que si I ’on juge des actions par les effets qu'elles produisent, il est necessaire que I*action de Con- noistre, soit la production des images. En-effet la Connoissance des choses n ?est rien que la representa­ tion que I ’Ame s'en fait, & les connoistre c ’est les representer: Or on ne peut se les representer qu’en faisant leurs portraits & leurs Images {Syst^3 pp. 12-13).

Thus in man, the free, self-transforming nature of the supreme cognitive faculty of understanding is preserved, hut its action is shaped hy the images present in what Cureau calls "la Substance de

I ’Ame," or "I’organe de 1 ’Imagination, ou sont les Phantosmes ausquels

[cette FacultS] ne manque pas de s'unir, puisqu'elle ne peut agir sans eux" (Syst.f p. 8 ). The only real difference between its action and the process by which phantoms are produced in the sensitive faculties is that in the case of the purely spiritual faculty, its entire being is transformed by the movement it experiences, or in La Chambre’s words:

11 est certain que 1 ’action par laquelle 1 ’Entende­ ment forme ses idles, est une Alteration perfective, comme parlent les Escholes: parce que la perfection & la fin de 1 ’Entendement est de connoistre, c’est-a-dire, de former les Images & les portraits des choses. Par ce moyen il se transforme en elles, & devient eh quelque sorte la chose qu’il connoist: c'est le ProthSe des anciens Philosophes qui prend toutes sortes de formes, & qui dans la fagoh de parler du Lycee, fait toutes choses, & se fait & devient toutes choses, mriuvrcL ttocsX \i(Ll r r c i v r c i - (Sz/st,, p. 1 6 ) .

As he goes on to demonstrate, this action is comparable to the two fundamental creative processes known to human experience: the 195

development of new forms from old ones as seen in certain species of

animals, and in artistic representations

On ne sgauroit mieux faire concevoir ce changement que par celuy qui souffrent certedns Animaux, qui sans changer le fonds de leur nature & sans addition de matiere, prennent diverses formes & semblent passer en d'autres especes; comme la pluspart des vers qui se metamorphosent en chrysalides, & deviennent aprSs papillons. Mais ce qui se fait en eux avec beaueoup de temps, se fait icy en un momenti Car I'Entendement sans changer aussi de nature, se fait en un instant un animal, un astre, une pierre, &c. Enfin e'est un Peintre admirable qui est luy-mesme son pinceau, sa toile, ses couleurs & son portrait; Et au lieu que les autres ne sgauroient representer que les aceidens visibles, encore faut-il qu'ils soient stables & permanens; eelui-cy au contraire, peint les odeurs, les saveurs, les mouvemens, les substances; en un mot les choses qui sont, & celles mesmes qui ne sont point & qui ne peuvent estre {Syst., p. 1 7 ).

Despite these remarkable abilities, the entendement 's ”freedom" is not

in its action but in its essence, for in a very real sense, the latter

disposition— complete indifference— precludes the possibility of any

.selectivity in the former. Thus, as Cureau reasons;

. . . ce qui le determine a former une Image plutost que 1*autre, c'est ordinairement le Phantosme qui est dans 1'Imagination. Car les idees qu'il conserve apres ses meditations le peuvent souvent determiner, mais pour 1'ordinaire les Phantosmes luy servant de modele; Et generalement parlant, les premieres Connoissances qu'il a des choses se font par leur moyen {Syst,3 p. 1 8 ).

To illustrate how he supposed that the determination of entende-

ment could be accomplished by a material phantom, Cureau takes two ex­

amples; l) the filtering of light through stained glass, and 2 ) the

development of an animal from the informing virtue, which tradition

taught was carried in the father's seed (see supra, pp. 200-0U). By

the first example, he is intent on comparing the mechanism of the 196

entendement's illuminating action to other physical phenomena involving

light, and posits: \

. . .s'il y a quelque exemple qui nous puisse faire connoistre exactement cette merveille; c'est la Lumiere qui a tant de conformite avec les natures Spirituelles. Car quand elle passe a travers des vitres colorees, elle se teint de la couleur qu'elles ont, elle se transforme en elles, & sans la leur oster, elle la transporfce hors d'elles. L'Entendement fait la mesme chose; il penetre les Phantosmes, il en tire 1 *extrait, & se charge de la figure & de la forme qu'ils ont, sans les oster a luy . [Syst.s p. 1 9 ).

However, as he shows in the second example, the action of the entende­ ment involves more than just ’’illumination ,M which is only the initial

aspect of its movement. . Since this faculty is at the same time a trans­

cendent and an immanent quality of the living substance, its action might also he compared to the complex events of biological regeneration,

a process which, as he notes below is described by the same term, cpneevoir:

. . ,le changement que fait [la vertu formatricej est une sorte d'alteration aussi-bien que celuy de la Connoissance. Et puisque c ’est 1 ’ordre que tient la Nature de faire cormne des essais & des esbauehes dans les choses les plus basses, des actions qu’elle veut aceomplir dans les plus hautes; II est vraysemblable que le changement qu’elle fait dans les Animaux, est . un crayon & un coup d ’essay de celuy qu’elle veut faire dans les Substances spirituelles. Car enfin c’est la leur maniere d'engendrer: Et cette vertu qui est si noble & si merveilleux en ceux-la, non seulement ne devoit pas estre desniee & celles-cy, mais encore elle y devoit estre plus parfaite & plus accompile. Comme elle 1 ’est en effet, puisqu’elles ne produisent pas seulement leur semblable en se connoissant elles- mesmes, mais qu’elles peuvent encore produire toutes choses: Car il faut que 1 ’Entendement en connoissant le Soleil, fasse en luy-mesme un autre Soleil; il faut qu'il faisse ainsi les Estoiles, les Siemens, en un mot tout ce qui est dans I ’Univers. De sorte qu'on peut dire qu’il est en quelque sorte le Createur d ’un nouveau monde, & que c ’est cela particulierement qu'il 197

est fait a 1 'image & a la ressemblance de Dieu, qui est toutes choses, & qui produit toutes choses. . . isyst., pp. 21-22f*

While both examples are helpful in explaining Cureau1s under­ standing of the entendemeat!& action in man $ we caai see the obvious problem involved in trying to describe something defined as "immaterial” as an integral part of an essentially corporeal being.. Either one is forced to give the impression that the faculty is like an external agent $ in which case "movement” is regarded as something independent of matter| or else one makes ehtendement appear to be inherent to the ani­ mate substance in which case materialism must be conceded. In an effort to avoid the pitfalls of either the dualistic or materialistic doctrine 9

Cureau wrote a second chapter to his discourse, which he entitled

"Comment se fait la Connoissance de I ’Ame separSe," and aimed at clari­ fying his understanding of entsndement apart from any involvement in biological structure.

As we noted at the beginning of this discussion, the difference between the understanding faculty as it exists in man and as it was be­ lieved to exist in separate souls is that in the first case it can unite with only the phantoms produced by imagination, while in the second in­ stance, it is capable of penetrating the objects themselves. However, as

Cureau remarks in the passage below, the ability of the independent in­ tellectual faculty to "see" into the nature of something does not dis­ pose it to any knowledge of that object's essence, for such complete cognizance requires the presence of "connatural images" in the cognitive structure of the agent: 198

Ce n f est pas neantmoins que cette Connoissance experi- mentale leur puisse faire connoistre tout ce qxd. appartient B, 1 ’essence des choses5 comae sont les rapports que les unes ont avec les autres, les notions tmiverselles, & les con- noissances practiques qui s'en peuvent tirer. Mais les Especes generales qui leur ont este infuses au moment de leur creation, achevent & consomment cette Connoissance; de la mesme sorte que les Especes qui sont nees avee les animaux oB consiste leur Instinct. . . » perfectionnent & accomplissent la Connoissance que les Sens leur donnent des choses qui leur sont amies ou ennemies. Car la veue que la Brebis a du Loup, ne luy apprend pas que c 5 est un ennemi qui attente a sa vie; mais elle reveille le souvenir de 1 1Image naturelle qui I'en instruit: Et de ces deux Con- noissances se forme 1 !aversion qu'elle a centre luy, & la resolution qu’elle prend de le fuir. De mesme la Connois­ sance que les Anges aequierent en s 'unissant a leurs objects, 8$ qui leur en fait connoistre 1 ’existence & la presence, reveille celle que les Images naturelles leur donnent de tout ce qui regarde leur essence; & de ces deux 11 se forme une notion qui comprend tout ce qui s ’en peut connoistre {Syst° 3 pp. 43-^).

Although Cureau did not concede that separate souls are endowed with as complete a set of natural images to guide their actions as are granted to angels or animals, he did admit that they had certain dis­ positions, which he identifies at a later point in his discourse as the moral virtues. As he reasons:

. . .si I'on considers toutes les choses de 1 ’Univers, on y remarquera cette Connoissance secrette dont nous par­ lous. Elle se trouve mesme dans 1 'Entendement; ear 1 ’inclination qu’il a pour la libertS, pour la gloire, pour la felicitS & pour cent autres choses semblables, devan cent toutes ses Connoissances ordinaires [i.e., in man]; il se porte de luy-mesme a la recherche de toutes ces choses sans s ’en appercevoir; Et ce qui est estrange, il n ’aime ce qui est beau que parce qu’il luy plaist. Mais la raison pour- qupy il luy plaist, luy est inconnue. Cependant cette raison est le veritable motif & la seule Connoissance qui 1 'oblige a 1 ’aimer (Syst., p. 1 8 9 ).

In the separate soul, then, there is already a kind of instinct whose degree of imperfection seems to suggest to Cureau the existence of a 199

pre-established order of divine grace among men:

Quant aux Ames Separees comme elles n ’ont point este pourveues de ces Especes naturelles, si on en excepte quelques-unes qui servent a 1 ‘Instinct pour, certaines actions> & qui en font petit nombre: II est certain qu1 elles ne peuvent naturellement avoir m e Connoissance si parfaite des ehoses que les Anges. Mais il est fort vraysemblable que celles qui sont destinees pour la Gloire, recevront de la main liberale de Dieu les mesmes avantages qu’il a donnez aux Esprits Angeliques; puisqu’il dit qu'elles leur seront semblables, & qu'il y a de 1 'apparence que devant occuper les places de ceux qui luy ont este rebelles, elles auront aussi les mesmes privileges & les mesmes Connoissances qu'ils avoient. Pour celles a qui le Ciel sera fe m e s quoy qu' elles ayent la puissance de connoistre la nature particuliere des choses, les pouvant penetrer & se transformer en elles aussi-bien que les Anges; Elles -ne seront point secourues des Especes generales que les autres auront, & ne pourront par consequent avoir une Connoissance si parfaite que la leur. Mais quelle qu'elle soit, 1'estat ou elles seront la retranchera bien, & ne leur laissera presque point d*autre libertS que de penser aux peines & aux supplices qu'elles souffriront etemellement (Syat*3 pp. UU-U51.

The exact relationship between the entendement rs ''instinct" as a separate soul and its "inclination" to love in man,.while not entirely clear at this point, is obviously going to be one of the key problems in the elaboration of the theory of man. Since the ubiquitous presence of the understanding faculty is a primordial factor in the constitution of the human soul, it must predate the formation of any phantoms inas­ much as these images are formed solely through direct contact with the outside world, and human existence begins in the womb. In short, the entendement in man can.only be fully appreciated when its relation to the evolving biological structure is understood, for it is in this re­ gard that the true character of human sentiment or sensibility, which incorporates moral and esthetic virtues, can be seen as the highest 200 expression of "sensitivity," or predisposition enabling organisms to assimilate and order new substance in the interests of their preser­ vation and perfection.

Origin and nature of sense-knowledge: soul, temperament and biological structure. In La Chambre's system, human life begins at the moment of conception when the informing virtue is joined to the active and passive virtues of matter. Traditionally, it was believed that the father’s seed transmitted the active virtue, or hot-dry ingredient, in the form of an image representing all the details of the future being, while the mother provided the cold-moist qualities along with a body to host the offspring during the prenatal period of maturation. Although this theory was metaphysically satisfying as late as the mid-seventeenth century, it was not longer universally accepted. As Cureau points out in L'Art de conno'istve tea Hormes3 a number of his compeers had begun to think that both male and female partners contributed to the consti­ tution x of the primordial seed, and that the male was therefore not the sole producer of "active virtue."

While he did not subscribe to the opinion that there was equal sharing between parents in the production of the animal. La Chambre did admit the likelihood that both male and female donate virtues in proportion to their temperamental qualities. Given this premise, he theorizes;

. . .quoy qu'il y ait contestation entre les Philosophes pour la perfection de la femelle dans la generation, & que les uns tiennent qu'elle concourt a la production de 201

1' animal aussi M e n que le masle, neantmoins sans qu’il .soit besoin d 1aporter les raisons & les experiences qui dStruisent cette opinion* il est certain que quand elle seroit veritable, il faut confesser que la vertu active qu’elle peut avoir,■ y est beaucoup plus foible, & que la cause passive y est plus dominante: Ce qui suffit pour montrer que les qualitez passives y dominant aussi Ctet,."pp. 29-30).

At first, this solution seems like a reasonable compromise between

traditional philosophy1s metaphysically-based theory of regeneration

and the conclusions modern scientists drew from their own observations

• and knowledge of reproduction. However, if we consider the real moti­ vation of metaphysics which is to divide things into logical (in this

sense absolute and mutually exclusive) categories, it becomes clear that the slightest departure from its original position raises the same prob­

lem; as long as the female is considered in any way. a contributor to

the constitution of the active cause, she must of necessity play a role

in the constitution of the efficient cause, for as Cureau notes,

. . entre les dispositions corporelles, les premieres qualitez sont

les plus.effieaces & les plus necessaires [et] il falloit que la chaleur

& la secheresse, qui y soht les plus actives, fussent donnees au Sexe

qui fait la fonction de la cause efficiente” (Art, p. 29). Consequent­

ly, the ideas of "soul" and "temperament" may no longer be directly

associated respectively with the active and efficient causes and with the passive and material causes, but must instead be viewed as aspects

of an informing virtue which is constituted precisely at the moment o f '

conception.

As far as Cureau is concerned, however, the facts of biological

structure do not serve to make "temperamentH and "soul" exactly what one 202

might call equal, partners in the prenatal development of the organism.

As he discusses in great detail below, the strong characterial and

structural resemblance between family members is assured by the. image

inscribed in the informing virtue which programs each organ's sensi­

tivity according to the inclination of corresponding structures in the

engendering animal. In this sense, "soul” refers to the nervous system, while "temperament" plays the supporting role of providing the vital heat:

Quant a la Conformation des parties, personae ne doute que ce ne soit une marque certaine de beaueoup d 1Inclina­ tions, puisque mesme sans art par la seule inspection des traits du visage on connoit a peu pres 1 'humeur & I 1esprit des personnes. . . . Mais ie dis bien plus, ce n'est pas seulement la marque, elle est encore la cause des Inclinations, car elle fait pancher I'Ame a eertaines actions, comme le temperament. Et il ne faut pas dire que c'est I'effet du Temperament mSme, & qu'ainsi elle ne marque les Inclina­ tions que parce qu'elle designe le Temperament qui en est la veritable cause & non pas elle. Car quoyque cela soit veritable en plusieurs rencontres, & qu'il soit certain que pour 1 'ordinaire les parties s'allongent, se re- tressissent, & prennent diverses figures selon la qualitS de 1 'humeur qui domine. II arrive neantmoins. tres-souvent que la conformation ne s'accommode pas avec le Temperament, & qu'une complexion froide, par exemple, se trouve avec une Conformation qui semble tempigner de la chaleur. En effet le cOeur & le cerveau sont quelquefois plus grands ou plus petits dans m mesme Temperament: Ce qui cause une difference notable dans les passions sur lesquelles ces deux parties ont un grand pouvoir. Outre cela combien voit-on de bilieux qui ont le nez gros & court, de melancholiques a qui il est long & aigu contre la nature de ces humeurs? Qui diroit que tons les Tartares & tous les Chinois sont d'un mesme temperament a cause que ceux- lil ont tous le visage large, & que ceux-cy sont tous camus? K'y a-t'il pas des animaux de diverse espece qui ont une mesme temperature? & neantmoins ils ont la figure des parties toutes differentes. Enfin ce n'est point le tem­ perament qui perce les veines & les arteres, qui fait les articulations des os, qui divise les doigts, & qui fait cette. admirable structure des parties de chaque animal. G'est la vertu formatrice qui est 1 'architects que I ’Ame employe pour luy bastir un corps qui soit propre a faire les actions ausquelles elle est destinSe, Et comme cette vertu tasche tousiours de rendre 1 *animal qu1elle forme, semblable a celuy qui le produit, si celuy-cy a des parties d'une telle grandeur ou figure, elle qui en porte le characters, en fait toujours de pareilles, si elle n'est erapeschee, II est vray que le Temperament s'oppose souvent a son dessein, & empesche que les parties n 'ayent la figure qu’elle s'estoit proposes de leur donner, mais souvent aussi il n'y resiste pas, & laisse agir selon les mesures qu'elle a prises. C'est ainsi que 1 'imagina­ tion des Femmes-grosses luy fait changer la figure des parties del'enfant qu'elles portent, sans que le Tem­ perament y resiste; c ’est ainsi que les Astres impriment sur le corps des marques qui ne repondent pas a la com­ plexion naturelle qu'il a, &c. Tout cela presuppose, la question est de sgavoir com­ ment la Figure, qui est une qualite sterile, & qui n 'agit point, peut causer les inclinations. Certainement il ne faut pas eroire qu'elle les produise par une vertu agis- sante; Car le temperament me sine, quoy qu'il ait cette vertu, ne I 1employe pas sur 1'Ame qui n'est pas susceptible des qualitez materielles; Car il n'y a rien qui puisse veritablement echauffer ou refroidir 1'Ame. Ny luy ny la conformation des parties ne sont que des causes occasion- nelles, & des motifs qui 1 *excitent a faire des actions. Quand elle a connu la chaleur qui domine dans le corps, elle forme ses lugemens conformes aux effets qu'elle peut produire, & se dispose apres a faire agir les organes selon le dessein qu'elle a pris. II en est de m£me de la figure, elle sgait celle qui est ou n'est pas propre & certaines fonctions, elle en fait ses lugemens apres, & solicits enfin 1 'appetit a se mouvoir conformement a la resolution qu'elle a prise. Or tout de mesme qu'il y a des figures qui sont propres au mouvement des corps naturels, & d'autres qui y resistant, il est certain que chaque fonction organique a une figure qui luy est affectee, & sans laquelle elle ne se peut faire qu’iraparfaitement: C'est pourquoy chaque partie, & mesme. chaque espece d'animal a une figure differente, parce que les fonctions en sont differentes. Et comme le corps qui devoit estre quarre, & qui estoit par consequent destine au repos, devient propre a se mouvoir quand on luy donne la figure ronde; Aussi quand une partie organique qui devoit estre d ’une telle figure, en regoit une autre, elle perd la disposition qu'elle avoit pour la fonction a laquelle elle estoit destines, & acquiert celle qui a liaison avec la figure extraordinaire qu'elle a receue. 20k

Mais il y a icy m e difficulte qu'il est mal-aise de resoudre. C'est que I'Ame connoist par Instinct 1 *action que doivent faire les organes, quand ils ont la Conforma­ tion qui leur est propre & naturelies Cependant on ne pent pas dire cela quand 1 ’organe n'a pas la figure qu'il doit avoir, parce que 1 *Instinct ne Ivy donne pas la connoissance de 1 'action qui ne luy est pas propre, puisque c ’est un deffaut particuller, & que 1 'Instinct est; me connoissance generale a toute 1 'espece, Pour se tirer d 1un pas si difficile, il faut remarquer que la figure des parties est 1 'effect de la vertu formatrice, & que cette vertu suit le temperament ou 1 'impression & 1'image qu’elle a receue de 1'animal qui engendre. Si c'est le temperament, la figure n'est pas la' cause de 1 'Inclina­ tion, ee n'est que la marque, parce que le Temperament en est la cause veritable; & pour lors I'Ame connoit 1'action de la partie par le moyen du temperament, comme nous avons dit cy-devant. Mais si c'est 1 'impression & 1 'Image de 1 'animal qui engendre; la vertu formatrice est la cause de 1 'Inclination, parce que c'est une faeulte qui ports avee soy non seulement le characters des parties de 1 'animal qui engendre, mais encore la disposition qu'il avoit & agir, conformement §, leur figure. Et cela est si veritable que souvent mesme un enfant conserve 1 'Inclination de ses parens; encore qu'il ne leur ressemble pas, le Temperament ayant resist! a la figure des parties, & n'ay ant pas eu assez de force pour effacer la disposition a 1 ’inclination qu'ils avoient. Or il est certain qu'il n 'y a que la vertu formatrice qui porte le caractere de ces Inclinations, n'y ay ant rien que 1 'animal qui engendre, communique a celuy qui est engendrS, que cette seule vertu, comme les ex­ periences modemes nous 1 ' apprennent. Or comme la vertu formatrice qui est dans les organes de 1 ' animal qui est engendre, se me vet avec ses organes., elle acquiert la mesme pente & la mesme disposition & se mouvoir qu'ont ces organes, de sorte que venant & former un autre animal elle porte avec elle cette mesme disposi­ tion qu'elle a acquise, & la luy communique. Et parce que cette disposition est comme un poids qui presse & sollicite continuellement I'Ame & se mouvoir: I'Ame qui le ressent, forme a la fin le lugement conforme a 1 ’impression qu'elle , . en a receue, & 1 ' inspire apres i. 1 'appetit qui prend la meme pente? Et cette pente est la veritable Inclination, parce que 1 'inclination ne peut estre que dans 1 'appetit Urt, pp. 96-104 ) •

On the basis of the arguments presented in the discussion cited above, we can conclude that for La Chambre "soul" and "temperament" 205

correspond respectively to the metaphysical poles of form and matter

inasmuch as it is the first that guides and directs the ordering of the

second. However, what is important to the author is that the ordering

process does not really have a Mfinal cause.” More accurately, it has

a frame of reference— the inclination— from which the soul conducts the

building of body structure by learning to accommodate the continually

changing nature of its material substance to the original design of the

informing virtue. In order to understand what all of this means in

terms of the evolving biological structure„ we must see more exactly how

Cureau describes the formation of the vital and sensitive parts of the

human system during prenatal development.

According to the author of Le SysttOme de 1 !dzne3 the informing

virtue may also be called the informing faculty, or natural faculty, which is characterized as "la premiere de toutes, en temps, en ordre &

en fauction” (Syst.3 p. 226). In the course of gestation, the two pri­ mordial aspects of the natural faculty’s operation— heat production and • . sensation— give rise to two sets of structures designed to accommodate

the increasingly complex demands of the evolving organism. The first

set is concerned with the production and distribution of vital heat,

which it accomplishes through digestion and "spiritualization" of the

nutrients to form blood. The second set of structures simultaneously

receives this humor in its organic parts and isolates the most subtle

"spirits" to serve as a subject for its images. These "spirits," now

called "animal spirits" to distinguish them from the vital spirits car­

ried in the blood, are thus suited to sensitive operations which, as 206

Cureau remarks, "demandent une grande quietude9 & ne peuvent souffrir dans leurs organes aucune quailte turbulente’1 (Syst. 3 p. lUU).

The “animal spirits1’ thus constitute the basis for sensitivity in all living substance. As we have noted above, what distinguishes them from vital spirits is not their nature, for as Cureau demonstrated in his treatise on light, spiritual bodies are categorically different from corporeal bodies in that they contain only the tiniest speck of matter. If the animal spirits are called “subtle,” this term applies more to their quantitative than to their qualitative aspect since spirits are concentrated in the brain and neural structures where they serve as ”le premier subjet des Facultez.sensitives, comme ceux qui par leur subtilitS approchent le plus de la nature de I ’Ame” (Syst.j pp. iVr-W).

In La Chambre's system, however, not all animal spirits are attached to the organs, although they may hover in the immediate vi­ cinity of highly spiritual organs because of their natural inclination to unite with similar substance. These free and “vagabond” spirits are the final products of vital fermentation whose collective role is to serve as a supportive medium for the entendement> or spiritual remnant of the informing virtue (see supra^ pp. 224-28). As Cureau explains be­ low, these unattached spirits enhance the action of the sensitive faculties, but do not actually direct them, for “il est necessaire que- ces Facultez qui sont permanentes ayent un sub jet fixe & constant. Ce n'est pas que les autres ne servant it leurs actions; mais c'est seule- ment comme aides, & non pas comme premiers organes" (Syst^ p. 148). 207

We can now see more precisely what La Chambre intends by the phrase "les liens de 1'Arne & du Corps" which he frequently uses to describe the action of spirit. Confined within the body, the animal spirits provide the substratum necessary to support the soul's images.

And as shown in the passage below, while it is not clear how image and spirit are actually related, it is certain that both aspects must be present in order for the conditions prerequisite to sentient life to be met:

. . .il n'y a aucune partie qui puisse soustenir les Phantosmes que les Esprits| parce qu'il faut que le subjet soit proportional a la forme qu'il doit soustenir, & qu'il n'y a que les Esprits qui par leur subtilite ayent quelque conformity de nature avec ees Images qui sont si minces & si deliSes. Si cela est ainsi, il n'y a plus lieu de douter que ces Esprits ne soient animez, dautant que les Phantosmes sont des effets qui ne sortent point de la Faculte Sensi­ tive qui, les produit; parce que toutes ses actions sont immanentes comme parle 1'Eschole. Si done les Phanthosmes sont dans les Esprits, il faut que la FacultS Sensitive y soit aussi: Et si la FacultS Sensitive y est, e'est une necessity que 1'Ame y soit, puisque ses Facultez ne peuvent separer d'elle (Syat.t p. l65 ) •

Thus, the phantoms and animal spirits are the constituents of all sensitive substance. Considered separately, each is the product of a phase in the spiritualization and refinement of matter, which as

Cureau explains below, is Nature's way of bringing the metaphysical antitheses, body and soul, together:

. . .s'il y a quelque chose qui nous puisse faire con- noistre la nature des Images qui sont dans 1'Ame, ee sont les Especes que les objets respandent dans 1'air; car les unes & les autres sont destinees pour faire con- noistre les choses, elles les representent egalement, & 1'on peut asseurer que les Phantosmes & les Images qui sont dans 1'Ame, sont des Especes qui sont plus subtiles & plus raffinees. Car e'est 1'ordre que tient la Nature, qu'elle 208

subtilise & spiritualise en quelque sorts de matieres quand ells les veut approcher plus pres de I'Atne, afin qu'elles lay soient plus con formes. Ainsi du chile elle en fait du sang,, dont elle forme les esprits vitaux, qu’elle raffine apres pour en fairs les esprits sensitifs. ce qu’elle fait done lit dans les organes, elle le fait aussi dans les objets: comme ils sont materials & grossiers, elle en tire les Especes sehsibles qui sont beaucoup plus subtiles; & ces Especes elle en fait apres des Phantosmes qui sont encore plus desliez; d'oh. elle forme enfin les Ideas qui sont tout-a-fait spiri- tuelles {Syst.j, pp. 304-05 ) •

From the vantage point of evolving organic structure, the para­ digm for this action is the vital system, whose organs are programmed by the informing virtue to work together as a spirit-producing system. As the sensitive faculties are constituted through concentration and isola­ tion of animal spirits in the brain and the neural canals, knowledge about the functioning of these organs is ”emitted" in the form of a lu­ minous aura, which is then transmitted to the faculties to serve as the primordial model (instinct) for their cognitive operations. When the subject is released from its mother’s body and placed in direct contact with the outside world, the instinctual images, along- with the charac­ teristic ability of sensitive faculties to abstract information from the spiritual emissions of external objects, enable the individual to relate his own being to his surroundings. All five senses contribute to this cognitive process in their own way. However, it turns out that only sight and hearing incorporate "perception" or knowledge of the physical parameters of the subject-object relationship which include relative size and distance. Thus, observes Cureau, only these two senses utilize > images to mediate their contact with objects in the outside world while the other senses operate on the basis of taction with a corporeal part of the objects 209

. . .11 n'y a que les Sens de la Veue & de I'Ouye qui ayent besoin d ’Especes pour connoistre leurs objets. C ’est-pour- quoy 1 1 n'y a qu'eux seuls qui iugent de la situation & de la distance de ceux qui sont esloignez; & parce qu'il n'y a que les Especes qui puissent donner cette Gonnoissance . . . 11 s'ensuit que les autres Sens qui ne 1'ont pass ne connoissent point par ce moyen-la (Syst.s p. 77).

The operation of the sensitive and intellectual faculties as un­ derstood by La Chambre is similar to the process of visual and auditory perception. The imagination is like an internal "eye" which perceives the relata represented in the phantasmal representation of the subject™ event in the same way that the organ of vision extracts information from the sensible species. Thus, to understand the action of the cognitive faculties, Cureau finds an empirical model in the visible species, which he supposes to be like all reflected images, i.e., "rien qu'un assemblage d'une infinite de Rayons, qui se joignant ensemble font une masse qui est large & profonde a la maniere des corps solides" {Syst.s p. 82). As for the nature of these rays, he compares them to sound waves, and comments; . .si nous faisons voir que le Son qui se repand dans 1'air est aussi compose de ses Rayons particullers que 1'on peut appeler Sonoves3 comme ceux de la Lumiere s'appellant lumineux, nous pourrons conclure que le Son qui se fait dans les corps sonnans respand comme la eouleur un autre Son, qui luy est semblable, & qui est compose d'une infinite de Rayons. On ne peut douter de cette verite, si on considere que le Son reflechit a angles egaux comme la lumiere; qu'il se repand en 1 'air de telle sorte qu'il est tout en toute 1 'espece qu'il occupe, & tout en chacune de ses parties; Et qu'enfin 11 se fortifie dans les voutes de figure elliptique ou parabolique: Car toutes ces experiences font voir evidemment qu'il est composS de rayons". En effet comme la lumiere ne se reunit en un point dans le miroir parabolique, que parce que tous les costez du miroir sont tellement compasses, que tous les rayons qui y tombent se re- flechissent necessairement a ce point; il faut qu'il en soit de •mesme du Son, & qu'il ait des Rayons pour faire les diverses cheutes, & les diverses angles qui les conduisent au point ou ils se doivent ramasser & reunir tous ensemble. Et comme il n'y a point de raison pour laquelle 1 'image du corps lumineux est toute.en chaque partie dudiaphane, que parce qu'elle est composee de Rayons . . . il est necessaire que le Son qui s'estend aussi tout entier dans chaque partie de 1'espace qu'il occupe, soit compose de rayons {Syst. pp. 85- 8 6 ). 210

The difference between the organic eye and the imaginative eye

is that the second is far more refined and spiritual than the first,

and the "rays" by which it senses are invisible when the insides of the body are observed. As Cureau reasons;

Cottme il y a des yeux qui voyent des objets que d ’autres ne peuvent appercevoir; il y a aussi des choses que 1'Imagination void, que les Sens ne peuvent eonnoistre. Car c'est 1 1ordre de la Nature que dans les Connoissances subordonnees, les hautes soient plus delicates & plus par- faites que les basses, Et que leur objets soient aussi plus subtils & plus spiritualises. Les Images, sent done des Lumieres plus subtiles que celles qui frappent les yeux & qui ne sont sensibles qu'i. 1 1 Imagination. Et cela est si vrsy, que la commune opinion, sans sgavoir pre™ cisement comment cela pouvoit estre, a este contrainte de reconnoistre des Lumieres dans 1 1Imagination & dans I ’En- tendement; car 11 n'y a rien de si ordinaire dans I'Eschole, que de dire que I 1Imagination esclaire les Especes; que 1* Entendement esclaire les Phantosmes; Et dans le langage commun, qu'un Homme a de grandes lumieres d'esprit, qu'il soit fort esclaire, &e. Quelques-ms a la verite asseurent que ce ne sont que des Lumieres metaphor!ques % mais si on prend garde a ce que nous venons de dire, & a ce que nous avons dit au lieu allegue, on jugera bien que ce sont de propres & de veritables Lumieres {Syst.s pp. 324-25)..

Returning now to the mechanism of cognitive action in the sensi­ tive faculties, we can see why Cureau believed it was necessary to have both internal and external models for image production. Only the two \ highest sensory organs— the eye and ear— are capable of perceiving the physical vetata of external objects because only they operate through

reception of images. Hence, when they are transmitted to the iph&nttxis'ie

this faculty is directly in touch with the event, from which it then

forms its phantom. The lower sensitive faculties dp not know through

images, but yet in Cureau's system where every cognitive act results in

the formation of an image, they must be equally capable of producing an 211

image-like representation of their experience before transmitting it

to the imagination or to other parts of the nervous structure. Thus 9

the sense organ whose knowledge is acquired through direct contact with

objects forms its phantoms on the model of the natural image which is

immanent to the organ, and which in Cufeau’s estimation, Mest come la

forme de I'organe, & 1 ’exenrplaire sur lequel il forme son mouvement”

(Syst.s p. 5 2 2 ).

Regardless of where the image is formed, it is immediately com­ municated to all parts of the sensitive system "comma m e Lumiere qui

se multiplie, & se rSpand dans toutes les parties de I'Ame qui en sont

susceptibles” (Syst.3 p. 119). The latter part of this observation is particularly significant, for as Cureau explains;

C'est eL dire que celle qui est spirituelle se communique aux facultez spirituelles; Et celle qui est materielle aux facultez eorporelles: Et I'une.& 1 'autre y agit selon la nature de la faculte qui la regoit. Car si elle est mobile comme I'Appetit $ cette image 1 1emeut; si elle n'a poiht d*action comme la Memoire, elle n ’y produit rien, & s'y conserve seulement; si elle est alterative comme la vertu Formatriee, elle sert de modele a 1 *alteration qu'elle cause dans les membres, & ainsi du reste. 1 1 en est comme de cette vertu magnetique, . . . qui bien qu1elle se communique Sgalement & tous les corps, n 'agit pas egalement sur eux; elle altere & meut I ’aymaat, le fer, & les tuiles plombees, sans causer aucune altera­ tion ni mouvement a tous les autres (Syst,* pp. 1 1 9 -2 0 ).

Unlike the entendement whose action is accomplished in one

movement, the sensitive soul has three distinct phases in its cogni­

tion, each of which is carried out by a particular structure within the

system. The first phase is intuitive, or the judgment of the present ob­

jects; the second abstractive, or judgment of absent objects; and the

third practical, or application of a prior knowledge of good and evil 212 to the immediate situation in view of ordering the appetite to either pursue or flee the object in question. Comparing these actions to the entendement's, Cureau associates the three phases with their respective faculties as follows:

. . . la Connoissance du Sens Commun [all the sense organs taken together]2 repond a la premiere Conception de

o Cureau devotes a section of Book II, "De la Connoissance Sensi­ tive," to defining the term sens oarawn within the cognitive structure. His argument reads as follows: "Pour etablir done cette verite, nous avons deux choses a prouver; la premier, que les Sens Exterieurs ont leurs Phantosmes particuliers, & qu'ils les foment dans leurs organes. L ’autre, que la connoissance du Sens Commun, est la mesme que celle des Sens Exterieurs. "Quant a la premiere, puisque sentir c'est connoistre, & qu'on ne connoist point sans faire le portrait des choses qu'on connoist, e'est une necessity que les Sens Exterieurs qui connoissent leurs objets en fassent les Images; Et ces Images sont leurs Phantosmes; . . . de sorte qu'on ne peut contester que les sens ne produisent leurs Phantosmes. Suppose mesme que le Sens Commun alt une action propre, & qu'il fasse aussi les portraits des objets sensibles, 1 1 faut qu'il ait un patron & un modele pour les faire. Or si les Sens Exterieurs ne pro- duisoient point leur Phantosme, il n'auroit aucun modele, & par conse­ quent il ne pourroit agir. Car puisque le sens de 1'Odorat, du Goust, du Toucher n'ont point besoin d'especes pour connoistre immediatement: si le Sens Commun reside dans la teste, comment connoistra-t-il le sentiment du chaud, du dur, du mol qu'ont les doigts, si le sens du tou­ cher ne luy communique 1 'Image de ces qualitez? II faut done qu'il la fasse luy-mesme, puisque le chaud, le dur, le mol n'ont point d'Especes qui se puissent porter au Cerveau. Les Sens exterieurs doivent done produire leurs Phantosmes. "Mats parce que la sensation se fait dans leurs organes parti- culiers, & que ra Veue se fait dans les yeux, le Goust dans la langue,& le Toucher en toutes les parties qui ont du sentiment, il s'ensuit que puisque la sensation est une connoissance, ils connoissent au lieu mesme ou ils sentent; Et par consequent qu'ils y foment leur Phantosme, puisque la Connoissance Sensitive consiste dans la production du Phantosme. "L’autre point que nous avons a montrer est facile a resoudre, si 1'on se souvient de ce que nous avons dit cy-devant, que le Sens Commun & les Sens Exterieurs ne font qu'une mesme vertu: car de-ll. il s'ensuit necessairement que leur Connoissance est la mesme chose que la sienne. 213

"En effet si le Sens Commun estoit tme Faculte differente des Sens Exterieurs, ce seroit un genre de Facultez comme est la vertu Animale qui a diverses espaces; on nne espece particuliere qui seroit sous un genre comme est la Veue, I ’Ouye, &c. "Or le Sens Commun ne pent estre le genre des Sens Exterieurs parce que le genre est en chacune de ses especes, & chaque espece a en soy tout ce qui est dans le genre: , Dependant le Sens Commun n ’est pas dans la Veue; Et la Veue n'a pas tout ee qui est dans le Sens Commun; autrement la Veue connoistroit les objets de tons les autres Sens. "Ce n ’est pas aussi une.espece de Faculte particuliere, parce qu’elle auroit une action propre, & le Sens Commun n'en a point. Car comme il n*y a que trois sortes de Connoissances, 1*Intuitive, 1'Ab­ stractive , & la Practique, qui demandant trois Facultez differentes; il faut puisque 1'Intuitive est propre aux Sens Exterieurs, que le Sens Commun n 1 en ait point d* autre que eelle-leL, (parce que les deux autres se font par la Phantaisie & par 1 ’Estimative) & par consequent que le Sens Commun ne soit pas une Faculte differente des Sens Exterieurs puisqu'une action ne demands qu’une seule cause. D 1ailleurs la Con- noissance du Sens Commun n 'adjouste rien a celle de la Veue, de I'OuIe, du Toucher: d*ou il s 1ensuit, & que son action n'est pas differente de la leur, & que ce n'est pas une Faculte distincte; la Nature ne multipliant point les choses sans necessite. Enfin la marque ordinaire de la distinction des Facultez, en ce qu'elles agissent en divers temps, & separement, & qu'elles sont blessees,pendant que les autres sont saines, ne se trouve point icy: Car le Sens Commun n 'agit point sans les Sens, ny eux sans luy; Et la Medecine qui a este si exacte a remarquer. les maladies qui alterent les actions des Facultez superieures, n'en met point pour celle du Sens Commun. II y a des delires qui troublent la Phantaisie, d'autres qui alterent 1 *Estimative, & qui corrompent la Mempire; mais personne n'a dit, qu'il y en eust aucun qui blessast le Sens Commun. Puisqu'il n'a done point d'action propre, ce n'est point une faculte particuliere; Et tout ce que 1 'on en peut dire, e'est un Mot qui comprend tous les Sens Exterieurs; ou plustost c'est un tout dont ils sont les parties. le sgay M e n que 1 'on dit qu'il connoist la fonction des Sens, & qu'il en disceme les objets, & que e'est luy qui nous fait jtiger que. nous voyons, que nous entendons, &c. & que nous dis- tinguons la eouleur d'avec 1 'odeur, & des autres. "Mais pourquoy la Phantaisie n'aura-t-elle pas cette employ, puisqu'elle a la vertu d'unir & de diviser les Phantosmes, que le Sens Commun & les Sens Exterieurs n'ont point; Et que e'est par 1 'union & la division que ces connoissances s'acquierent. En effet la Phantaisie connoist que les Sens agissent, c'est a dire, qu'elle fait son xPhantosme de 1 'action & de 1 'objet des Sens: car il faut necessairement qu'elle s'en represente 1 'action, puisque on se souvient d'avoir -veu, d*avoir entendu, d*avoir senti, &c. ce qui ne se peut faire, que les Images de ces act ions-la ne se con servant dans la Memoire; ell.e unit done 1'action avec 1'objet. Mais quand elle divise les parties de 1'objet que les Sens luy presentent, elle distingue la eouleur d'avec 1 'odeur, &c. Ainsi 2lk

I ’Entendement qui est toute simple; celle de la Phantaisie au lugement qui separe & unit les Images; Et celle de 1'Estimative au Discours qui tire la conclusion des con- noissances precedentes (JSyst.j p. 1 2 8 ) •

This final phase, he notes, is very similar to the practical judgment

of the entendment’s action, inasmuch as it is compound:

En effet, de la Connoissanee que celle-cy a du M e n & du mal, elle juge qu'il faut poursuivre I'un & fuir l fautre; Et conclud enfin, en ordonnant a I'appqtit de • I'executer. Ce qui ne se pent faire sans Raisonnement, comme nous avons pleinement montre au Traite de la Connoissanee des Animaux {Syst*s p. 128).

As the allusion to this earlier work implies, Cureau* s argument against the Cartesian Chanet * s account of the animal-machine is based on his belief in the operation of an estimative faculty, or its equivalent, in 3 all animate beings.

il n ’est point necess'aire d'introduire icy m e autre faeulte, pour faire ces jugemens, puisque celle-cy les peut faire toute seule, & que la Na­ ture suit tousiours les voyes les plus courtes. Concluons done qu'il n'y a point d'autre Connoissanee qui precede celle de la Phantaisie, que celles des Sens Exterieurs, & que ce sont les Phantosmes qu'ils font dans leurs organes, sur lesquels cette Faeulte forme ses Connoissances (Syst.s pp. 1 5 6 -6 2 ) .

O Cureau explains in Tvait& de la Connoissanee des Animaux in 161(8, and reiterates in De I * ami tie <& de la haine qui se tvouvent entve Zes Animaux in 1 6 6 7 , that the difference between animal and human be­ havior has to do with the primary source of cognitive stimulation. In man, past experience may be recalled intellectually through the medium of language, whereas in animals what appears to be instinct is quite often memory triggered by sensorial apprehensions. As he explains: ” . . . si I'on y veut prendre garde, on trouvera que la plus grande part de leurs aversions, que I'on croit estre les plus secrettes, sont fondSes sur des sons qui les surprennent, ou sur des odeurs qui leur dSplaisent, ou sur d'autres qualitez sensibles qui leur sont facheuses, & qui leur remettent en memoire les choses qu'ils pensent les devoir inqommoder" (Amitiij p. 170). ' 215

Having thus divided sensitive cognizance into three separate

phases, none of which is called "imagination" in his system, La Chambre

takes the opportunity to discuss this amission and to qualify his use of

the word in the context of his own theory:

Mais si toutes les actions de I'Ame Sensitive se reduisent au Sens Commun, a la Phantaisie, & a 1 ‘Estimative, que deviendra 1 ’Imagination, dont on parle tant? II faut dire que c'est un terme commun a toutes les Facultez Sensitives qui connoissent, tout de me sine que le mot d 1Entendement comprend 1 ’Intellect Agent & le Possible, le Speculatif & le Practic. En effet, quand on compare les Facultez Connoissantes avec les Motives, on oppose 1 1Entendement a la Volonte, & 1*Imagination a 1'Appetit Sensitif: Auquel cas 1'Imagination comprend toutes les autres Facultez connoissantes. Son nom mesme fait voir cela evidemment; car le mot d 1Imagination ne signifie autre chose que la FacultS qui forme des Images: Or il n ’y a aucune FacultS Connoissante qui ne forme des Images, & par consequent il n'y en a pas une a qui le mot d fImagination ne convienne; quoy que par une fagon de parler populaire on 1 ’ait applique partieulierement S. la Phantaisie, & a la presence de 1 *Esprit, parce que c'est la ou la production des Images paroist davantage. Nous-mesmes emploirons souvent ,ce mot au Chapitre du Souvenir, pour designer la Phantaisie & 1 *Estimative, quand nous voudrons parler conj ointement de ces deux Facultez (Syst. 3 pp. 130-31) •

Despite the fact that this word seems to denote one cognitive

faculty, Cureau is quite thorough in his explanation as to why he re-

, gards the phantaisi-e and estimative faculty as two separate items even

though they both appear to be located in the head, unlike the sense

organs which are distinctly removed from the cognitive center. As he

notes in the following passage, there is ample evidence to suggest that

the functioning of one of these may be impaired without causing any dam­

age or exerting any influence on the functioning of the other:

. . . c'est une marque evidente, que le Sens Commun est une puissance differente de la Phantaisie, de ce qu'il est lie 216

& sans action dans le sommeil3 & qua eelle-cy est en l i b e r t e 9 comme il paroist par les Songes qui sont de sa fagon. Et les maladies qui blessent la Phantaisie, sans faire tort a 1 1Estimative, on 1*Estimative sans alterer la Phantaisie, montrent clairement que ce sont deux puissances, dont les fonctions & les organes sont d iffe re n s Q Syst.3 pp. 131-32).

As for the location of the sensitive faculties, Cureau gives a lengthy account of the structure and organization of the nervous system which, according to the twentieth-century physician Robert Doranlo, is quite accurate except for the inclusion of the $ton n oirs or canal by which traditional medicine explained the discharge of phlegm or mucous k to the palate. Superimposed on this sound anatomical framework, how­ ever , is an imaginary physiology based on the correlation La Chambre assumed between the temperament of a given section of the brain and the role he assigns it in his cognitive model. According to this paradigm, the common sense is in the nerves, thep h a n ta isie in the lowest part of the brain, estimative faculty in the middle, and on top the memory bank.

The author's rationale for this arrangement goes as follows: Taking the two maxims which he avows "tous les Philosophes & tous les Medecins ont approuvees" (Syst.s p. 1^5), he posits that: l) in each organ there is an analogue or "me partie similaire qui est le principe & 1* instrum ent de sa fonction" {SystcS p. 1^5); and 2) "le Temperament propre des parties est la principals disposition que les Facultez demandent pour a g ir" (Syst., p. 1^5)• Generally speaking, claims Cureau, the analogue

S t. D oranlo, La Medecine au XVIIe silHele: Mcann Cureau de La Chambref medecin e t ph ilosoph e (1939), p. 91. 217

consists in the cerebral and neural substance which constitutes "le

siege & la source" of all the animate faculties {Syst<,3 p. 146). Conse­

quently^ in terms of the organism's self-perpetuating design, he writes:

. .c’est une necessite que les Facultez animales qui se conservent

dans la Substande des nerfs, soient produites par la Substance du

Cerveau qui est semblable a la leur" (Syst., p. 1^7).

Taking these observations into account, La Chambre rationalizes

his choice of the lowest part.of the brain for thephantais'Ce on th e

grounds that this area is at the same time the warmest, moistest, and

most directly accessible'part of the brain with reference to the af­

ferent nerves:

. . » a considerer la nature de la Phantaisie, on se sgauroit rien s 1imaginer de plus vraysemblable que de la placer dans la partie inferieure du Cerveau. Car outre que eette partie est plus molle & plus chaude a cause du tissu des arteres qui est tout contre, & que ces qualitez conviennent a la ■. promptitude avec laquelle cette Faculte agit, & la facile impression qu'elle demande pour former ses Images. Outre / cette raison, dis-je, puisque c’est elle qui doit travallier la premiere sur les especes que les Sens luy envoyent, c’est comme une necessite qu’elle soit placee au lieu ou elles abordent, c’est & dire, a cette basse partie du CerVeau, ou tous les nerfs qui les y apportent, se rendent comme a leur source & & leur centre {.Syst. t pp. 152-53 )„.

Immediately above the 'phant(xis,ie s he places the estimative fac­

ulty, which receives the images of the p h a n ta isie and judges them accord­

ing to the good or evil to be gained by acting on them. Besides the phil­

osophical satisfaction he derives from the supposition that this middle

term position would suit the sensitive soul’s most noble faculty, Cureau

also notes that the texture and coloring of this part of the brain is sig­

nificantly different from that of the regions directly above and below. 218 and concludes:

fiifin son action estant la plus delicate de toutes, demands me plus grande quant it e d’esprits qui soient plus purs & plus subtils que les autres. Ce qui se reconnoist par la blancheur $ & par la transparence qui sont plus grandes en cette partie, qu'en tout le rests du Cerveau: Car les esprits estant naturellement lumineux & transparens, luy communiquent ces qualitez- la. A quoy il faut adjouster que les Phantosmes estant de la nature des especes sensibles qui sortent, & se multiplient hors de leurs subjets, il faut qu’il y ait un-espace dsns le Cerveau ou ils ayent la liberte de se repandre comme elles; Et c’est sans doute toute la partie superieure ou est le siege de la Memoirs. . . . II paroist bien qu’il faut que cela soit ainsi, puisque entre les Phantosmes qui s’y conservent, il y en a dont on se souvient facilenient, & d'autres qu’on a de la peine a trouver: Car cela ne peut proceder que de ce que les m s sont plus proches & plus exposez a 1 ’ Imagination, & les autres plus esloignez & plus cachez, comme sont ceux qui sont renfermez dans les detours, & circonvolutions de cette partie ( S y s t. j, pp. 15^-55 ) •

Memory and the cognitive structure: anatomical and physiological rationale fo r e v a lu a tin g human memory

In relating La Chambre ’ s conception of brain anatomy and phys- ■' iology to his general teachings about the evolution of human organs, it is important to realize that the reception and storage of phantoms is a char act eristic of all sensitive substance, and not the unique prov­ ince of the uppermost part of the head. As he reminds the reader in the fourth book of Le Systhne de t ’czme, "De la memoire et du souvenir":

. . .ces Images ne s'arrestent pas seulement dans la Teste, elles eoulent en tous les Herfs, & se rSpandent ainsi par tout le Corps. Car ayant la mesme substance que le Cerveau, ils ont la mesme disposition pour les recevoir & pour les garder..que luy;.Et l ’on peut asseurer. que cette substance leur est ce que le Diaphane est 5, la lumiere: Car comme celle-cy se respand par tout ou elle rencontre de la transparence, elles se repandent aussi par tout ou cette substance se trouve ( S y s t*, P. 274 ) . 219

nevertheless»■claims Cureau, it is clear that the part of the nervous

system most' centrally involved in the process of memory . ♦ .est celle

qui est audessus du lieu ou 1*Imagination agit, car les Images se fer­

ment en ce lieu-lk, & se rlpandent a I ’entour comme les especes visibles

sortent des Corps colorez & s'Scoulent dans I 1air qui les environne”

(Syet.f p . 275).

The estimative faculty and phantai-sie also conserve images' in their substance,. . In fact, Cureau believed that something like short­

term memory is an effect produced by the images located right in these

parts because, as he reasons, ”... .il y a des choses qui sont si

presentes a 1*Esprit, qu'il est impossible qu'elles ne soient au lieu

mesme otl i l a g i t ” {Syst,3 pp. 275-76). The difference between the

memory of the superior sensitive faculties and the central depository

located above them is that the constant activity of the fantasy and

estimative works against any long-term retention of phantoms, and as

Cureau notes, “e1est en cette longue garde que [la] perfection [de la

Memoire] consists" (Syst,, p. 276). As he goes on to explain:

Comment s'y pourroient-elles [the images] se conserver dans 1’abord continue! des especes qui viennent de dehors, dans le mouvement continue! des Esprits, dans 1 'agitation que se donnent les parties qui soutiennent ces Facultez? car il ne faufc pas croire qu'elles demeurent en repos pendant que les Facultez agissent: Elies se resserrent, e lle s s 1estendent, elles s 1allongent ou se racourcissent selon les actions qui se font& e'est de la en partie que vient la lassitude qui suit les longues & les grandes applications d 1E s p r it. . . . E nfin ce c o n tin u e l abord d'especes, & le mouvement des Esprits & des parties qui se font dans le siege de 1'Imagination, effacent & con- fondent les Images, & empeschent qu'elles ne s'y puissent conserver long-temps; de sorte qu'il est necessaire que les autres endroits du Cerveau qui sont plus tranquilles en soient les fidelies depositaires. Or il n'y en a point 220

qui soit si paisible qua sa parbie.superieure;.parce.. q u 'il ne . s ’y fait aucme . de ces . fonctions publiques. qui . regardant tout le Corps; il n'y a qua.celies qui sont : necessaires.a sa substance particuliere;.& on peut dire qu'elle est semblable a la frontiere d’un Estat ou le . tum ulte & 1’embarras de la Cour ne se trouvent point : (Syst.s pp. 276-78).

Since th e p e rfe c tio n o f memory l i e s in th e a b i l i t y to s to re a great deal of information over a .long period of time s head size and the function of the part in question together with the temperament of the region» are important indicators of the individual’s capacity. Follow­ ing the teachings of Aristotle on physiognomical analysis9 Cureau as­ sumes that as brain size increases in proportion to the animal’s body, so does his potential for remembering things:

. . .1’on peut dire que tout le Cerveau n’est pas trop grand pour [la Memoire]; & que c’est la raison pour laquelle ceux qui ont la Teste plus grosse, comme Aristote a remarque dans sa Physionomie, ou qui 1’ont plus advances en derriere, ont la Memoire plus heureuse; parce que c’est une marque qu’ils ont plus de cervelle, & qu’il y a par consequent plus d’espace pour loger ces Images. A quoy on peut adjouster que la Grandeur qui e s t dans 1*Homme est en partie cause qu’il a plus de Memoire qu'aucun autre Animal: Car il n’y en a point qui ait si grande quantite de Cervelle que luy; jusques- la qu’on peut dire qu’il a neuf fois plus qu'un Boeuf, puisqu'il a la Teste trois fois plus petite que luy, & que le Boeuf a un tiers mo ins de cervelle \_Sy8t. , pp. 272-73).

As for the function of the uppermost region, Cureau has already pointed out that it is uniquely fashioned for conserving images, and does not constitute a cognitive faculty as such. Hence, the ideal tem­ perament for such an organ would consist in being warm and moist enough to be easily impressed by the delicate phantoms, and yet cold and dry enough to hold the images securely; either extreme would be a serious 221 fanlts for as he explains:

. . . si le Cerveau est trop humide, il a beau recevoir facilenient les Images s il ne les garde pas long-temps; Et 1*impression qu'elles y font ressemble & celle qui se fait sur I'eau ou les figures qu,on luy donne se corrompent & s'effacent incontinant. D*ou vient que les enfans & tons eeux qui ont cette partie trop humide ne se souviennent de rien; qu’au eontraire ceux qui I ’ont trop seche, eonrme les vieillards & les melan- choliques, manquent de Memoire, d’aufcant que les Images n'y entrant qu'avee peine, la durete resistant a 1’impression qu’elles y devroient faire i.Syst.^ p . 282 ) .

In Cureau’s estimation, the human brain accommodates these pre­ requisites for long-term and quick memory better than the corresponding organ in any other animal because it contains a favorable proportion of animal spirits (eePVelle) whose nature he considered to be "si temperez, que la chaleur ne s'y puisse reconnoistre" {Syst.s p. lUU). Thus, he co n clu d es:

Le temperament qui est done propre & la Memoire est eeluy qui partieipe egalement de ces deux qualitez; Et peut-estre que e'est une des raisons pour lesquelles 11Homme I 1a plus excellente que tous les aufcres Animaux:. parce que outre qu'il a plus de cervelle qu'aucun autre comme nous avons d it, il n’y en a point & qui la medio- critS du Temperament soit plus naturelle. . . (Syst.^ pp. 282-83 )•

While conservation of images is a necessary part of all memory, it does not explain the process whereby past events are recalled to mind by the cognitive subject. .This action is accomplished in Cureau’s system of the soul by the imagination * or combined action of the phanta-is'Le and estimative faculty, both of which are fundamentally different .from the memory in that they require a constant supply of vital heat to associate and arrange images—the process in which their perfection 222 consists. Hence, a well-tempered extensive memory must be balanced by faculties capable of vivid imagination and sound judgment for as Cureau rem arks;

. . . une trop viye Imagination fait tort au lugement, comme la force du lugement fait tort a I 1Imagination; Et la trop grande Memoire met l fun & l fautre en desordre. La juste perfection qu'elles doivent avoir comme nous avons dit . . , doit estre conforme & la nature de 1’Homme qui consists dans la MediocritS, & quelque ex- , cellence qu'elles ayent les unes sur les autres, c'est une Imperfection, eu egard a la fin ou elles sont d estin S es feyst.s pp. 284-8$).

The process of remembering

In La Chambre 1 s system, remembering (te soicoeniv) resembles the primary cognitive action of theentendement inasmuch as it is immanent and removed from direct contact with the outside world. However, as he explains below, in the case of the only unattached human cognitive fac­ ulty, memory is an integral part of its primary cognizance, while the imagination performs two separate actions, the second of which is memory;

. . . quand 1'Ame se souvient de quelque objet, elle fait la mesme chose que la premiere fois qu'elle 1' a v o it connu: Et toute la difference qu'il y a, c'est qu'alors elle agissoit sur les especes & les Images que les objets Tuy presentoient; Et qu'icy elle agit sur les Images de la Memoire. Or est-il que dans le ressort de I'Ame Sensitive, c'est 1 'Imagination qui fait la premiere Con- noissance. . . . Et par consequent c'est elle qui fait la seconds: Et un mot c'est elle qui fait le Souvenir, & non pas la Memoire, comme quelques-uns ont pense. Et de vray si c'est une Connoissance, il faut que ce soit une action, & cette action ne peut estre qu'une production d'Image[s3 que la Faculte forme en soy-mesme. Comme il n’y a done que 1'Imagination qui produise ainsi des Images, il s'ensuit qu'il n'y a qu'elle qui fasse le Souvenir; de sorte qu'on le peut definir, une seconds Ccmnoissance qui se forme sur les Images qui sont dans la Memoire, : •• 223 Ce que ie viens de dire de I 6Imagination se doit entendre aussi de 1 1entendement, car quoy que la Faculte qu’il a de connoistre, soit une mesme chose que sa Memoire, c'est neantmoins en Irertu de sa Connoissance qu’il se souvient; Et I ’on ne doit pas attribuer son Souvenir a la Memoires mais a cette Faculte qu’il a de Connoistre; parce que le Souvenir est une sorte de Connoissance. . . ($yst.3 pp. 291-93) .

But as far as the subject’s actual remembering is concerned, distinctions such as those drawn in the text above are not really signif­

icant , for in Cureau’ s system-, "la Connoissance de 11 Homme- e s t une action mixte, comme sa nature; & il faut que les Images par lesquelles elle se fa it, soient mixtes, c’est a dire qu’elles soient composees de c e lle s de 1’Entendement &.celles de 1’Imagination" (Sy8t.s p . 262). •

In other words $ while the purely spiritual images of the understanding constitute a permanent change in the substance of the soul that cannot be affected by the material qualities of heat, cold, dryness and mois­ tu re , th e y do not p la y an a c tiv e ro le in human consciousness u n le ss mediated by phantoms. As Cureau explains, using the example of amnesic illn e s s e s s

. . .dans les maladies qui font perdre la Memoire, les Images spirituelles qui y demeurent, y sont comme si elles _ n’estoient point; d’autant qu’elles ne peuvent toutes seules servir & la Connoissance que demands le Souvenir; tout de mesme que I ’on ne souvient point de ce que 1’Imagination a fait pendant que 1’Esprit est distrait {Syst.3 p . 262).

Hence, imagination and understanding viewed in the general con­ text of human cognitive behavior rather than in terms of their special powers are th e co -au th o rs o f human c o n sc io u sn ess, o r what Cureau has called "la Connoissance qui est propre a 1’Homme." When r e f e r r in g to them in this regard, Cureau substitutes the word "mind" (Esprit) fo r 224

understanding faculty (entendement) to designate the spiritual counter­

part of the organically bound imagination whose domain includes all the

memory stores of the body. Although this shift in terminology comes so

automatically to the author that he does not bother to justify it here

or at any other point inLe Syst'&me de 1 ,Sone3 it is not without signif­ icance to our analysis of his system and deserves brief consideration

before going on to the mechanisms involved in remembering.

According to La Chambre's discussion of the separate soul in

the second chapter of Book 1, entendement is characterized as having

some inclination despite its so-called "indifferent" nature. Thus, when

Cureau refers to it as the only cognitive faculty in man that is "free"

and "undetermined," these terms describe its independence with regard to

organs, and not its inner disposition. Nevertheless, it remains diffi­

cult to reconcile what he says about the "inclination" ofthe entende­

ment and its indeterminate nature on another level because he seems to

use the terms "separate soul" and "separate understanding faculty" in­

terchangeably , when, in reality, he regards the second as the cognitive

aspect of the first. This confusion disappears, however, once the

entendement is regarded from the vantage point of organic development:

beginning with the informing virtue, soul is identified with the image

which gives rise to two interdependent sets of structures—the vital and

sensitive systems. Following this theory, theentendement corresponds,

to the unattached sensitive substance which is contained within the

confines of the developing organism but is not affixed to any structure.

At this point, it may be identified with the inward principle of life 225

and the continuously changing figure of the soul, whose role is to unite with and animate the new matter acquired during development. In this way, the "free" substance gradually becomes attached to particular or­ gans for Which it then becomes the "motor" or basis for movement. It is in this sense that Cureau describes the nature of soul as "indivis­

ible" because it resists division,^ for as he explains in the passage below, the difference between free and attached soul consists in its situation and not in its nature:

Ce n'est pas que toutes [les parties de I'Ame] n’ayent la. puissance de . . . faire [les actions qui sont independentes de la matiere], les tmes & les autres estant homogenes & de mesme nature; mais la difference qui s'y trouve, ne vient que de ce que les unes sont unies, & que les autres ne le sont pas; Et que 1'union determine les unes aux fonctions corporalies, les autres demeurant indifferentes a toutes: car celles qui sont libres, ne laissent pas a tons mom- mens de s‘unir a la matiere qui survient pour faire croistre les membres. . . . Et cette derniere consideration doit faire croire qu’elles sont respandues par tout le Corps, & qu’elles ne sont pas reduites & un certain endroit, afin d’estre toutes prestes a animer cette nouvelle matiere qui survient & toutes les parties du Corps (^Syst.y PP. 399-U00.).

Thus, we see that "mind" or Es'pri-t is a term that applies to man in the postnatal stage of his development, whereasentendement can either be completely synonymous with soul, as in the seed, or refer only to the "free" part of the human soul which continually transforms

5 According to Cureau, there are two kinds of division in nature: impossible, in the sense that there are no parts to it, as in a point, and resistance to division. The soul as he defines it falls into the second category, for as he explains: ". . . qucy qu'elle ait des parties, elles [things belonging to the second group] ne peuvent iamais estre actuellement divisSes, soit parce que sa nature se detruiroit, si on la pouvoit diviser, soit parce qu’il n'y a point de cause qui le puisse 226

itself into ideas during the course of a lifetim e. Hence $ whatever

primordial instinct ”inclines” the entendement towards a transcendental

kind of sensibility may hereafter be understood as coidentical with the moral aspects of the informing virtue's image, which is at once the psy­

chological and physiological beginning of all sensitive life .

Turning now to the process by which the individual remembers, we noted earlier that every time the imagination (fantasy and estima­ tiv e ) o r entendement knows, the new information is correlated with prior

experience by searching the memory for images. Depending on how re­

cently the associated event occurred, or how strongly reinforced it was, this investigation may take more or less time. Once the proper record

is located, however, it functions like a master key which unlocks an

entire series of events characterized by Cureau as being like "me

longue chaisne, dont on ne peut tirer un anneau que tons les autres ne

le suivent” (Syst*, p. 211). In terms of brain anatomy, he assumes that this chain is a star-like feature "qui conduit 1'Esprit a se souvenir

des choses qui ont quelque ordre & quelque suite entre elles" (Syst,3

p. 331). As he reasons:

Car quoy qu'il y ait me infinite d* autres Images qui sont au mesme endroit, il suit celles ou il reconnoist la marque de la Liaison qu'elles ont, sans s1arrester aux autres qui ne 1’ont pas. Et de Ik vient aussi que lors que ce charactere s 1efface, on ne se souvient pas de la suite ni de 1'Ordre des choses que I'on sgait, quoy qu'elles soient

faire; telle est 1'Ame, 1'Ange, & si I'on veut tels sont les Atomes dans 1 'opinion de Democrite, & tels sont les Cieux dans celle d'Aristote qui croit qu'ils sont indissolubles, & qui partant ne se peuvent diviser (Syst.^ p. 376) 227

toutes dans la Memoire; parce que e'est le lien qui les attachoit ensemble, e’est le fil qui guidoit 1' E s p rit & 1’Imagination dans ce grand Firmament dont 11 y en a de si petites & de si reculSes, qu'on ne les pent voir sans lunettes d'approehe. Car il y a des Phantosmes qui sont si foibles & si Sloignez, qu'ils ne peuvent repandre leurs Rayons si loin, & il faufc que les Esprits les aillent prendre pour les approcher de 1'Imagination. Et certainement on pent dire qu’ils ont la vertu des lunettes qui grossissent les especes par leur densite; car quelques subtils qu'ils soient, ce sont de^ corps qui sont plus denses que les Phantosmes, & il faut par necessite qu'ils les grossissent & les amplifient. Et peut-estre c'est la une des raisons pour lesquelles ceux qui ont des maladies melancholiques se representent toujours les choses plus grandes qu'elles ne sont, parce que les vapeurs atrabilaires se meslant avec les Esprits les rendent plus grossiers, & accroissent les Images comme 1'eau & les vapeurs grossissent les especes ( S y s t .pp. 343-^6.).

.The actual process of associating image-like data is thus carried out by the spirits, which transmit the image formed in one of . the faculties of imagination to the part of the brain in which the re­ lated phantoms are stored. This complex image, or correlation of events, is then returned to the organ of imagination which acts on it to produce a new and modified representation of the object complete with all the nuances repeated and associated experiences have intro­ duced into the picture. As Cureau explains below, it is for this rea­ son that the imagination "sees” both past and present in everything it apprehends:

. . . quand 1'Imagination a forme le Phantosme d'une chose qu'elle a connue autrefois, ce Phantosme est porte par les Esprits dans les parties du Cerveau, & s'unit a 1'Image qui s'y en est conservSe, & qui lay est semblable, & non pas aux autres qui n 'ont aucun rapport avec luy. Et comme cette Image est rapportee a 1'Imagination, 11Imagination agit dessus & la connoist de nouveau, en quoy consiste le Souvenir. 228

Et parce que cette Image de la Memoire se presente a 1'Imagination avec toutes les circonstances & les modifications qu’elle a: apres que I 1Imagination I ’a reconnue, elle void en suite ces circonstances & ces modifications dans I'ordre qu1elle leur a donne, & s’en ressouvient. . . • {Syst»3 pp. 347-^8) -

As we have seen in the foregoing s Cureau’s theory of knowledge is essentially a theory of "memory" inasmuch as the faculties which pro­ duce and associate images in a form that is meaningful to the subject carry out their operations on the basis of "inclination," or instinct that is built into their respective organs over time. Thus, in La

Chambre1s system, all cognitive action is evaluative and, in this sense, selective, because it always is conducted in the frame of reference provided by prior knowledge. This does not mean that the organs are inalterably programmed to respond the same way to the same things throughout the animal's lifetim e, however, for as we saw in analyzing the author's ideas on early cooperation between soul and temperament, the former is continuously "incarnating" and accommodating itself to the new material through which it perfects its corporeal instruments.

Hence, these organs are never exactly what they were before at any given moment thereafter. Nevertheless, there are certain constants, or com­ mon denominators, in the shaping of the animal's psychophysiology.

These are the practical virtues whose purpose is to instruct the or­ ganism as to how to coordinate its knowledge with the instruments of local movement (the muscles) in the interests of self-perpetuation. For the sake of simplicity, Cureau calls both the organic form and the primordial images of the memory "natural" or "connatural" images, and recommends that other philosophers follow his example, for as he 229 reaso n s:

. . .ces Images sont les Exemplaires sur lesquels la Na­ ture fait toutes ses productions; que ce sont les vertus seminales & comme les formes par lesquelles toutes les Facultez produisent leurs effets: Et outre qu'il n’y a aucun inconvenient de les admettre, il y a de 11avantage pour la Philosophic: Car estant si timide a definir les choses, & n’employant que des termes & des notions vagues & generales pour en expliquer les dif­ ferences , elle aura un moyen de les specifier plus particulierement par ces Images ( Syst., pp. 222-23)

The above text is particularly striking in the light of contem­ porary interest in information theory9 for what Cureau is actually sug­ gesting here is that we assume the relation between body and soul to be

"linguistic," or ideographic, and that this language functions as the mediator between two irreconcilable terms: matter and form. Moreover, since he has constructed his theory of knowledge on the model of visual perception, the image- is the appropriate manner in which to represent this code, for as he explains, "cette doctrine . . . fait mieux v o iv

(my emphasis) que toute autre, la source des vertus qui sont dans les creatures, & I'ordre merveilleux que Dieu a establi parmi elles"

{Syst.3 p . .223).

Having thus distinguished soul from body as a separate but de­ pendent system, Cureau is left with the problem of demonstrating how the soul moves itself and, in consequence, the body towards its natural per­ fection. As we shall see next in reviewing his conception of the soul's nature, the examples he gives are based on metaphysical ideas applied to the interpretation of biological events. Though highly conjectural, these arguments are fundamental to his theory of man because they at­ tempt to provide a framework for typing men according to actions which 230 reflect the relative "greatness" or spirituality of the soul beyond what corporeal dispositions contingent on qualities of temperament might re v e a l. !

The nature of the soul

In our discussion of Cureau's theory of knowledge, we have al-*- ready seen what soul represents in terms of the evolving cognitive structure. As the image of the informing virtue, it is the ordering principle of matter and a "free" agent inasmuch as it is not yet speci­ fied to particular organs. However, as soon as it attaches itself to matter, the incam ative, self-transformative process of growth and de­ velopment begins whereby it forms and subsequently animates the contin­ ually changing organic substance.

According to Cureau, man is endowed with a soul whose potential extension is far greater than what it appears to be from what is visible to the human observer. However, since empirical science has no way of verifying this theory. La Chambre is forced to resort to the scholastic method of demonstration to prove his point. As he explains below, the difficulty lies in understanding that corporeal quantity and extension, i.e ., what is empirically measurable, is something entirely different from and not always coequal to metaphysical quantity and extension:

. . .la Quantite & 1'Extension, soit corporelle, soit metaphysique, est de deux sortes. L'une est propre & interieure; I 1autre est exterieure & locale. La Theologie, le Lycee, & le sens nous apprennent cette distinction. Car le tres-Auguste Sacrement, le Corps de lesus-Christ a toute sa quantite interieure, qui neantmoins ne respond pas au lieu que naturellement il devroit avoir. Dans la Condensation, quand une chose est reduite a un plus petit volume, elle ne perd rien de sa quantite interieure; coimne il ne s'y adiouste rien quand elle se rarefie; & tout le 231

changement qui y arrive se fait dans 1‘Extension locale. Enfin, nous sgavons qu'une tapisserie est aussi grande quand elle est pliee, que quand elle est tendue, quoy qu'elle occizpe plus d'espace quand elle est ten due. Or quoy que la Quantite interieure soit le principe & la cause de la locale; car une chose ne s’etend qu'autant qu'elle a de cette premiere quantitS; nous ne pouvons neantmoins connoistre celle-cy que par 1'Extension locale, & nous ne pouvons iuger de la veritable Grandeur d.!une chose que par la puissance qu'elle a d'occuper un plus grand ou un plus petit espace; [Syst.j pp. U10- 11).

Referring back to Biblical testimony in support of the hierarchy

of rational beings (God created man a little lower than the angels),

Cureau goes on to suggest a method for calculating the approximate size

of the human soul based on the notion that angels were created at the

same moment as the.stars, and therefore must be capable of extending themselves to a comparable size. As for man, he concludes that it is reasonable to assume a similar proportion between the potential size of the human soul and the actual extension of planets, whose nature is

considerably less perfect (spiritual) than the luminous nature of stars.

And sin ce th e sun was known to be so much la rg e r than any o th e r

"planet," Cureau takes this opportunity to compare its superior being to that of the divine monarch to whom his work was dedicated!

Et certainement si 1'on considers toutes les choses en quoy elles sont semblables, on se laissera facilement persuader qu'il n'y a point de proportion qui soit si iuste que celle-la! Car les Pianettes sont placees au dessous des Estoi 3J.es, & n’ont pas une lumiere si pure: Ce sont a la verite des Astres, mais des Astres errans, qui s'ecartent incessamment les uns des autres, qui ont des corps opaques, qui changent tous les iours de clarte, & qui enfin souffrent des eclipses. N'est-ce pas la le veritable portrait de I'Ame, qui est d'un ordre inferieur a l ’Ange, & qui n'est pas si eelairee; qui est §. la verite un Esprit comme iuy, mais un Esprit errant & vagabond; qui est attache a un corps grossier & m ateriel; qui change S. tous momens de pensees & de desseins, & qui tombe souvent en defaut. 232

Si cela est ainsi, pourquoy ne pourrons-nous comparer la Grandeur des Ames a celle des Pianettes; puisque nous avons trouve du rapport entre les Anges & les Estoilles pour la leur? Mais quoyl le Soleil est une Pianette qui surpass© en Grandeur toutes les Estoilles; y a -t-il une Arne qui puisse avoir rapport avec luy, s 'il est vray qu'elle soit moindre que les Anges? Guy sans doutes il y en a une qui est plus noble & plus grande que toutes les Intelligences 5 qui donne la lumiere a toutes les autres comme fait le Soleil it toutes les Planetes, qui re span d sa dart# a tout le monde, & qui fait non pas les iours de la terre; mais les iours de I ’Etemite bien-heureuse, En un mot, c1est I'Ame de celuy qui s 1appelle le Soleil de justice; car nous la considerons icy complette, c’est a dire avec son hypostase qui n'est autre que la personne D ivine {Syst.s pp. U34-35)•

In addition to indicating the relative situation of man with respect to the rational order, the analogy between human souls and the seven planets enables Cureau to establish a typology in which the indi­ vidual’s ruling planet (divinable from analysis of his external fea­ tures ) serves as a basis for calculating the ’’size" of his soul in re­ lation to the souls of other men in a more exacting fashion than the observation of temperamental indicators permits; ■ Quand nous voyons. . .cette grande.diversite d'Esprits, & qu’il y en a qui sont si sublimes, qui sgavent presque tout par nature, comme dit Pindare, & qui font des actions dignes de 1'Enthousiasme & de 1'Inspiration: He devons-nous pas iuger qu’il y a dans le fonds de leur ame quelque degre d’essence qui les distingue des autres? Efc si nous voulons considerer ces inclinations que la naissance donne pour les beaux arts, & pour les grandes vertus; qu’il faut nais- tre Poete, & naistre aussi Orateur, quoy qu'on en veulle dire; qu’il faut avoir le Genie qui domine dans toutes les sciences, pour y pouvoir reussir, & avoir enfin receu de la Nature une Ame heroique pour faire les actions des Herost Nous ne . ( croirons jamais que des qualitez si excellentes puissent venir du Temperament, ni d’aucune autre disposition du Corps, mais que la source en est plus haute & plus pure. Pour moy, ie croirois faire un blaspheme de dire que I'Ame de lesus-C. fust egale a celle de ludas. II estoit 233

Men Homme comme ce perfide, & s'es-toit revestu de toutes. les infirm itez de la Mature humaine, horsmis de I 1Ignorance & du Peehe; mais cela regarde I ’espece & non I'Individu. II avoit sans doute I'Ame la plus par- faite qui pouvoit iamais estre: & on pent asseurer, comme nous avons de-ja d it, qu’elle avoit la mesme ex­ cellence sur les autres, que le Soleil sur le reste des A stre s. Or quoy que ces raisons nous persuadent que toutes les Ames ne sont pas egales 5 elles ne nous obligent pas §. croire qu1 elles soient toutes inegales. II y en a sans doute beaucoup d’un mesme ordre, & sur les fondemens que nous avons poses, on pourroit reduire tous les ordres ou elles peuvent estre au nombre des Pianettes, & en consequence determiner la Grandeur de chacune par celle qu'ont ces Astres. Et cela est si veritable qu'on a establi la diversite des Esprits sur la nature des Pianettes, car les ms sont Satumiens, les autres loviaux, Martiaux, &c, & il n'y en a aucun qui n 1 a i t rapport avec quelqu'une d 1e l l e s . Mais quoy! s’il y en a qui soient essentiellement de divers ordres, il y aura diverses Especes entre les Hommes; puisque I ’Espece n'est qu'un ordre essentiel, dans lequel il y a plusieurs particullers? Pour moy ie ne voy aucun inconvenient en cela: pourveu qu’ils conviennent tous dans la premiere qui fait I ’Espece humaine: Tous les Hommes en cSt egard sont egalement Hommes. Ainsi tous les Anges sont egalement Anges, eu Sgard a. la Mature Angelique, mais cela n'empesche pas qu’il n'y ait diverses especes entre eux. Et mesme cette diversite d'especes dans les Anges, fait presuiner qu’elle doit estre aussi dans les Ames, n'y ay ant pas 1'apparence que la Spiritualite de ceux-la ait este si feconde & qu'elle se soit multiplies en tant d'especes, & que celle de I'Ame soit si sterile, qu'elle ait este reduite & une seule. II est inutile de dire que le Verbe s'est uni a la Nature humaine pour sauver tous les Hommes; car la Nature humaine les comprend tous quelques differens en especes qu'ils puissent estre. Tout de mesme que s ’il se fust uni a la Nature Angelique comme la Theologie nous apprend qu’il pouvoit faire, il eust sauve tous les Anges rebelles de quelque espece qu'ils fussent: car on tient qu’il y en avoit de tous les ordres (Stystly pp... 44Q-.U3), '

Relation between knowledge and local movement. -In keeping with his biological definition of soul, Cureau was opposed to the Aristotelian tradition's insistence on differentiating between real and metaphorical 23h movements. According to La Chambre, all of the soul's movements are real in the sense that they involve expansion or contraction of the animate substance. As he notes, "elle s 1etend quoad un Enfant devient grand; elle se restraint a un plus petit espaee quand les membres sont coupes: Enfin quand on meurt, elle sort du Corps & passe dans un autre e n d ro it" {Syst.3 p. 431). The difficulty, as he sees it, is that movement is a term which is generally applied to .corporeal actions, where the "mover" and the "moved" are clearly two different things, rather than aspects of the same substance. In his words;

le sgay toutes les objections qu'Aristote a faites eontre Platon, qui a creu comme nous que I'Ame se meut veritablement; le sgay celles que I'Eschole a adioustees: Mais il n'y a qu'une response a leur faire. C'est qu'en d e tru is a n t le Mouvement de I ’Ame, e l l e s d e tru is e n t eeluy des Anges, su r le q u e l le s mesmes inconveniens qu'on attribue a 1'autre, tombent neeessairement; quoy que ce soit une verite qu'on n'oseroit eontester, que les Anges ' se meuvent d’un veritable Mouvement local. On a beau dire que ce qui se meut doit occuper un lieu, & avoir la mesme quantite que le lieu, & que I'Ame n'a point de quantite, puisqu'elle est indivisible. De plus, qu'il faut qu'en tout Mouvement ce qui meut, soit different de ce qui est meu, & que I'Ame estant simple & indivisible, ne pent avoir ces choses separSes, & partant qu'il est impossible qu'elle se puisse mouvoir. Mais outre qu'on peut dire que ces Maximes ne sont p fo p res qu'aux Mouvemens c o rp o ra ls , p u is q u 'i l e s t v ray que 1'Ange se meut d'un lieu a 1'autre, aussi bien que I'Ame quand elle sort du Corps; Si la quantite & le lieu sont necessaires au Mouvement, I'Ame ne manque ni de 1'un n i de 1'autre, puisque comme nous avons montre cy-devant, elle a sa quantite Spirituelle & Entitative, Que par son moyen elle occupe un espace que I'Eschole appelle Lieu definitif, pour le distinguer de celuy des Corps; Et que enfin pour estre indivisible, elle ne laisse pas d'avoir une Extension, & par consequent des parties, & I'egard desquelles ii y en peut avoir qui se meuvent, & d'autres qui soient meues. Car quoy qu'elles soient toutes mobiles d'elles-mesmes, estant de mesme nature, il n'y a point d'inconvenient que les 235

, unes se meuvent, & que les autres regoivent & suivent le mouvement, comme il arrive aux muscles ..qui ont tons la facTiLte.de mouvoir ? & dont neantmoins quelques-uns se laissent mouvoir par les autres (Syst.3 pp. k52-5h ) ..

Thus ve see that in La Cheunbre 1 s system, the soul is at the same time indivisible with regard to its nature inasmuch as the attached and free parts are in constant communication, yet individual areas of it are specified, and by extension, so are the actions of these parts, As he explains below, only the free part is involved in the transubstantiation of matter into sp irit, since the attached parts cannot leave their or­ gans without destroying them, even though they move about freely within these organic confines:

. . .quoad 1'Ame se porte & s'unit a 1 1aliment qui sur- vient aux membres & qui les fait croistre, toutes les parties de 1‘Ame ne vont & ne se joignent pas & luy: II n'y a que les plus proches, & pour le dire plus pre- cisement, ce sont seulement celles qui sont libres, & qui ne sont pas attachess a la matiere: Daufcant que celles qui y sont de-ja unies, ne s'en destachent pas pour aller donner la vie a celle qui survient de nouveau. . . . D‘a i l l e u r s , quand un membre e s t eouppS, il n'y a que la partie de 1‘Ame qui 1'animoit qui se meuve pour rentrer dans le Corps; Et toutes les autres se reposent a cet eg&rd. De plus, s ‘il est necessaire que 1‘Ame pour donner le Mouvement au Corps, se meuve la premiere. . . . il . est certain que quand elle ne remue qu'un membre, il n'y a que la partie de 1‘Ame qui anime ce membre, qui soit en mouvement, & que celles qui animent les autres membres qui sont en repos, se reposent aussi comme eux: Autrement il faudroit que tous les membres fussent en . mouvement, quand un seul se remueroit (Syst., pp. U56-5T)•

How the soul moves the humors: theory of the passions

In the human body, Cureau assumes mediation between the soul's expansive and retractive dynamism and local movement of corporeal mem­ bers occurs through transfer of impulse (impetus) from the appetite 236

to the humors, resulting in the corresponding passions. According to

the traditional teachings to which he subscribes, appetite is the name

given to the mobile counterpart of each of the principal cognitive fac­

ulties. Consequently 9 in man there are three appetites: vegetative or

natural. Which moves by "instinct" or secret knowledge; sensitive, or

movement enlightened by imagination; and intellectual or w ill, the mobile

aspect of the entendement. Moreover, each of the three appetites can be

divided into two parts, i.e ., coneupiscible and irascible: the first

pursues good and flees evil; the second resists or abandons itself to

difficulties. Biologically speaking, these two parts taken together ac­

count for the practical design of all being. By its desire, or con-

cupiscible appetite, the organism conserves and perpetuates itself by

selectively uniting with those things that foster its physical and

spiritual perfection, while its defense system, the irascible appetite, motivates it to either destroy or succumb to its contrary. In Cureau's w ords:

. . . 11 a este de la Providence de la Mature de dormer a chaque chose, non seulement les vertus qui estoient necessaires pour faire ses fonctions ordinaires, & comme domestiques; mais encore celles qui la devoient deffendre des attaques estrangeres, & empescher les violences qu'elle pouvoit recevoir de dehors. C’est pourquoy toutes les choses ont des qualltez [sic] propres a conserver leur estre, & d'autres qui peuvent destruire leur contraire; Et celles qui sont vivantes on ces vertus sont plus distinctes, ont eu pour cela deux Appetits differens: Le Coneupiscible pour chercher ce qui leur est convenable, & fuir ce qui leur est nuisible; Et 1*Irascible pour resister au mal, pour I'attaquer & pour le destruire s’il en est de besoin. Enfin 1’Irascible est celuy qui gouveme les forces & qui les menage selon que le mal luy paroist foible ou puissant. {.JSyst, 3 pp. 480-8l) - 237

Depending on whether the two parts of the appetite move sepa­ rately or together, the passions which they precipitate are respectively

called "simple" or "mixed." For example, in Cureau’s system, pain is a

passion of the concupiscihle appetite, audacity (hardiesse) i s a p a s­

sion of the irascible, but anger combines both pain and audacity and is

. therefore mixed. Hence, similar movements in each part of the appetite

produce distinctly different simple passions: those caused by the con-

eupiseible include love, hate, joy, and pain, while corresponding move­

ments in the irascible part produce audacity, fear, perseverance (oan-

sta n c e)s and consternation.

Cureau believed that all passions arise through acts of w ill,^

because angels and separate souls, such as demons, reputedly experience

them. Expounding on this point, he attempts to explain how the move­

ments of an independent spiritual substance could effectively serve to

move the creature towards or away from the object of his desire:

By w ill, Cureau means intellectual appetite. When this power "moves," the sequence of effects it sets into motion in the adjoining and adjacent spirits is called passion; however, the alteration which is produced in the body no longer can be considered as a part.of the "essence" of the passion, but only as its effect. All other movements of the w ill, such as just and unjust actions, are considered to be operations, and not passions. This theory of the passions which em­ phasizes their dual role as causes of corporeal alteration and as psychic essences is Platonistic, as is the division of the various pas­ sional movements according to whether they are formed in the irascible or the concupiscihle appetite. However, as we have noted on pp. 241-42, Cureau also adheres to the scholastico-Aristotelian idea of three levels of appetite—natural, sensitive, and rational or intellectual—as a means of discussing the passions not in terms of their essence, but rather in terms of their relative strength and weakness within the or­ ganic structure. 238

S 'il est done vray que 1‘Ange & I'Ame separee ayent des parties, & que sans changer de lieu, ils les puissent . mouvoir interieurement, il faut voir quels mouvemens ils leur peuvent donner: car de la on conoitra [sio] de combien de Passions ils peuvent estre agitez. A ce dessein il faut supposer q u 'i l y a q u atre s o rte s de Mouvemens qui sont le s premieres de toutes, & dont toutes les ehoses qui se meuvent sont susceptibles, qui est de s'Estendre, de se Resserrer, de Monter, & de Descendre. On ne peut douter que les Anges & les Ames separees ne puis sent s'et entire & se resserrer, .puis que ils peuvent occuper un plus grand ou un plus petit espace; cela ne se pouvant faire que leur substance ne s ’estende & ne se resserre. Mais il y a quelque difficulte a concevoir com­ ment elles montent & qu’elles descendant: Parce qu'il n'y a point de haut ni de bas qui determihent en eux ces sortes de situation comme il y en a pour le Corps. Heantmoins si on considere, Que tout ce qui a une Extension peut avoir un c e n tre , a 1'Sgard duquel ses parties se peuvent mouvoir en s'approchant ou s'Sloignant de luy: Et que tout ce qui se meut du centre a la circonference Monte, comme il Descend quand il va de la circonference au centre. II ne faut pas , douter que les Anges & les Ames separees qui ont une Exten­ sion, & qui mesme sont naturellement de figure ronde, n 'ayent a u ssi un c e n tr e , a 1'egard duquel leurs parties montent ou descendant selon qu*elles s1approchent ou s'eloignent de luy. Cela demeurant done pour constant, que ces Substances ont des parties qui peuvent souffrir ces sortes de mouvemens: Si la Passion est une emotion de I'appetit pour iouir du bien, & pour esviter le mal; e'est une necessity que les Passions dont 1'Ange & I'Ame separee sont susceptibles, consistent dans le mouvement que leurs parties se donnent, ou du moins qu'elles en soient accompagnees; puisqu'il est impossible qu'en voulant s 'approcher du bien ou s'eloigner du mal, ils n'agitent leurs parties conformement a ce dessein-la, quand bien la Passion seront un mouvement Metaphorique. Car si les Esprits & les autres parties du Corps se meuvent dans les Passions del'Homme, pourquoy les parties de 1'Ange qui sont bien plus mobiles, ne se mouvront-elles pas dans celles qu'il res sent? Et ce d'autant plus que par le veritable mouvement Ideal qu'il leur fait faire, il s'approche effectivement du bien & s' eloigne du mal LSyst.3 pp. 477-79). •

As the above text implies, the difference between angelic and human passions is that in man the will is but one of three appetites, and like the entendement of which it is an integral aspect, it cannot move the heavy corporeal parts towards or away from things without 239 calling upon the imagination and sensitive appetites which ‘are d i r e c t l y attached to the organs designed to accomplish these ends. As Cureau e x p la in s;

„ . . le Mouvement des membres ne se pent faire dans 1 'Homme que ces deux puissances [will and sensitive appetite] n'agissent ensemble. Dautant que la Connoissance qui ordonne ce mouvement est mixte, & se doit former par l fEntendement & par l fImagination. . . „ Et par consequent il est neces- saire que la VolontS & I'Appetit executant de concert ce que ces maistresses facultez leur ont ordonnS. Car il y a une si grande connexion entre le lugement practic & le Mouvement, que celuy-la ne se peut former que le mouvement ne se fasse incontinent. Quand l fEntendement a f a i t le commandement qui n ’e s t a u tre chose que son lugement practic, la VolontS se meut tout aussi-tost, tout de mesme q u 'a p re s le commandement de I 1Imagination, I'Appetit se meut infailliblem ent. Comme done I'Entendement & l eImagination se joignent tonsjours ensemble pour former la Connoissance qui est propre a 1 1Homme, c'est une necessitS que la VolontS & I ’Appetit sensitif se meuvent tousjours ensemble, pour faire mouvoir les membres. Ce sont des causes essentiellement subordonnSes qui ont eela de propre que les inferieures ne peuvent agir sans les superieures; Et s 'il arrivoit que I'une ou 1' autre manquast, il ne se feroit aucun mouvement (Syst,, pp. 530-31)•

Thus, we see that in man, w ill and sensitive appetite, like mind

(entendement/Esprit) and imagination, are for all practical purposes in­ separable as far as human behavior is concerned. By nature, soul is an indivisible, sensitive substance consisting in images and supported by spirits; as soon as a movement is prefigured in the firs t, that move­ ment is actualized in the second, so that the."mechanism" of trans­ mission, whether within the nerve or. within the brain, is always the same. It depends on the spirituality of adjacent or adjoining struc­ tures to determine how quickly and efficiently the impulse w ill be transmitted to the moveable parts. In the vegetative system, Cureau 2k0

believed that structures like the viscera and bones are quite dense and

material in composition $ i.e ., they contain a relatively small ratio of

neural canals in their substance as compared to the organs of imagina­

tion or sensation. Consequently9 he concluded that the operations of

the vegetative faculty could only be disrupted significantly if emo­

tional stress was severe enough to shake the entire organ, as in the

case of great pain. However, as he explains below, ail of the sensitive

parts, including those contained in the organs of the vegetative fac­

ulty, expand and contract according to the general emotional state of

' the individual;,

Ce n’est que quand les Passions sont fortes, les membres ne suivent les mouvemens de 1'Ame, car le coeur & les autres visceres se resserrent comme elle dans la Tristesse; les chairs s 1enflent & se dilatent dans la loye, les nerfs se roidissent dans la Constance, & se relachent dans le Desespoir. . . fcyst. , pp. 1*87- 88,)..

In addition to the relatively brief treatment of this question in Le

Systhne de I ,dmes we find a more complete discussion of the vegetative

faculty's role in the passions in L’Art de eonnoistre les Hormess which

re a d s;

Pour ce qui est des Passions de cette basse partie de I'Ame, il n'y en a aucune ou les Esprits ne soient agitez; mais il faut qu'elles soient violentes pour emouvoir le coeur; Car il n'est pas comme celle des autres Appetits, qui toutes mediocres qu'elles soient, sont capables d'alterer son mouvement. En effet, nous voyons dans les playes & dans les tumeurs que les Esprits y accourent avec impetuosite, sans qu'il y ait aucun changement dans le battement du coeur & des arteres, & il se fait des Evacuations considerables dans les crises, sans que ces mouvemens en soient alterez. Mais dans la Fievre qui est la cholere de 1'Appetit natural, dans la Consterna­ tion ou la Nature se trouve quelquesfois dans les maladies malignes, & dans les Agonies qui devancent la mort, il se fait un notable changement dans le Pouls. 2kl La red.son de cette difference vient de la nature de la faculte vegetative, qui est plus materielle 9 & p a r consequent plus pesante que la Sensitive, Car tout de me sine qu’un homme paresseux ne o ® engage qu'aux choses les plus aisSes a faire, & n'entreprend pas les diffi­ cile s que lors qu'il y est contraint par la necessites Aussi cette faculte qui se meut avec peine, se centente dans les Passions legeres d'agiter les Esprits a cause qu’ils sont faciles a mouvoir: Mais elle n'entreprend pas d'y ebranler le Coeur, parce que c'est une Machine plus difficile a remuer, si ce n'est lors que le mal luy parpist considerable, & qu'elle luge qu'il faut employer tous ses Organes, & tbutes ses forces pour luy resister ' (Si/st., pp. 237-38)..

Under ordinary circumstances, then, there are two kinds of move­ ment communicated by the soul to the corporeal members; "natural" and

"voluntary." According to La Chambre, the difference between these two

is based on whether or not the imagination plus or minus the entende- ment is directly responsible for initiating the sequence. Voluntary movements, such as walking, reaching, pushing, etc., are always caused by the "conscious" faculties, whereas vital functions such as heartbeat,

arterial pulsation (le battement des ca,t^ve8)s blood circulation, and

separation of nutrient from excrement are maintained by the organs whose

immanent instructions are sufficient in themselves to carry out the op­

erations for which they were designed. However, since Cureau believed that both kinds of movement are regulated by the soul's cognitive sys­

tem—either centrally or locally in the specific organs—he assumed that by studying those coordinations which are directly dependent on the brain, one could reach a general conclusion about the mechanism of all neuromuscular communication carried out by the system, including the

totally immanent ones of the vegetative structures. 2h2

How the soul moves the body: theory of animation

There was no doubt in La Chambre*s mind that muscles maintain their tone and produce local movement by virtue of an "influence" dis­ seminated. from the brain through the neural canals found in all muscle fiber, for as he remarks, . .si les nerfs sent couppez ou bouchez, si les facultez super!eures sont distraites ou destruites; en un mots si le Cerveau n’influe & ne communique sa vertu aux Muscles, il ne se fait aue.un mouvement (Syst,3 p . ^96), While medicine had long since realized that all voluntary control originates in the brains there was, in the seventeenth century, no agreement as to what the mechanism of this sys­ tem involved. Descartes, whose theory is perhaps the most well known to historians of science, believed that the pineal gland moved inces­ santly in response to continuous shock stimulation, and that the result­ ing vibratory motion pumped the animal spirits through neural tubes to the organs of local movement which in turn "pushed" them. Others thought that the spirits themselves were innately endowed with a motive virtue that was in some way related to their temperament, and that they circulated these impulses to the muscles in the same way that the vital spirits distributed blood and its vital heat via the veins and arteries with the brain'serving as a heart-like pump.

La Chambre presents and discusses these theories in his Syst'&me de 1 ’ahie finding similar faults in the reasoning supporting them. To

D e sc a rte s1 theory he objects most vehemently because, as he explains in the passage below, the philosopher did not know enough comparative 243 anatomy and physiology to realize how absurd his ideas were:

le ne veux pas perdre le temps a refuter une opinion qui s'est introduite depuis pen sur ce subjet 5 p arce . qu'elle est contraire a 1'e x p e rie n c e , & n 'e s t pas mesme concevable. Car elle veut que la Glande qui est au milieu du Cerveau se meuve incessament, soit par 1 'im­ pression que les objets sensibles y font, soit par 1 'agitation que les Esprits & 1'Ame mesme luy donnent; & que selon qu'elle se meut d'un costS ou d'un autre, elle pousse les Esprits dans les ne[r]fs & dans les muscles pour faire mouvoir les parties. II suffira de dire en passant que la supposition que cette Glande se meut est fausse; que c'est une chose certaine qu'elle ne se trouve que dans les animaux qui ont du sang; & que tons les autres se meuvent sans elle: d'ou il s'ensuit, que ce n'est pas le principe du mouve- ment. D'ailleurs, elle croit que le ventricule sur lequel cette Glande est suspendue,.contient les esprits animaux qui la font mouvoir. Cependant ce ventricule ne regoit autre chose que les excremens du Cerveau, comme nous avons montre cy-devant. Mais le moyen de concevoir. que les agitations que cette Glande souffre, puissent causer tous les divers mouvemens qui se font dans les mem- b res? Et comment dans un s i grand nombre de n e rfs & de muscles qu'il y a'dans le corps, & que I'Ame ne connoist point, elle se peut determiner ^ envoyer des Esprits a I'un plustost qu'a 1'autre? Sans nous arrester done davantage a combattre ces chimeres; Voyons ce que les plus sgavans Medecins ont pensS de 1 'Influence dont il est q u estio n {Syst., pp. 497-99) •

According to Cureau, there were two major schools of thought . among "les plus sgavans Medecins" to whom he refers at the end of his discussion of the Cartesian theory of movement: those who claimed that ■ animal spirits transport the motive virtue, and those who believed that the muscles attracted the proper signal from the neural substance be­ cause they were innately disposed to move in certain ways, but not in others. The discussion he presents of these theories is very interest­ ing because it brings together many of the points he has insisted on throughout Le System s de t'dme and places them within the strict "logic" of organic structure:

La pluspart tiennent que ce sont les Esprit s Animaux qui portent avec eux la vertu sensitive & la vertu motive. Mais c'est une chose estrange qua ceux qui sont dans ce sentiment, confessent que ces Esprits ne sont point animez, & que cependant ils leur donnent des vertus animales qui n’ont point d'autre subjet que I ’Ame mesme, & qui n'en , peuvent iamais estre separees. D*ailleurs, quand ils seroient animez, comme il est plus vray-semblable; puis- que ce sont des Corps, ils ne se peuvent mouvoir, ni se porter de la teste aux pieds qu’avec du temps: Keantmoins si tost que 1'Imagination a resolu de mouvoir le pied, il se meut au mesme instant. Ce ne sont done pas ces Esprits qui luy portent la vertu motive, puisqu'il se meut avant qu'ils 1'ayent aborde. II est vray que le Cerveau les respand incessamment dans les nerfs, & que ces parties n ’en peuvent estre privees. Mais s'ils portent la vertu motive avec eux, pourquoy les membres ou ils sont ne se meuvent-ils pas continuellement? Pourquoy le nerf estant couppe, le mouvement cesse-t-il tout a coup, puisqu'il reste assez d*esprits dans les Muscles pour les mouvoir du moins un peu de temps apres? Apres tout, comment ces Esprits pourroient-ils faire mouvoir les Muscles, puisqu’ils ont des mouvemens contraires? Car celuy des Esprits ne peut estre qu'une impulsion qui les pousse en avant; Et le mouvement des Muscles est une attraction qui retire it soy le membre ou i l s sont a tta c h e s . . . . Enfin, les facultez animales sont des qualitez con- stantes qui resident dans les organes quand ils ont la composition & le temperament qui leur sont propres. Car 1'oeil qui a tout ce qui est necessaire a sa structure & son temperament, a aussi la faculte visive, encore que le sommeil, encore que la cataracte & la goutte serene 1'empechent de voir: ■ Autrement il ne pourroit iamais recouvrer la veue en ces rencontres, puisqu'il n'y a point de retour de la privation a la puissance, comme disent les Escholes.. En effet, a considerer les Facultez Vitales en elles-mesmes, c'est a dire selon leur essence & leur existence, elles sont dans I'Ame comme dans leur premier & veritable subjet; Et par tout ou est I'Ame, elles y sont aussi, parce qu'elles en sont inseparables. Mais si on les regarde dans leur fonction, & selon qu'elles doivent agir, il faut non seulement qu1elles ayent les organes qui leur sont destines, mais encore les con­ ditions qui sont necessaires a leur action. Ainsi la Faculte Visive est dans toute I'Ame, & Arietote avoit raison de dire que si les yeux estolent aux talons, I 1 Me verroit en ees parties-l& coimne dans la teste, parce qLue eette faculte eu egard a sa nature est par tout ou est I'Ame. Mais elle n'est en puissance d’agir que dans les yeux; encore est-ce une puissance eloignee, si .le Cerveau ne concourt £t leur action, si les paupieres ne sont duvertes, si la lumiere n'eclaire les objets. Les Grecs ont este heureux a distinguer ees divers estats. Car la facultS dans I'Ame, c'est leur f ; dans les Organes, c'est leurdans 1'Action qui suppose les conditions exterieures, c'est leur’^vtf^6in-. II en faut dire autant de la Vertu Motive, elle est dans I'Ame coimne en son premier subjet; dans les Muscles, elle a la puissance d'agir; mais c'est une puissance eloignee qui ne se pent mettre en exercice que par 1 'Influence du Cerveau. De sorte que cette Influence ne donne pas la vertu motive, qui est dans les Muscles avant que 1 'autre y soit receue: ce n'est qu'une condition exterieure qui met cette vertu en estat d'agir. Ces considerations ont fait penser a quelques-uns: Que les Esprits ne portoient pas a la verite la vertu motive aux Muscles, mais une certaine temperature qui les rendoit capables de se mouvoir. Ceux-la n'ont pas mieux reussi que les autres. Car outre que les Esprits ne peuvent pas aller si viste aux parties eloignees, & que le mouvement des Muscles devance leur abord, comme nous avons dit: II n'y a aucune temperature qui ne se rapporte aux qualitez actives, lesquelles ne s 'impriment & ne s'en vont pas en un instant. II faut quelque temps a la chaleur pour s'introduire en un subjet, & apres qu'elle y est imprimee, elle ne se perd pas en un moment. . Cependant les Muscles se meuvent au mesme instant que 1 'Imagination 1 'or donne; Et si tost que le nerf est couppe, leur mouve­ ment cesse tout a coup. II n'y a done point de chaleur ni d'autre qualite elementaire qui puisse couler par les nerfs, & donner aux Muscles la vertu de se mouvoir. Ce n'est pas que les Esprits Animaux qui s'insinuent dans les parties, ne les rendent plus souples pour le mouvement, & plus propres pour recevoir 1*impression des objets sensibles; parce qu'en leur faisant part de leur subtilite, ils les rendent mo ins materie3J.es, & par con­ sequent moins pesantes & moins grossieres. Mais toujours ce ne sont que des dispositions passives, qui ne donnent point la vertu de sentir ni de mouvoir. Comme on a done veu qu'il estoit impossible que la Faculte Motive coulast dans les Muscles, puisqu'ils 1'ont avant que le Cerveau la leur puisse communiquer; ni qu'aucune autre vertu leur fust apportee par les Esprits pour le faire mouvoir, puisqu'ils se meuvent avant que les 246

Esprits y puissent aborder. On a este.contraint de dire . que I 1 Influence dont est question, se faisoit par me certaine qualite qui n’est point portee par les Esprits, mais qui d1 elle-mesme se rep and en un moment a travers les nerfs, de la mesme sorte que la lumiere & la vertu "magnetique se repandent & se m ultiplient dans 1'air. Que cette qualite met la Vertu Motive qu'ont les Muscles dans la demiere disposition de se mouvoir: Et que si le Cerveau ne la produit, ou si le trajet en est empesche par quelque cause que ce soit, ils demeurent immobiles. {S y s t.j pp. 499-505)•

In Cureau's estimation, this is where the most astute observers

(tes ptiis ctatrvoyans) of his time had arrived in their thinking on this matter. However, as he notes, "il n'y en a pas un qui nous ait dit quelle est la nature de cette qualite; de quoy elle sert au mouvement;

Et pourquoy se respandant egalement en tout un membra, elle n ’excite pas tous les Muscles qui y sent, a se mouvoir, & ne choisit que ceux qui sont propres au mouvement qui se doit faire’’ (S y s t.j p. 505). It is in attempting to solve this fundamental problem that the author ofLe S ys- t£me de I'lzHne sees his mission as both a physician and a philosopher.

Unlike Descartes, who had tried —and failed—to analyze* the nervous sys­ tem using geometric laws of force and resistance, Cureau's goal was to discover the inner logic of the organism by rigorous observation of ana­ tomical and physiological details. To begin, he underlines the fact that all sensitive communication, whether destined to produce local movement or sentiment in the member, is made possible by the presence of neural pathways which connect muscles and organs to the cognitive center and to each other by virtue of the images transmitted along them. These images, moreover, are specifically coded to elicit responses in the or­ gans they instruct, for as we have seen in his theory of evolving 2k7 biological structure, the organic forms and the instinctual images of th e memory developed sim u ltan eo u sly from th e same inform ing v ir tu e .

Reviewing these suppositions in the following-text, he explains how the appetite, i.e ., the motive virtue in the muscles, serves as a receptor-transmitter system for the cognitive impulse of the brain:

II. faut. . .se souvenir. . .que la Vertu Motive est dans les Muscles, quand ils ont la, structure & le tem­ perament qui leur sont propres. Que cette vertu n'est autre que 1'Appetit mesme, qui est la seule partie de I'Ame qui se meut, & qui fait mouvoir le corps. . . . Que 1’Appetit ne se peut mouvoir sans connoissance, parce que c’est une puissance aveugle qui a besoin d'estre con­ duit e par une autre. Et que dans les mouvemens volon- taires, c'est 11 Imagination qui I ’eclaire, & qui luy donne la Connoissance des mouvemens qu’il doit faire. En second lieu, que cette Connoissance consiste dans les Images que .1'Imagination se forme en elle-mesme: Et que ees Images sont des qualitez, qui comme la lumiere se respandent en un moment en toutes les parties ou la vertu motive se trouve. . . . De tout cela,. il s ’ensuit que quand 1‘Imagination a resolu & ordonne quelque mouvement, I 1Image ou consiste cette resolu­ tion, se porte aux membres qui se doivent mouvoir, & excite 1'Appetit, c'est a dire la Vertu Motive qui y est, a executer le mouvement qu'elle ordonne. De sorte que s 'il arrive que cette Image ne puisse couler dans les muscles qui sont les organes du mouvement; il est impossible qu'ils puis- sent se mouvoir, puisque I'appetit qui y reside est alors prive de Connoissance qui doit esclairer & le conduire. Or il n'y a que les nerfs qui puissent servir de canaux pour cette Image; d'autant qu'elle se forme dans le Cerveau, & que c'est par eux seuls que cette partie a communication & liaison avec les autres. II ne faut done pas s'etonner, si quand I'Ame cesse de produire ces Images; Et si quand les nerfs sont couppez ou bouchez, il ne se fait plus de mouve­ ment dans les membres; puisque le trajet & I'abord de ces Images ne s'y fait plus {_Syst.3 pp. 506-07) •

As for the mechanism of the relation between the imagination and appetite, Cureau relies on the quasi-spiritual, quasi-material nature of spirit to explain the transmission from soul to body. The appetite is a medium between form and matter because it is capable of receiving the luminous rays of the image and translating them into actual movements.

However, it does not receive all stimulation with equal facility; in

fact, as La Chamhre remarks in the passage from L’Art de oonnoistre les

Hormes quoted earlier in our discussion, "la veritable Inclination" is

the penchant bequeathed to the sensitive appetite by the informing vir­

tue, whose habits are formed through its experience in the substance of the engendering animal (see pp. 202-04). Hence, it is important to remember that in his system of the soul, the appetite can be con­ ditioned or "programmed” because of its essential m ateriality, and by the same token it is sensitive to fluctuations in the temperament. As the primary instrument of the imagination in the direction and coordina­ tion of a ll bodily movements—whether immanent to the organism like the passions, or oriented towards the assimilation of things outside the corporeal structure—it carries out the instructions of images, but in its own style. In this sense, it expresses a certain autonomy in its execution of orders with respect to the imagination, even though it re­ mains "determined" in its very nature.

Since it is the appetite which moves the muscles and agitates the humors, Cureau did not believe that the imagination actually "knows," i.e ., consciously realizes, which muscles are constructed to perform the various local movements. However, in the memory are the spiritual records of all organic structures in the body together with the innate knowledge of the eight directions in which a body may move with reference to its center. These latter movements include six simple—up and down, forward and backward, right and le ft—and two compound—circular and 2h9 tensile. Thus, when the imagination forms a new image on the .model of

its instinctual knowledge, the signal it sends out is transmitted to all parts of the neural substance, but only causes movement in those muscles whose appetite corresponds to the figure of movement prescribed. As

Cureau explains:

Quand l fImagination se propose de faire mouvoir le bras, elle se forme I 1Image du mouvement qu’elle luy veut donner; En mesme temps cette Image qui se respond comme un eslcair en toutes les parties, se joint aux Images naturelles qui sent imprimees dans les Muscles destines a ce mouvement, parce qu'elle leur sont semblables, & qu’elles tendent a me mesme fin. Et alors toutes ensemble elles font agir ces Muscles sans que les autres y contribuent, parce que ceux-cy n ’ont pas 1/Image qui ordonne ce mouvement-la. II en est comme quand un Prince fait quelque ordonnance pour obliger ses Sujets a faire quelque chose qu'il desire d 'e u x . Quoy que le commandement s o it p o rte par to u t son Estat, il n’y a pourtant que les Officiers destines a cette function qui fassent executer ses ordres, parce qu'il n'y a qu'eux qui ayent le caractere qui leur donne le pouvoir d'agir. De sorte qu'il ne faut pas s'estonner si 1'Ame ne se trompe point dans le choix qu'elle fait des Muscles, & ne prend jamais I'm pour 1 'autre; parce que 1'Image naturelle estant comme la forme de 1'organe, & 1 'exemplaire sur lequel il forme son mouvement, il n'y a que les Muscles qui ont 1 'Image destinee a te l & tel mouvement qui se puissent mouvoir, les autres qui ne 1'ont pas, estant contrains de demeurer en repos. Dela il s'ensuit encore que 1 'Imagination ne connoist que le Mouvement des membres, & q u ' e l l e ig n o re celu y des Muscles; parce qu'elle ne connoist point les Muscles, & que les Images naturelles qu'ils ont, ne vont pas jusques a elle. Car quoy que celles de 1 'Imagination & des Sens se multiplient & se respandent. . .il n'en est pas ainsi des Images naturelles qui sont dans les Muscles; Elles y sont renfermees sans en pouvoir sortir : La Nature n ' ayant pas voulu les m ultiplier comme les autres; parce que cela ne serviroit de rien, & apporteroit de la confusion au mouve­ ment des autres muscles. Ne se communiquant done point, 1 'Imagination n'en a aucune Connoissance, quoy que ce soit elle qui excite les Muscles a se mouvoir par le commandement, e'est a dire par 1 'Image que 1 'Imagination leur envoye. Et I'on peut asseurer qu'il en est comme d'un Homme qui joue 250

du Clavessin: il connoist Men les accords qu'il veufc faire$ & sgait les touches qu’il doit abattre; mais il ne void & ne connoist point les sautereaux qui remuent. les chordes; quoy que les touches qu’il a abatues, fassent mouvoir les sautereaux. L’Imagination sgait aussi les mouvemens qu’il faut donner aux membres; les Images qu’elle forme sont les touches qui esbranient les Images natiirelles qui sont dans les Muscles; Et les Muscles sont comme les sautereaux qui font le mouvement des membres {S yst.j, pp. 520-23) •

Some Important Philosophical Implications of La Chambre1s Theory of Animation; Determinism, Free Will and Self-Consciousness in the Respective Contexts of Physiology and Psychology

The physiological basis for differ­ entiating animate from nonanimate c re a tu re s

As we have seen in analyzing La Chambre’s system of the soul, the innate dispositions which incline things to act in the interests of self-perpetuation and perfection are the consequences of spiritual ac­ tion on matter. Since spirit' is present in all empirical phenomena, whether animate or inanimate. La Chambre thought it reasonable to assume that inanimate things also harbor images in their diaphanous parts which enable them to respond selectively to their environment. In this sense, all existence strives towards organ!city, i.e ., dynamic and harmonious balance between subject and environment. Moreover, existence is pur­ poseful because it seeks to conserve and perpetuate the order of each thing by inclining it to attract, and in the case of animals to move towards and possess, those things which foster survival, As he explains in Article VIII of Book III, ”De la Connoissanee laturelle,'* entitled;

MEn quoy consists 1’Instinct des choses inanimees”: 251 . . „ presuppose que les choses Inaaimees agissent par In­ stinct comma tout le monde est d1accord, & que 1’Instinct consists dans les Images que la Nature donne, c*est tine necessity que celles-ll, en soient pourveues. Mais parce qu’elles n'ont point d’Ame qui est le principe de la Connoissance, elles ne peuvent se servir de ces Images pour connoistre, parce qu1elles n’ont point de facultez qui agissent star ces. Images, ni qui fassent les portraits & les copies de ces originaux, en quoy consists la Con­ noissance; & elles n’ont point ces facultez, dautant que ce sont des puissances vitales qui dependent d'un principe de v ie . Mais & quel usage sont done reservSes ces Images? il y en a deux principaux; I'un, qu’elles servant d’exem- plaires aux effets que les Facultez doivent produire. . . . L’autre, qu’elles suppleent au defaut des vertus necessaires aux mouvemens qui se font pour quelque fin. Car ils ne se peuvent faire sans la connoissance de la fin, ni sans un moteur qui suive cette connoissance. Or e’est une maxime asseuree que la Nature agit pour une fin, & par consequent elle ne fait aucun mouvement ou elle n’ait besoin d’une Faeulte qui connoisse, & d’une autre qui fasse le mouve­ ment. Dans les Animaux 1’Estimative & I ’Appetit ont ces emplois-la. Car eelle-la forme le lugement practic qui leur fait connoistre s 'il est utile de faire le mouvement,. & qui ordonne en suite; Et I ’Appetit execute apres ces o rd re s , & commence le mouvement qui se d o it communiquer aux membres. Mais comme ces Facultez sont des puissances vitales, & ne se peuvent trouver dans les choses qui sont privees de vie; la Sagesse Divine qui leur a donne la . vertu d'agir, les a aussi pourveues des Images Naturelles • . pour faire la fonction de ces deux Facultez. Car ces Images continenent [sic] le lugement practic & semblent faire connoistre aux choses, que 1’action qu'elles doivent produire est utile, & ont encore la force de les faire mouvoir. C’est pourquoy on dit qu’elles ont une Con­ noissance & un Appetit naturel, quoy qu'en verite elles n'ayent ni I'un ni 1 'autre; estant seulement pourveues de 1 'Instinct qui tient lieu de ces deux vertus, & qui en fait la fonction iS y s t., pp. 24l-lt3) •

Thus, the difference between animate and inanimate things is not really made clear by the term "sensibility" since all things ostensibly respond to the outside world in a selective and therefore cognitive way 252 . 7 as a result of their inner dispositions. The relation between iron and the magnet is Cureau's favorite example of such a response, for while the attraction does not constitute what he would call "le veritable sentiment," or sensibility arising from faculties, he does admit "quel- que ombre de sentiment, parce qu'il faut que ces choses se touchent, & qu'il s'y fasse quelque alteration eorame dans le veritable Sentiment”

(System p. 249). Hences the difference between animate and inanimate things may be compared to the difference between cognitive action and passion for as Cureau remarks:

. . . celle qui fait la Connoissance est me action de la chose qui connoist, & celle qui se fait dans les choses Insensibles est une pure passion qui se fait par les objets qui agissent sur elles. La vertu magnetique altere le fer, les qualitez sympathiques & antipathiques alterent les choses qui les regoivent; mais le fer & ces choses la patissent seulement sans agir. Que si apres cela elles se meuvent, c1est que 1’alteration qu’elles souffrent, excite les Images naturelles qu'elles ont, a faire le mouvement ou elles sont destinees.

T Cureau was very interested in discovering the fetal origins of sensitivity because of the relation between the primordial irritability of the embryo and the passional movements. As he observes in the pas­ sage below, alluding to current experimentation on animals: . .nos demieres observations nous apprennent que dans les premiers line amen s que la Nature donne au corps des Animaux, & lors qu’il n ’y a encore rien qui paroisse de la figure que les membres doivent avoir; on ne sgauroit si peu picquer la masse informe qui s’y est faite, & qui est le fonde- ment de tout 11ouvrage, qu’elle ne se resserre & ne.se retire; Or cela ne se pent faire qu’elle ne sente ce qui la blesse, Cependant il n’y a point encore de nerfs, de cerveau, ni d'esprits qui puissent causer ce mouvement, ni le sentiment qui le doit preceder; & par consequent il faut qu’ils procedent de la Faculte Naturelle qui est la premiere de toutes, en temps, en ordre & en fonction. "Mais quand on ne seroit pas asseur€ de cette observation, il y en a cent autres qui confirment cette verite. Outre ce que nous avons dit cy-deyant des parties qui par un sentiment naturel discement le venin dont le sens du Toucher n'a aucune connoissance: II ne faut que remarquer 1’irritation que la malignite des humeurs donne a la Nature en 253

Mai s' quoy! ne pent-on pas dire la mesme chose de la Faculte Vegetative, sans estre oblige de luy donner me veritable connoissance centre 1'advis de tons les Philosophes? II le faut ingenuement confesser; elle a beaucoup d1 actions qu'on pourroit rapporter §. cette maniere d'agir. Mais parce qu'il y en a d * autres ou il est impossible de le faire, comme sont le choix des jours pour les crises, I ’ordre des parties dans la con­ form ation , le discernem ent des lie u x commodes pour le s evacuations, & cent autres semblables: II y a de I'apparence qufelle fait toutes ses autres actions par le mesme Principe de vie, qui la fait agir en celles-la, & qui est aussi comme nous avons dit le Principe de Connoissance \S y st* 3 pp. 249-50)•

Physiological grounds for defending human free w ill

Since self-determined local movement is a privilege of superior organic forms, any creature capable of controlling its interaction with the world and adapting itself to change must automatically possess cogni­ ti v e f a c u ltie s and memory in o rd er t o move in accordance w ith i t s n e ed s.

However, as Cureau noted at the outset of Le Systh'ne de t ,cmes in low er

animals the possibilities for self-determination are considerably less than in man since all parts of their soul are attached to organs while man has a w ill, or in his words, "une faculte spirituelle qui n'a point

de commerce avec les choses m aterielies comme sont les organes”{S y st*,

p. 526). Moreover, since the essential unity of the rational or toutes les parties; les efforts & les mouvemens qu'elle leur fait faire pour chasser ce qui les incommode, comme sont les palpitations, les changemens de pouls, les vomissemens, les diarrheas & m ille autres semblables qui se font a I'insceu du Cerveau & de la Faculte Sensitive. Car tout:cela montre que la Nature est irritee: & il n’y a rien de si commun en la bouche des Medecins, que cette fagon de parler; mais elle ne peut estre irritSe qu’elle ne sente, & qu'elle ne eonnoisse ce qui 11 offense. "On dira peut-estre que ce mot d*Irritee marque une passion, & que la passion est un mouvement de I ’Appetit sensitif. . (S yst. s pp. 225-27). 254 intellectual soul defies any real separation of its " p a r ts th e p a r ts being merely aspects of its totality, the freedom of the supreme human. faculty is preserved, for as Cureau explains;

. . . quoy que la Phantaisie, 1'Estimative & I'Appetit Sensitif, qui respondent a 11Entendement speculatif, a I ’Entendement practic, & a la Volonte, soient dis- tinguees reellement entre elles: II n‘en est pas de mesme de celles-cy; Et puisque I'Eschole est d*accord, que ces deux Entendements ne sont qu’une mesme faculte, il n'y a pas moins de fondement pour le dire de la Volonte & de 11Entendement. Apres tout, c'est IS, le seul moyen que je voy pour co n serv er a l a Volonte l a L ib ert# & le Commshdement qui luy sont propres. Car il faut qu'elle eonnoisse pour estre libre & pour commanders Et si elle ne connoissoit par soy-mesme, elle ne seroit pas non plus libre de soy- mesme, le prineipe de sa libert# seroit hors d’elle; Or toute connoissance depend de 1’Entendement. . . . (S yst.y pp. 529-31).

Le Syst'&me de t 'arne and human psychology; soul as the principle of total or self- consciousness -

We have seen in the foregoing discussion that image and appetite are.the two aspects of all consciousness or sensation. Even inanimate creatures exhibit a very basic level of sensibility in their reactions to stimulation for as Cureau has observed, external shock and the geo­ metric laws of force and resistance are not sufficient to explain the magnetic attraction of iron as compared to the inertia of lead under similar exposure to the magnet. Progressing up the hierarchy of being from plants to animals, soul goes from a simple to a more and more com­ plex system of organs and faculties whose increasing levels of spiritu-r- ality enable the subject to act on its inclinations by physically moving towards the object of its desires. Through these' contacts, the organism 255

acquires knowledge about the world around him which can then serve in the ongoing process of conserving and perpetuating his being. This knowledge i s memory and when acted upon by th e in te r n a l f a c u l t i e s 5 th e subject becomes consciously aware of the beneficial and detrimental things around him.

What sets man apart from the lower animate order is precisely the quality and quantity of his memorys the vastness of which is made possible by the inordinate virtual extension Cureau attributes to the human s o u l. In o th e r w ords, as th e human b ein g d ev elo p s> h is inform ing virtue is not "used up" in the formation of organs; the "leftover” spiritual part remains free and undetermined9 ready to incarnate new material substance or to extract the essence from phantoms to make its ideas. The presence of the understanding faculty in all parts of the sensitive system provides for what Cureau calls "la Connoissance propre

§, 1’Homme," or intelligence. When applied to the internal world, it becomes the basis for introspection, leading to a self-awareness or self-consciousness that gives man an unprecedented potential for vol­ untary control of his body. When applied to the external world, this same intelligence affords man a panoramic view of things, enabling him to see beyond the appearance of continuous change and to recognize the eternal return of nature's cycles. These applications of the human mind are, in Cureau's estimation, the two avenues of perfection open to man; the first, if mastered, w ill grant the peace of mind necessary to live harmoniously with the second. However, passivism and the contemplative life are not the ultimate goals of La Chambre's philosophy, for as we 256

have seen again and again in examining his theory of man, the gathering

of knowledge is a divinely inspired, active pursuit that leads to the perfection of the species. The many comparisons between artistic crea­

tivity and cognitive action, or the frequent analogies of image distri­ bution and coordination to the organisation of the political state are by no means coincidences . the purpose of all human endeavor is wisdom, but this wisdom is meant to become the basis for practical controls and the establishment of political institutions designed to elicit the most noble expression of human existence^ In this sense, then, Cureau’s theory of man is an admirable portrait of the seventeenth-century

Frenchman's most profound thoughts and his loftiest aspirations, and through examining its many aspects and details, I think we come closer to seeing why this moment in French history was truly ”le grand siBcle.” PART I II

LA CHAMBER'S THEORY OF MAH IN THE CONTEXT OF SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH THOUGHT

257 CHAPTER 7

LA CHAMBRE AND THE CONFRONTATION BETWEEN MAJOR THOUGHT CURRENTS FROM 1630 TO 1680

The problem of evaluating the role of Cureau de La Chambre fs theory of man in relation to the cultural evolution of the seventeenth century is not an easy one. In the first places as an author of scien­ tific works s he tends to be eclectic in his approach, and this makes it difficult to situate his ideas within the context of any particular line of traditional thought. Second, he fails to fit comfortably into any of the usual seventeenth-century intellectual categories like

"Ancient" or "Modern," "Gassendist" or "Cartesian," and yet the influ­ ence of his theories on others was not significant enough to initiate the formation of a school in his own name. Finally, the rather dis­ torted view historians have perpetuated about the period in which Cureau lived and wrote must be recognized and dealt with. Like any era dom­ inated by as imposing a figure as Rene Descartes, the second third of the seventeenth century is usually considered from the vantage point of its modernist tendencies. While this perspective is valuable in estab­ lishing the primary lines along which "new" ideas were transmitted from one generation of thinkers to another, it tends to oversimplify the problem by suggesting that all of history can be explained in terms of a

258 I

259

struggle "between heroic ”innovators'* and recalcitrant> villainous "re­

actionaries" or "traditionalists«"

Thanks to the efforts of scholars like Etienne Gilson, we have

come to recognize and appreciate the Scholastic origins of many aspects

of the Cartesian system, and can thereby better understand how Descartes

fits into the intellectual situation of his own time.'*' Insights such as these have led others to examine more carefully some of the lesser-known but equally important exponents of scientific thought of the period, and over the last thirty-five years we have seen the publication in France of major studies devoted to Mersenne, Gassendi, and the more general problem of "le libertinage Srudit" with which their eclectic systems are 2 often associated.

This effort among French historians to reconstruct the intellec­ tual framework which gave rise to the scientific movement of the seven­ teenth century coincides with the work of a group of English scholars at the Warburg Institute whose studies on the diffusion of Hermetic and

Neoplatonic ideas during the Renaissance and early seventeenth century have helped to focus attention on the subtle changes in the character of

"T?he two major works on Descartes by Gilson are? Etudes s u p le vole de la pens&e m&di&yale dans la formation du systems oavt$sien (Paris, 1930) and La Liberty chez Desoavtes et la Th&ologie ( P a r is , 1913).

2 On M ersenne, see R. L enoble, Mersenne; ou la naissanoe du micanisme (Paris, 1943). On Gassendi, see O.-R. Bloch, La Philosophie de Gassendi: Nominalisme3 Mat&rialisme et M$taphysique ( P a r is , 1971). On libertine thought, see R. Pintard, Le Libertinage erudit dans la. premiere m oitii du XVIIe si£ale3 2 vols. (Paris, 1943). "m agical" philosophyfrom Ficino to Cornelius Agrippa, to the Rosicru- 3 ciaa John Dee, to Giordano Bruno, and finally, to Descartes. • During

the sixteenth, century man-magus, invoker of celestial and supercelestial

influences for the improvement of his lot in the sublunar world, used

his knowledge to very practical ends in a number of instances. For ex­

ample, cabbalistic mathematics was not only studied for the purpose of

conjuring angels; concern with number also led to the revival of Euclid­

ean geometry whose principles of space and locus made it possible to build intricate mechanical fountains and other technological marvels to

decorate the palatial dwellings of noblemen. By a similar token, the

alchemical approach to medicine practiced by Paracelsus towards the end

of the sixteenth century led to the founding of a school of physicians

dedicated to the belief that nature is composed of three basic "ele­

ments"—sulfur, mercury, and "alchemical salt"—produced through com­

bination of their hot-dry and cold-moist properties. This physical al­

chemy, in turn, provided the basis for a spiritual alchemy which reaches

its highest artistic expression in Michael Maier's Atlanta fugiens

(l6l8), a book of emblems sumarizing the Rosicrucian plan for world

reform through implementation of cabbalistic and alchemical principles.^

%orks I have found particularly useful in this regard include three by Frances Yates: French Academies of the Sixteenth Century (London, 19^7); Giordano Bruno and the hermetic Tradition (C hicago, 196U); and The R osicrucian Enlightenment (London and Boston, 1972). I ' also found the recent study of Wayne Shumaker, The O ccult Sciences in the Renaissance: AStudy in Intellectual Patterns (Berkeley, 1972) very helpful.

Y a tes, The R osicrucian Enlightenments p . 70. 261

As Frances Yates has observed in her recent study of what she has termed

"the Rosicrucian Enlightenment" of the late sixteenth and early seven­ teenth centuries, the continuity between the purposes of a mature brand of Renaissance magic as outlined in the Rosicrucian manifestos of l6l4 and 1615 and the ideas which sparked the first phase of the so-called

"scientific revolution" is in some way related to the increased emphasis on practical applications of alchemical and cabbalistic learning:

The Manifestos stress Cabala and Alchymia as the dominant themes in the movement. The latter give the movement a turn towards medicine. The R. C. Brothers are healers. Paracelsian physicians like Fludd, Maier, Croll, represent the thought of the movement. But there is in Dee's Monas [h iero g lyp h ia ] and Maier's alchemical movement a further aspect which is d iffi­ cult to seize and which may represent an approach to nature in which alchemical and eabalist formulations have combined to form something new. It may have been this germ in Rosicrucian thought which causes the bearers of some of the greatest names in the his­ tory of the scientific revolution to hover round it.5

In this last group are included two of Cureau de La Chsmibre's most il­ lustrious contemporaries in the realm of science—Mersenne and

Descartes—both of whom were called upon to deny having ever had any connection with the Brothers of the Rosy Cross during the course of their respective careers.

By the time Cureau arrived on the Parisian scene in 1634, the

Rosicrucian "scare," as Miss Yates has so aptly termed it, was pretty much history. However, the witch craze was in full bloom, with reports of demonic possession in a convent at Loudun and in another at Louviers

^ Ib id .3 p . 222. reaching the ears of Richelieu and the Parisian community. Hence, latter-day popular!zers of magical doctrines of cabbalistic computation for angel conjuration like Robert Fludd had become anathema to the pro­ moters of positive science who wished to dissociate themselves com­ pletely with anyone whose ideas could be tied to devil worship and the black arts of divination. In place of the dubious "authority" of astrological and Hermetic tradition, the advocates of empirical science substituted the "authority" of the human intellect whose God-given su­ perior faculty of understanding was capable of recognizing continuity and etemalness in the laws and cycles that govern the movements of the physical world. However, there remained the problem of certitude which was intimately connected to the theological question of human freedom, and, by extension, to man’s relationship with God through divine grace: did science have any guarantee that its observations and formulations corresponded immediately to any prescribed eternal truths, or was human knowledge by definition meant to be only approximate and probabilistic because of its foundation in ephemeral appearance? Scholastic philos­ ophy had contented itself with a science of truth-likeness grounded in an epistemology of analogy; but then Scholastics did not have the so­ phisticated understanding of mathematics to undermine this very doubt and to exclaim with Pascal: "Nous avons une impuissance de prouver, invincible a tout le dogmatisme. Nous avons une idee de la.veritS, invincible a tout le pyrrhonisme."^

PensSe 273 in OEuvres compl'&tes de Pascal3 e

It is within the context of this struggle between "freedom" and

"authority" (which is both the primordial situation of philosophy and

the fountainhead of intellectual conflicts during the seventeenth cen­

tury) that we must attempt to place La Chambre's theory of man. By

looking first at the theological expression of the debate,, we can see why men of science like Descartes and Cureau—-who were inevitably drawn

into discussions touching on the problem of grace and divine foreknowl­

edge in human affairs—managed with a greater or lesser degree of suc­

cess to avoid dealing with the metaphysical and epistemological prob­

lems whose solutions were to provide the structuring principles for a philosophy of science supportive of their respective methodological ap­ proaches. Moving next to the level of methodology, we w ill examine the

alternative solutions offered by various theoreticians to the problem of

final cause in nature in order to see why the scientific community of

the second half of the seventeenth century tended to be divided into two

camps dubbed as "old" and "new" or "Gassendist" and "Cartesian." Lastly, we will look at three of the important focal points of methodological

controversy which continued on throughout the century and in which

Cureau played an active role.

Given these goals, our approach does not include any provision

for talking about "influence" of one man on another, nor does it con­

template discovering any profound "originality" in La Chambre's system.

In keeping with what history teaches regarding the contacts between

Cureau and his compeers in the scientific circles of the period, we w ill

concentrate on finding overriding preoccupations in the posing of 264 philosophical problems at that time such as the role mathematics was expected to play in acting as a model for. empirical science. The con­ clusions reached in this chapter regarding Cureau's theory of man w ill prepare us for consideration of one of the most interesting reflections of the changed scientific outlook in France during the second half of the seventeenth century: the representation in moralist literature of a new psychology of human character and behavior which, as we w ill see in chapter 8, makes use of ideas very dear to La Chambre and his scien­ tific compeers like the search for precision in language and the re­ placement of terms like "occult" or "specific" virtue or property with contemporary medical words like "instinct" and "humor."

Theological Controversies and the Search for Order in the Sciences: A Re-evaluation of the Concepts of "Freedom" and "Authority"

The fundamental issue during the early part of the seventeenth century with regard to the future of human knowledge concerned its au­ thoritative basis. A ristotle, though still a dominant figure in phi­ losophy at the turn of the century, was no longer the only "authority" in matters pertaining to science. The Hermetic and Neopiatonist thought . currents of the Renaissance had turned up a number of "new" theorists through vast study of Ancient Egyptian and oriental civilizations, the most impressive of whom was Hermes Trismegistus. The le tte r's concep­ tion of wisdom helped to reinforce the intuitive quasi-mystical doctrine of Platonic love which had already been accorded with the Christian no­ tion of man's relation to God. As a result, man, through his direct 265 link to God, felt he had a certain personal authority in controlling his relations with the world around him that was sanctioned "by the divine plan. Hence, the time for rethinking the entire problem of "freedom" and "authority" in science was eminently at hand, and nowhere was the debate to be more heated than within the very institution that had de­ fined and defended its right to interpret these concepts in the past: the Church.

One of the most important signs of change in the intellectual outlook in the first half of the seventeenth century can be found in documents related to the theological debate over grace, divine fore­ knowledge, and human free w ill. Historically speaking, the controversy dates back to the time of Augustine who took issue with the fifth-century heretic PSlage over the possibility of free w ill with­ out efficacious grace. Understandably, the question was never resolved to everyone1s complete satisfaction because it calls into question the very essence of man's need for a God to explain nature. But with the

Protestant Reformation's emphasis on the personal dimension of the re­ lationship between creature and creator, the most progressive Catholic order of priests in matters pertaining to the education of men—-the Com­ pany of Jesus—was compelled to clarify its rather ambiguous stand on the matter of grace once again. The doctrine opted for was "Molinism" (tradi­ tionally called "la science moyenne") positioned halfway between the abso­ lutes of complete freedom and complete dependence on God which grants the largest portion of autonomy to man without totally eliminating the necessity of divine intervention = Through a reinterpretation of the 266

Thomistic notion of freedom = absence of constraint,.Molina arrived at

the nuanced conception of freedom = absence of determinations and

posited that in every free act the w ill must always reserve the power to

withdraw its concommittanee and elect another course of action. In

other words9 Molina’s criterion for the exercise of free w ill in human

actions demands that the human subject remain capable of not accomplish­

ing the act which he is in fact actually accomplishing. If this freedom

to choose is withdrawn at some point and the stipulation inserted that man must have efficacious grace to select "good" in preference to "evil,"

then we can no longer consider ourselves responsible for our actions and

choices because we do not make them "indifferently" or with reference to vice and virtue.

As E. Gilson has shown in La Li-bevt& chez Descartes et la

Th&ologte, the crux of the problem in the seventeenth century can be traced directly to the Aquinian doctrine of the intellect seen in terms

of two aspects-—understanding and w ill—which combine to accomplish one

operation—judgment. Generally speaking, Aquinas supposes that under­

standing is superior to will in the sense that the first "enlightens" or

"informs" the second thereby inclining man towards the selection of cer­

tain courses of action. By extension of this dual aspect of intellect to

the Godhead, it becomes logical to assume that this priority is also

present in the divine mind. Hence, idea somehow precedes action so that

T See Gilson, La Liberty chez Descartes et la Th§ologies P a rt I I , chap. 2, 26? in reality God is capable of accomplishing only those things for which there are ideas * And so the question arises .as to.who could have .created the ideas if not God himself. If this is the case, then it is logically possible for God to continue adding and substracting ideas from his

"world" of forms thereby leaving man with absolutely no basis for cer­ tainty in the premises on which his knowledge is based. Aquinas answers the problem by invoking the attribute of immutability which supersedes all other divine attributes.

Delving deeper into the problem of the structure of intellect however, Aquinas observes that the w ill and understanding interact in such a way that one may appear "superior" to the other depending on the vantage point of the observer. As Gilson summarizes this doctrine:

Si I ’on se place au point de vue de la specification des actes en raison de leur objet, c’est dans 11entendement que I 1on placera le principe premier du mouvement de I'ame. Mais si nous nous plagons au point de vue de 1’accomplissement meme des actes, alors 1’origine du mouvement se trouve placee non dans 1 'entendement mais dans la volonte.8

Thus, if one assumes that divine intellect is always of the same nature, i.e ., indivisible, immaterial, and perfect, these "aspects” of under­ standing and w ill do not correspond to parts but designate instead the two points of view one might take with respect t„o the action performed.

Gureau de La Chambre and Descartes both begin with the Aquinian idea, of an indivisible divine intellect as a basis for analyzing the structure of the human mind. For La Chambre, all intellect, whether in

^Ibid*s p. 254. 268 man or in God, is by definition perfect. and immaterial. And so if we

consider man solely in terms of this superior faculty, w ill and under­

standing are equally "infinite" in the microcosmic being they inhabit».

and in this sense, indivisible:. they constitute all of the "soul" which remains after physical maturation for the purpose of spiritual matura­ tion through the formation of new ideas (see chapter 6). But man is a mixed creature, and his intellectual faculty necessarily associates with the sensitive correspondents to understanding and w ill—imagination and appetite. For this reason, human understanding is tainted and inclined to error because it is only through "imagination" that the. subject

"visualizes" and compares objects in order to abstract their common principles to formulate concepts.

In Descartes' system, by contrast, body and mind are a prioris- tically separate and any error in judgment cannot be attributed to cooperation from lower faculties. Human understanding and w ill repre­

sent two different phases in the intellectual process: the first in­ volves the formulation of propositions and judgment, or pure intellec­ tion, it is only when this judgment is confirmed by the w ill that an action takes place. Hence, in man the active force is the w ill, and it is this part of the intellect that is infinite and "free." For

Descartes, the possible separation of sensation and intellection was a fundamental step for the founding of "la vraye Philosophic" grounded in c le a r and d is tin c t id e a s ; fo r Cureau and o th e rs who re g a rd ed human science as a system of conceptual structures arrived at through hypoth­ esis, tria l and error and new hypothesis, man’s understanding of truth 269 would always be incomplete because, as we shall see next, as a scien­ tist he is always an external observer or reader of signs.

Freedom of "indifference" as ■ an epistemologieal basis for probabilistic science

As we saw in chapter 4, Cureau de La Chambre's methodology was based on the same probabilistic theory of human science both Gassendi and Mersenne support in their works. While none of these three men was directly involved in the controversy over grace, the last two both ex­ pressed their preference for the Molinist solution at different points 9 in their respective careers. Practically speaking, this was the only doctrine of grace which could be reconciled with the nominalist view that analogical knowledge is but a sketch of a complete science which was in the process of being constructed. Thus, we can expect that if

Cureau had been forced to take a stand on the question of grace, he, too, would have opted for the view which separates divine and human knowledge into two distinct orders.

As it turned out, however, Cureau did not formulate his theory of "indifference" in terms of grace; the context in which he deals with this concept is evolution of biological structure from the informing

9 On Gassendi’s professed Molinism, see Syntagma Philosophicwns II, 843a-844a, and Bloch, La Philosophie de Gassendis p . UT2, n o tes 147 and 148. In regard to Mersenne's preference for "la liberte d'indif­ ference ," we have the following passage fromQuaestiones in Genesim: "Voluntas igitur meo quidem iudicio duobus objectis sibi aequaliter propositis alterutrum pro libito sequi potest, tametsi nulla ei maior r a t i o a p p a re a t, cum unum se q u a tu r, quam a liu d ; imo p o te s t i l l u d bbiectum eligere, quod-minus efficaciter proponitur, alioquin ubi libertas?" (c o l. 1296- 1297, quoted in Lenoble, Mersenne; ou la naissanee du mieanisme, p . 301). 270 virtue. "Indifferent" actions are those 'which are accomplished by organic substances out of necessity because the sensitive substance, or soul, which informs that substance is completely "attached" or deter­ mined during the course of development. Hence, all actions performed by animals would be considered "indifferent" because all of their orig­ inal "soul" is "used up" or "attached" during biological development.

Conversely, moral actions are those actions carried out without con­ straint in the sense that they are not programmed by any organic con­ finement. Instead, they are regulated by "right reason" which accord­ ing to Cureau arises from divine law, natural law, or by reasoning according to the teachings of Moral Philosophy (Art, p. 248). This last part of the phrase begs the inevitable question: whichone o f th e se constitutes the primary source of Right Reason? For Cureau de La

Chambre, the answer is really irrelevant since concrete knowledge of the essence of soul is not within the grasp of human understanding. From our vantage point he would say the notion of a figure such as the one he calls "informing virtue" is paradoxical because it is continually modifying itself, while our knowledge of figures always has reference to space and time and is based on observation of effects. And so in re­ fusing to name the source of Right Reason any more specifically to say that it proceeds from a number of sources, one of which is divine law,

Cureau excuses himself from dealing directly with the difficulties that were to confront Descartes in his effort to establish a metaphysical b a s is fo r c e r ta in ty in human sc ie n c e . 271

Descartes and the refusal to pose theological problems

Like Cureau de La Chambre, Descartes was not.a theologian and on frequent occasions he disavowed any interest in arguing the subtleties of religious doctrine. Howevers in his attempt to found the premises for "la vraye Philosophie," Descartes was led to reexamine the position o f Thomas Aquinas on th e n a tu re o f th e i n t e l l e c t , as we n o ted above, and in consequence of this reexamination, to redefine both human and divine freedom. These new definitions, arrived at after profound meditation, travel, and a period of close association with the Augustinian founder of the Oratory Cardinal Pierre de B irulle, constitute the most important and probably the most original aspects of the Cartesian system.

In keeping with the strictest tenets of Church dogma, Descartes understands God as the creator of all things outside of which nothing exists. Hence, all essences, including the eternal truths or laws which ' - govern the movements and cycles of things, depend on God’s active sup­ port for their existence and are incapable of determining him in any way.

Our failure to fully comprehend this situation in any terms other than as a necessary relationship existing within the creator is (in Descartes' opinion) the result of our inability to view the problem in the proper perspective: for what appears necessary from our vantage point is really contingent with respect to God, for he alone has the power to sustain what exists. Nevertheless, Descartes assures us that like all other essences, the truths established by God are eternal because if nothing can exist outside God, then there is nothing to "incline" his 272 w ill or to cause him to change;.therefore, God is immutable because he is perfect, i.e., not evolving.

There are a number of important consequences which derive from this premise the first of which strikes at the very heart of the Scho­ lastic justification for a science based on analogy. While upholding the immutability and unknowable character of the divine on the one hand,

Aquinas and his followers assume that there is some sort of relationship between the created and the creator that permits the second to be under­ stood through study of the first. In other words, by studying the ap­ pearances, man is capable of formulating an imperfect but approximate idea of God’s nature. This order of truth-likeness is precisely the kind of probabilistic science which the opponents of Cartesian certitude offer as the best alternative. For Descartes, however, the fact that there are two orders—the divine, which is perfect, and the created, finite order, which is imperfect—is a paramount consideration in the attempt to construct a suitable philosophy of science. We cannot know

God; therefore, in Descartes1 estimation, it is not only useless but completely false to pose theological questions concerning his nature, because in doing so we have created a concept—a "superman" of sorts— which has no corresponding reality. If God is one, he can have no separate "understanding" or world of ideas which is not simultaneously being willed by him. Thus, what exists is real; there is no sequence from potential to act as in the Aristotelian and Scholastic systems.

In man, however, the action of the w ill must be preceded by judgment or the formulation of a proposition in the understanding. If, 273 as the Scholastic doctrine implies, human understanding "inclines" the w ill in a manner analogous to the way in which the imagination is be­ lieved to inform the sensitive appetite, then in Descartes' opinion, there can be no such thing as human freedom. But if, on the other hand, we admit that will is an indivisible force—a pure power with no intel­ lectual content—then it becomes obvious that there can be no gradations in its ability to act or essence. Hence, human will is every bit as

"infinite" as divine will because they are one in the same power. As

Gilson has shown, it is this doctrine of free w ill which enables Des­ cartes to view the philosophical problem of error in the same terms as

Thomas Aquinas viewed th e th e o lo g ic a l problem o f s in :

Selon la theologie catholique, I'homme se trouve par rapport au peche exactement dans la situation ou Des­ cartes Veut qu'il soit par rapport a 1'erreur. L'homme e s t f a i l l i b l e en ce sens q u 'i l peut p e c h e r, mais il n'y a pas une seule faute qu'il soit, par nature, oblige de commettre. De meme que selon Des­ cartes un homme peut, en droit, penser toute sa vie sans commettre une seule erreur, il peut, selon la thSologie catholique, agir toute sa vie sans com­ mettre un seul peche. Sans doute une telle vie sup­ pose une serie de secours extraordinaires de la part de Dieu, mais enfin elle est possible, et il faut bien qu'elle le soit, parce que s‘il existait une seule faute vraiment inevitable pour un homme, quels que puissent etre les efforts de sa volonte, Dieu lui-meme se tr o u v e r a it resp o n sab le du peche commis par cet homme. En realite, les choses ne se passent pas ainsi et saint Thomas 1'etablit par sa doctrine de 1 'e le c tio * Entre les faux jugements que propose un entendement trouble par la concupiscence et les passions, et les actes que nous accomplissons, s1 inter­ pose la volonte libre. II est toujours en notre pouvoir d'accepter ou de refuser les propositions de notre enten dement, et, par cette libre acceptation de ses actes, I'homme devient seul responsable de ses fautes. Voila precisement de quoi resoudre le probleme que Descartes s'est pose. II lu i.suffira 274

de reculer le jugement jusqu'au moment ou il est accept! p a r l a v o lo n te $ c *e s t- a - d ir e de nommer jugement ee que s a in t Thomas nommait e le c tio n . P ar l a s 1ex p liq u en t a la fois et la difference de terminologie qui sSpare le theologian du philosophe et le singulier parallSlisme entre le contenu de leurs doctrines. . . .^0

Thus, for Descartes, man is capable of avoiding error in his judgments in the same way that he is capable of avoiding sin—through exercise of free w ill. If God does not assure him this possibility, then he is neither all-powerful nor good. Given this frame of refer­ ence, there is no other science possible for man than true science, i.e ., the order of knowledge constructed and maintained by God through his eternal truths. As Gilson has noted, this puts Descartes in an en­ tirely different position from the Scholastics who accept error as a consequence of a deficient nature such as man's and who regard science as "probable" and "truth-like.

In relation to science, then, human freedom consists in the act of judgment or the assent of our free w ill to the propositions our un­ derstanding presents to us. Just as we are "free" to avoid sinning, we are "free" to withhold voluntary confirmation from those propositions which are either false or which seem dubious or vague to us. In short, we exercise our free w ill by refusing to assent to any idea which is not clear and distinct; by avoiding hasty confirmations, we w illfully con­ trol the propensity of our understanding to lead us to erroneous incom­ plete conclusions. In this sense, God is not responsible for our errors

■ ^G ilson, La L ib e r tt ohez Dee ca rte s e t ta Th&olog'te, pp. 273-74.

11 I b id .; also see pp. 271-72 and pp. 275-85* 275 unless he is totally responsible for them, in which case he would be a

"malin genie," imperfect and primordially opposed, to man.

It is at this point that Descartes’ theory of human freedom re­ joins the theological debate over.grace triggered by the Molinist doc­ trine of indifference and lends support to the Augustinian position assumed by Heoplatonist Oratorians against the Jesuits, and by extension, against the Schoolmen. For Descartes, an act of will is an act of love; election is the movement of the individual mind towards the good which can have but one source—God. Thus, in the Fourth Meditation, Descartes took it upon himself to consider the problem of human freedom from the . viewpoint of divine grace, and in doing so, allowed himself to be drawn into the controversy which began in 1630 with the publication ofDe libertate Dei- et areattwi by the Or at or i an polemicist. Father Gibieuf«

Towards a new d o c trin e o f human free will: the Oratory from Gibieuf to Malebranehe

Founded in l6 ll by the future Cardinal de Berulle, the Congre­ gation of the Oratory quickly became the major foyer of intellectual debate to rival the prestige of the Jesuits in matters of Church doc­ trine. Under the tutelage of De Berulle, its members stressed the im­ portance of grace in the relation between man and God, affirming along the lines established by Augustine that the essence of freedom consists in total submission to divine w ill. Not a polemicist himself, De

Blrulle died without ever taking a stand against the Molinist doctrine.

After his death, however,, his close friend Gibieuf, formerly a parti­ san of "la science moyenne" and all the more ardently set on cripplingx 276 12 its prestige, brought the Oratory into direct confrontation with the

Company o f Jesu s when he p u b lish e d h is De tibevtate in 1630 and claimed

Augustine as his doctrinal patron. For his efforts he was heartily en­ dorsed by two key figures in what was eventually to become the Jansen- ist movement: C. Jansenius and Jean du Verger de Hauranne, abbe de

Saint Cyran. 13

According to Gibieuf, indifference of the w ill is a perfection in God, but in the imperfect creature that is man, it constitutes a re­ fusal to submit to the divine order and is therefore the damnable mark of total depravity. True freedom on the human level consists inam pti- tude or becoming one with the divine w ill which is the source of our sovereign and only good. Through submission we become ”invincible”; thus, the more grace we have received from God to turn ourselves in this direction, the greater our .freedom becomes.

The consequences of this doctrine of human freedom are rigorous, as Gilson explains%

Si Dieu prevoit en effet nos actes libres, c'est que la connaissance divine est subordonnee a la decision indif- fSrente de notre volontS; Dieu constate nos actions, il ne les determine pas. Si Dieu prevoit au contraire nos actes parce qu'il les a decretes, c'est que nos actes ne dependent de nous ni dans le choix que nous en faisons, ni dans leur accomplissement. Et la liberte que 1'on veut bien encore nous accorder n1est plus alors cette indifference que la puissance divine elle-meme respectait; elle a*est que la reconnaissance de la domination absolue de Dieu sur sa creature. Nous aliens ou il plait a Dieu

12Ib id . s p. 299.

13I b id .s pp. 301-02. 277

de nous conduire, nous le suivons librement ou son ir­ resistible volonte a decrete.de nous entrainer. . .

Descartes read the text of D@ tibevtdte p re c is e ly a t th e moment when he was involved in elaborating his own theory of freedom in the

Fourth Meditation and was very pleased to find his doctrine confirmed by a mam he held in high esteem. But Descartes, like De Berulle, was not a polemicist by nature, particularly when it came to theology. However, the Jesuits were not about to let De libevtate go unnoticed. Their own credibility was already at stake in Rome where Molinism had failed to obtain the approval of the Vatican, and the opportunity to present their case in a context that would point out the implicit dangers of a radical interpretation of the Thomistic doctrine was too good to pass up.

The controversy began on a rather light note with Theophile

Raynaud’s pamphlet Calvinimus bestiarim religio, et appeVLatio pro

Dominioo Bonne CalvinisnrL damnato . . . published under the pseudonym of 15 one of his students. In 1632, however, events took a serious turn with the appearance of an anonymous tract entitled Exeroitatio sohotas- ti-oa . . . con tra novum rationem tu en di phys-icas pvaem onitiones li-berorum agentwn3 eoriMque libertatem exponendis behind which stood the most redout able polemicist of the Company, Le Pere Aimat. The time had come for Descartes to begin re-evaluating his priorities!

lk I b id .3 pp. 308-09.

^ I b i d ' f p . 339. 278

What mattered most to the author of Visaoups de la MSthode, as

his correspondence clearly dem onstratesw as the survival of "la vraye

Philosophie," which he hoped would gain official approval of the Sor- bonne and from here would find its way into the curriculum of the power­

ful Jesuit schools. As Gilson has observed, Descartes soon realized the

dangerous resemblance between his theory of freedom and the one of

L*Augustinus which appeared in l6Ho, and made an effort to eliminate any

criticism of "indifferenee" from his works. In the Principia philoso- phiae of 1644, Descartes alludes only once to "indifferenceand the

context is carefully made to look as if he regards it as a synonym of

lib e rt& —qx>Ate a change in tone from the Meditations published only four years earlier!

But it was not only Descartes who was sorry for having gotten involved in the controversy which ruined the chances for his philoso­ phy's acceptance by the Sorbonne; association with the Jansenists could "

only undermine the integrity of the hew.Congregation of the Oratory in

Rome. As Gilson has observed comparing the attitude of this order to

the Jansenist movements "Ce qui separe toujours du Jansenisme les Peres

de I'O ratoire, ce fut leur inebranlable volonte de se soumettre eL toutes 17 les decisions de la papaufce."

The new champion of the Oratorian doctrine of grace was Male-

branche into whose hands fell the task of drawing all the implicit

■^See Descartes' letter to Gibieuf (A un Plre de 1 *Oratoire), dated 1642, for example.

"^G ilson, La Liberty chez Descartes et la Theologie, p. 255. 279 consequences of "infinite liberty" without embracing either Pelagianism l8 or Jansenism. For the author ofthe Traitls eu r la Nature de la G&iaej the understanding is reduced to an even lesser degree of finitude than

Descartes ascribed to it as a result of the innate incapacity of this faculty to grasp simultaneously all aspects of an idea in clear and distinct terms. The w ill, on the other hand, is given the power to go beyond the lim it of ideas to affirm what is no longer an idea, but God.

The danger in the interplay between these two parts of man thus becomes the fault of the understanding; through its divine infinitude, the w ill affirms what reason presents to it as the whole, but which is in reality a part of the whole. Hence, man’s view is distorted and his propensity to error is heightened. According to Malebranehe, this danger is only apparent, however. The in itial God-given impulsion of our w ill toward good must be sustained by an internal decision, or consent, which proceeds from perspicacious judgment. Hence, the essence of.human freedom lies in man’s capacity to suspend judgment in the face of false goods—to remain dissatisfied with anything less than "le vrai Men," . which consists in a oneness with divine order. This complex view of divine direction "en nous sans nous," is what makes human freedom in­ v in c ib le .

If we take Malebranehe1 s theory of human freedom and apply it . to the biological level, we come up with something very close to Cureau

On Malebranehe, see G. Dreyfus, La Volonte chez Malebranehe (Paris, 1958). de La Chambre's idea of the informing virtue. The soul when viewed from the vantage point of substantial form or an organizing principle which is continually evolving as it impels the individual towards the perfec­ tion of his being is reminiscent of the idea of infinite freedom. This impulse precedes "instinct" as we know it; its movements are the authors of those figures which are produced during development for the purpose of guiding and directing the organic substance. But more than this^ in man there is an enormous amount of "free" soul meant to be used in the b u ild in g o f mind o r th e s u b je c t's memory b ank,

Applying La Chambre's definition of the mind to Malebranche's idea of a consenting w ill, we find a possible rationale for the distinc­ tion the Oratorian was attempting to draw between the instinctual and blind love or grace which is without merit and a superior order of

"grace," which is the one practiced by the good Christian philosopher consciously directing his mind towards submission and absorbtion in the divine. Consentment, or infinite freedom, consists in the individual's capacity to formulate new ideas and new perspectives which bring him closer to God by dint of his own conscious effort—a far more noble action than the blind love of the "bienheureux." . In this sense, man is never "at one" with God; he is always striving to become closer as he directs his mind towards God.

Without posing the problem of direct influence here, it is in- teresting to find that Malebranche owned a copy of Les Chapaat&ves dee

P assionsj and many of his ideas on imagination, vice, and virtue closely 281 19 parallel those advanced by the physician in this work. What is impor­ tant, however, is to note the sim ilarities "between the ideas of these two philosophers expressed in two different frames of reference, 'hut both of which may be placed in the larger context of the seventeenth- century’s effort to formulate a new theory of man. The complexities and ambiguities in Malebranche remind us of Cureau’s confusing attempt to discuss the structure of the human intellect without reference to space and time (see chapter 6). The sim ilarities we find in their efforts to reserve for man a vestige of "freedom” that is undetermined is not sur­ prising; both men were avid collectors of ideas from contemporary sources, and in their respective attempts to reconcile and account for all possibilities frequently tended towards eclecticism. However, it is also true that their conclusions are the products of an individual and sincere quest to accord the many conflicting consequences of tradi­ tional philosophy with their own experiential knowledge of human weak­ ness caused by propensity to passion and imagination. Thus, through the combination of self-knowledge and erudition, both Malebranche and

Curean found themselves up against the problem of finding an order of truth—or moral philosophy—which could explain our voluntary orienta­ tions towards a "good" that is at once gratifying to the individual and consistent with the creator’s design but not implicitly supportive of

19 282

the doctrine of divine foreknowledge as was the Jansenist position '

on morality and grace. ....

Jansenism and the absorption of human fre e w ill in d iv in e grace

Aside from the Molinist solution and the two alternatives pro­

posed by Descartes and Malebranche to the problem of human freedom, only

one option remained—-Jansenism, or to tal commitment to discovering and

carrying out the w ill of God. Practically speaking,' the Jansenist posi­

tion left no doubt as to what the purpose of human knowledge should be;

howeverj as religious reformers at a time when atheism and skepticism

were common in intellectual circles, they resolved to meet the "enemy" .

on his own ground and to counter the Jesuit doctrines with bold rhetor­

ical arguments framed in philosophy. For example, the doctrine of

efficacious grace expounded by Jansenius in L ’Augustinus and brilliantly

defended in 1656 by Blaise Pascal in Les Provvniciales was formulated

along the same lines as Gibieuf's theory of human freedom. However,

w hereas De libertate tended to wax mystical with enthusiasm for a free­

dom o f am plitu des Jansenius systematically drew all of the absurd con­

sequences of the doctrine of an indifferent w ill in man and went di­

rectly to the core of the matter—the essence of freedom itself. If

true freedom is exemplified in God, who is immutable by dint of his

perfection, then the so-called "freedom" of.human w ill to change or to

reverse one's direction is really a mark of ignorance and inconstance

arising out of weakness and not out of strength. In other words, free-

*dom to change one's mind demonstrates the insufficiency man experiences

in his reason without the aid of grace. Continually jumping from one 283

"answer" to another and hanging on to one view only as long as no new in­ formation convinces him to change his course, man is the victim of what

Pascal calls "le divertissement"—-the hedonist trap of having to seek newer and better pleasures which, if modified, becomes the Epicurean trap of avoiding pain at all costs.

For the true believer, life is a valley of tears because it marks the separation between man and God. Science like all humanistic endeav­

ors is useful only insofar as it can serve to bring man closer to divine w ill; for example, through the cultivation of language, the system of signs by which man solidifies his oneness with the Word and communicates 20 the prophecy to others. If placed in any context other than this, sci­ ence is not only a waste of time, it is also dangerous, for it reinforces the illusion that man can manage his affairs without divine guidance through what he regards as his "knowledge" of the world. This view nur­ tures a false dream of happiness made possible through science which dis­ tracts the individual from the only real path to personal contentment and fulfillm ent; the recognition of the true purpose of human existence and the subsequent striving to become a sign of divine presence in the world.

Only in experiencing the joy that comes from the inner knowledge of God’s love expressed in grace does the true believer understand this purpose; but not every man experiences it. Paradoxically, the right is reserved for a chosen few who are given grace to begin with. For the rest of

Regarding the metaphysical implications of rhetoric in Pascal, see E. Morot-Sir, La M&taphysique de Pascal (Paris, 1973). 284 mankind, the only hope for salvation is to take the chance—the Pascal- ian "pari"—that he may he one of those elected to serve God exclusively.

As we have seen in the foregoing, the theological debate over grace and human freedom in the seventeenth century reflects the over­ riding concern of the period to accommodate or (in the case of Jansenism) to reject the goals of the new science. If man is "free," then what role can God play in the shaping of human destiny besides establishing and maintaining an order? If one admits that this is in fact the divine plan, then the question arises as to how man might go about trying to understand that order, and more specifically, if whatever understanding he has of that order can be certain. The position of Descartes repre­ sents one possible solution to this dilemma: if God is perfection, i.e ., pure synthesis of the true, beautiful, and-good which has no parallel in this world, then the opposite of God has to be nothingness, and by extension, evil. This is why it was important to Descartes, that error be regarded as "sinful" or evil, because both error and sin re­ quire deliberation on the part of the mind which, when confirmed by the w ill, allows the individual to formulate and act on the basis of con­ ceptual structure which may in fact correspond to nothing "real." As

Gilson has observed, it was precisely in this perspective that Descartes criticized the Scholastic methodology of analogy. In his opinion, by reasoning from existence to essence, philosophy had constructed an idea of God which was in fact nothing more than a collage of the various 21 a sp e c ts of human n a tu re in an im agined s t a t e of p e rfe c tio n .

21 G ilso n , La Libevte chez Descartes et ta Theologies P* 93. 285

Thus * as he announces in his Disoours de la Methodss there is no a priori

hierarchy among men; there are those who use their freedom wisely and

those who are impetuous and short-sighted in making judgments.

Although Maiehranche followed the basic lines of the Cartesian

theory of freedom, we Saw that his conception of the problem was far more complex. For the Oratorian priest, there were two orders among men: those chosen to blindly serve their creator and those who con­

sciously consent to submit to the grace within them. Of the two, the

second is meritorious while the first is merely instinctual and "indif­

ferent” with regard to morality. According to this theory, man still

plays an active part in fixing his attention on God in spite of the

constant temptation of "divertissement” or selection of a lesser but more immediate "good" for the sake of pleasure. Within this context,

science remains a worthy occupation for the Christian philosopher for

as human knowledge strives to introduce order, perspicacity, and

precision into its life sciences, it copies the model provided by

the eternal truths and helps to draw the entire community of believers

closer to harmony with the divine order. In a sense, then, the philoso­

phy of science implicit in Malebranche’s theory of man is the only

position that guarantees—or attempts to guarantee—-both certitude

and the God-related purpose of science. Empiricists could assure

neither of the above while Cartesians would confirm only the former. .

Jansenism, on the other hand, also guarantees certitude and the relation

between human and divine knowledge but unlike Malebranche's faith in the

progress of an order of reason, the Jansenists upheld only one order—

the order of the heart. Hence, while Jansenists recognize two basic 286 types in mankind—those with grace and those without i t —they offer no opportunity for man to contribute in any way to the original design for himself. All knowledge is self-discovery; the chosen cannot be en­ nobled by good works because there are ho degrees of proximity to God, only complete submission or complete exclusion. Thus, the only science worth cultivating is (as E. Morot-Sir has pointed out inLa Metapkys'ique de ’Pascal) the language of Gospel, because "la v&rite ne peut e'tre don- nee d I 'homme que pax* et dans le langage de Lieu; la seule connaissahce 22 possible est la v& flexion de ce langage de Lieu en I ’honme.

The Role of Renaissance Naturalism in the Shaping of Three Conflict­ ing Methodological Theories

Outside the theological circles, the search for order in the sciences was expressed in terms of different methodological theories, each proposing a frame of reference against which progress in learning could be measured. All of the theories advanced are in some way a re­ action to natural philosophy which, in its eclectic approach, offered no clearcut guidelines for the organization of scientific inquiry. Accord­ ing to its most recent expression in Rosicrucian-style treatises like

John Dee's Monas hieroglyphieas the model scientist was as much a con­ juror of angels as he was a designer of fountains—or so it must have seemed to those whose knowledge of the R. C. Brothers' plan for reform in the sciences was strictly external. It was pure theory, not practi­ cal goals, that held the Renaissance picture together: after all, it was understood that artisans did the technical work while philosophers

22 Morot-Sir, La Mitaphysique de Pascal3 p . 1*7. 287

and mathematicians produced the designs i similarly, the doctors were the

ones to diagnose medical problems and prescribe treatment while the

barber-surgeons operated on the patient.

The situation was changing of course but not quickly enough to

suit some thinkers. As Descartes remarks in his Trait$ de la lwni%re3 magnifying lenses are useful in observing phenomena but their reliability is questionable given the fact that they had not yet arrived at their

"dernier degre de perfection." .The only instrument that appeared to the philosopher to be completely infallible was the one most naturally

suited to his abstract mode of thinking—mathematics. Nevertheless, the question remained as to whether this instrument in itself was suffi­

cient to establish the principles on the basis of which both living and non-living systems could be examined. For those like Descartes who saw

fit to reduce all finality in nature to efficient causes $ the answer was affirmative; for those who for one reason or another clung to the no­ tion of substantial forms, there was a decided hesitation on this point.

Astrology, cabbala and magic in the philosophy of Robert Fludd: „ ...... a seventeenth-century attempt to organize science around Hermetic revelation

The English Paracelsian physician, Robert Fludd, became a well- known figure in French intellectual circles of the first half of the

seventeenth, century largely as a result of the attacks Mersenne

23 "La D ioptriquein OEwres pkilosophiques de D escartes I (Paris, 1963), p. 653. 288

delivered against Rpsicrucianism. Beginning in 1623 with Quaest'iones in

Genesim and continuing into the l6W s, the controversy between Mersenne

and Fludd held the attention of all Europe for a quarter of a century

and attracted others, like Gassendi, to get involved as well. Fludd*s

major work. H istory o f th e Maeroeosm and th e Microcosm^, is a multitomed

compendium of Renaissance Hermetic and cabbalistic doctrines presented

in view of reforming science along the lines prescribed in the Rosicru­

cian manifestos. In his review of the present state of human knowledge,

Fludd observes that all the arts and sciences'—even the mathematical 2k sciences—deserve reconsideration. Unlike Bacon, however, whose

Advancement of Learning had urged the adoption of new and more progres­

sive attitudes toward the expansion of human science as part of the gen­

eral reform, Fludd emphasized the fact that the tools needed for this

enterprise were already at hand-—cabbala and alchemy. Following in the

tradition of Englishman John Dee, author of the cabbalistic-Hermetic

work entitled Monas hieroglyphiaa and published in 1564, Fludd related

the study of number not only to technology and applied science but also

to the celestial spheres where it involved astrology and alchemy, and

even to the supercelestial spheres, where numerical computations served 25 to conjure angels. In short, mathematics together with alchemy were

the two primary bodies of knowledge available to man as tools for the

2k . . . '• Y a tes, The Rosicmaian Enlightenment^ -g. 76.

2JM 5 -.j a.,, xix. 289 purpose of reaching and controlling through manipulation events in the highest as well as in the lowest spheres. It was therefore in the in­ terests of. human science that individuals address themselves to the task

of learning magic and cabbala, for herein lay the key not only to practi­

cal advances in the sciences but also to bringing health and welfare to both individuals and to society as a whole.

Natural philosophy and the methods of A ristotle: Cureau de La Chambre*s quest for a concrete understanding of human c h a ra c te r w ith in th e framework of astrologically- based sciences

Like Fludd, Cureau de La Chambre was a physician whose works fall under the general heading of "natural philosophy." However, the grandiose scale of Fludd*s humanistic design for science with its emphasis on cabbala and alchemy far exceeds anything that the French physician ever suggested even though behind the basic assumptions he makes about nature's animistic properties lurks the spectre of Fluddian panpsychism.

As we saw in chapter U, Cureau recommended a return to the kind

of science practiced by Aristotle and Hippocrates, i.e ., induction of principles from direct observation. But unlike the pure empiricist for whom the building of scientific concepts was to avoid imposing any deduc­ tive model on its data, Cureau believed that experimentation should be

conducted in view of testing the principles governing applied "sciences"

or "arts" that ancient civilizations had practiced with obvious success.

Consequently, the astrologically-based systems like physiognomy. 290 chiromancy, and metoposcopy were to constitute a primary point of refer­ ence for the study of nature; and the study of nature was based on the premise that effects or characters are the outward signs of inward movements.

For Gureau, then, the scientist establishes the rational links between the visible effect and its immediate cause setting up a sequence which eventually leads back to the first cause which in living things is the soul. And while the soul is in theory reducible to the inform­ ing virtue whose directives relate to the internal organization and structure of the offspring’s parents, its essence is unknowable in any immediate sense because it is an immaterial, continually evolving and self-transforming principle.

Since all of the "causes" and "effects" known to man are con­ tingent and not absolute, Gureau could not subscribe to any mechanist theory that insisted on eliminating the idea of something akin to sub­ stantial form from its epistemological and metaphysical understanding.

He shared the biological viewpoint of A ristotle whose major concern was to provide an explanation of phenomena that would account for the growth and development of organisms as well as for local movement. For this reason, Gureau’s perspective on the study of nature never fully complied with any methodology prescribed by the exponents of mechanist theories in the seventeenth century even though he shared their positive approach to science. 291

Renaissance "technology11 and the rise of mechanist theories of nature: three viewpoints

Mersenne the cautious skeptic. As R. Lenoble indicates in the title of his comprehensive study of Mersenne and the birth of mechanism, the secretary of scientific Europe deserves to be counted among the real founders of mechanist theory. A dedicated adversary of animistic doc­ trines typical of Renaissance Hermeticism and panpsychism, the Minime priest's entire intellectual career was devoted to the expurgation of

”occult virtues" and "universals" from the lexicon of scientific thought.

The primary objective of science was to expand in a horizontal direction by establishing the manner of relations between phenomena and subse­ quently verifying these observations through application of geometric and mathematical principles. The "true physics," or primordial laws governing the essential properties of nature, is of an order that lies beyond human understanding and therefore ought to be abandoned as a scientific pursuit. Hence, for Mersenne, problems such as the explana­ tion of corporeal animation on the basis of ill-conceived notions like substantial form and final cause should be put aside in favor of more immediately accessible problems.

Despite the optimistic outlook ofLee Verites des Sciences

( 1625)with regard to the future of mechanistic science, Mersenne was never interested in constructing a philosophy based on mathematical principles even though he took pride in Descartes' effort to do so. As

Lenoble has pointed.out, Mersenne's scientific style was eclectic, un- revolutionary, and perhaps uninspiring if placed.next to the Cartesian 292 enterprise:

Son apologetique scientifique n'a pas du convertir grand monde; elle ne I'a meme pas satisfait lui-meme, et sa theodicee, faite de pieces et de morceaux, ne l fa pas dispense de queter. pres du socinien Florian Crusius me bonne preuve de I 1 existence de Dieu. Les. redoutables consequences de cet eclectisme apparais- sent surtout dans sa morale: absolument denuee d'elan mystique, elle reste desesperSment sociologique; a la fin, elle se desinteresse des discussions dogmatiques5 elle s'ouvre aux compromis les moins recevables tsnt pour les theologiens sinceres que pour les rationalistes. • adogmatiques, et sa piSte meme se teinte d'm scientisme aussi prodigieux qu’inconscient. Deja meme parart 1 'idee que la moralisation de 1 * homme peut "etre obtenue par les moyens d'une mecanique a la fois scientifique et sociale: par une musique savamment maniee par des ingenieurs de bonne volonte, heritiers modemes du medecin miraculeux de Paracelse, par une organisation des consciences oil, dans I ’interet de la paix sociale, on fera taire les querelles sur la grace et la presence reelle. II a dans la science mecaniste me confiance si aveugle, il lui voue me admiration si decidee, qu’il ne voit pas qu’a peine nee, elle constitue pour la "substance pensante" un danger autrement redoutable, parce qu'elle est mieux armee, que les vieux determinismes magiques qu 'il avait combattus.26 v

For Mersenne, more than for perhaps any other partisan of "la

Philosophie nouvelle" contained in the mechanistic approach to nature,

"science" and "religion" were separable fields, as long as one remained skeptical about the former and unque st i on in g with regard to the la tte r.

Whereas Descartes, and to some extent Gassendi, attempted to replace

A ristotelian metaphysics with a new ideological superstructure,' Mersenne was content to gather information and process data. The question of scientific certitude did not preoccupy him in any ultimate sense; unlike

L enoble, Mersenne] ou la naissanee du m$canismes pp. 609-10. 293 Descartes, Gassendi, and for that matter Cureau de La Chambre, he could

compose a treatise like Optique et Catoptrique (16UU) in which all the major theories of light of the time are passed in review, admitted to offer plausible explanations, and then rejected on the basis of incon- 27 elusive data to support the premises assumed. In this regard,

Mersenne remained cautious and skeptical about the iminent need others felt for providing epistemological frames of reference for human knowl­ edge, and left to those who could not overlook the philosophical issues the task of formulating and defending whatever ideology suited their particular outlook.

Descartes the prophet of certitude. Unlike his close friend and frequent link to the Parisian intellectual community,. Descartes was not content to collect data and to poke an occasional hole in the qualita­ tive physics of Aristotle with his mathematical demonstrations. The

"new" philosophy had to be "la vraye Philosophic" for if Aristotle was to be dethroned once and for all without recourse to the Hermeticism and cabbala of late Renaissance anti-A ristotelians like Giordano Bruno and Tomnaso Campanella, he had to be attacked at the very core Of his metaphysics. -

As we saw in examining Descartes' involvement in the contro­ versy over grace, divine w ill and immutable perfection are the premises that guarantee our existence. Through radical doubt as prescribed by th e C ogito3 man has a knowledge of his existence that is clearer and

21 Ib id ,3 pp. 1*15-16. ' 29k more distinct than any information communicated.by the senses for this latter type of cognition is nothing more than an arbitrary system of signals relating the object, or thing signified, to the subject, or s ig n i f i e r .

This pure method for affirming one's existence, accomplished without any reference to the outside world, leads Descartes to conclude that all true understanding we have of the objects outside ourselves is arrived at intuitively. In other words, it does not come through our senses but rather through the subjective realization that the object observed corresponds to the preexisting idea in our minds. Assuming this idealist stand, Descartes is then able to explain that the source of intellectual error resulting from an inadequate view of something may be corrected by searching the mind for a more perfect or complete idea, as one does in geometry. Explaining this method to Gibieuf in a letter dated 1642, but composed in l64l, the year in which the Medita­ tio n s were first published, Descartes writes:

Pour ce qui est du prineipe par lequel il me semble connoitre que I'idee que j'a i d'une chose, non redditur a me inadoeqnata per abstraetionem intetleotns^ je ne le tire que de ma propre pensee; car etant assure que je ne 1 puis avoir aucune connoissance de ce qui est hors de moi que par I'entremise des idees que j'a i en moi, je me garde bien de rapporter mes jugements immediatement aux choses, et de leur rien attribuer de positif que je ne 1'apergoive auparavant en leurs idees; ainsi pour savoir si mon idee n'est point rendue non complete, ou inadoequatas par quelque abstraction de mon esprit, j'examine settle­ ment si je ne I'ai point tiree, non de quelque sujet plus complet, mais de quelque autre idee plus complete et plus parfaite que j'aie en moi, et si je ne I'en ai point tiree per abstraetionem intetteetvjs3 c1 est-a-dire en detournant ma pensee d'une partie de ce qui est compris en cette Idee complete, pour I'appliquer d'autant mieux, et me 295

rendre d’autant plus attentif a 11 autre partie, comme lorsque Je considere une figure sans penser a la substance ni a la quantity dont elle est figure, je fais une abstrac­ tion d'esprit que je puis aisSment reconnoitre par apres5 en examinant si je n’ai point tire cette idee que j ’ai de la figure de quelque autre que j'a i eue auparavant s et a qui elle est tellement jointe, que, bien qu’on puisse penser a 1!une sans avoir aucune attention a 1*autre, on ne puisse toutefois la nier de cette autre lorsqu’on pense a toutes les deux; car je vois clairement que I ’idee de la figure est ainsi j ointe S. 1! idee de 1* extension de la substance, vu qu'il est impossible que je convolve une figure en niant qu’elle ait aucune extension, et en niant qu’elle soit extension d'une substance; mais 1 'idSe d’une substance 6tendue et figurSe est complete, a cause que je la puis concevoir toute seule, et nier d*elle toutes les autres choses dont j 1 si des idees

Barring the possibility of the "malin gSnie," then, man1is as­

sured of attaining certitude in science through the exercise of pure

reason. There is only one order of knowledge in the universe as far as

Descartes is concerned, and that order is accessible to all who practice

the methodical doubt on any idea that does not present itself in a clear

and distinct manner in the intellect, In brief, science as conceived by Descartes consists in the conscious discovery of one's inner world

of ideas in relation with objects in the outside world, for as Descartes

summarizes the. rule for the direction of the mind further along in the

same letter to Gibieuf:

. . .nous ne pouvons avoir aucune connoissance des choses que par les idSes que nous en eoneevons, et que par consequent nous n1en devons juger que suivant ces idSes, et meme penser que tout ce qui rSpugne a ces id§es .est absolument impossible et implique contradic­ t i o n . 29

Descartes to Gibieuf, 1642, in OEuvres de Descartess ed. by V. Cousin, VIII (Paris, 1824), pp. 570-71.

^ Ib id .s p. 572. 296

Gassendi the resolute'empiric!st; Of the three philosophers who favored a mechanistic approach to scientific problems, Pierre

Gassendi is the most difficult to situate, with regard to.metaphysics and epistemology. In a recent study devoted to identifying what might best be described as Gassendi's "system," Olivier-Rene Bloch concludes that in place of one coherent philosophy there are certain "constants" . in his intellectual outlook which are attributable to the three succes­ sive orientations he adopts with regard to science: nominalism, ma- 30 terialism , and metaphysics. These constants include the theory of vision formulated in accordance with the corpuscular theory of light, libertas ph-ilosophandi —the Epicurean ideal which leads him to regard science as the leisurely and patient accumulation of observations— agnosticism and the preference for probabilistic science, and nominal­ ism, or the refusal to provide any aprioristic system by which one might link essence and existence, subject, and object such as the one Des­ cartes proposes in his theory of innate ideas.

In analyzing the three directions in which Gassendi tried to orient his thinking at various stages in his intellectual career, Bloch observes that it was only during the last phase—the elaboration of a metaphysics—that the author made a sincere attempt to reconcile his scientific outlook with theology by placing both within the framework of an Epicurean ideology. Totally unlike Mersenne in this respect,

Gassendi reached a point where he could no longer avoid the crucial

30 . ■ 0. R. Bloch, La Ph-ilosophie de Gassendis chap. 1. 297 issue that the former had so conveniently placed under the rubric of the

"true" physics and refused to deal with: the principle of animation and the possibility of cosmological finalism as the basis for its.explana­ tio n .

For Gassendi 9 finalism does not present itself as a belief im­ posed by religion nor as a principle encountered only at the abstract level of reason. As Bloch has observed, Gassendi's acceptance of final­ ity in nature stems from his early interest in the epistemological model of vision which inclined him towards recognition of . . ’la Voie

Royale' de la demonstration del'existence de Dieu par la contemplation de 1'ordre de I 1univers, et la possibilite, voire la necessite pour

1'esprit physicien de s' attacher non settlement aux causes efficientes, 31 mais encore aux causes finales." In other words, Gassendi accorded two aspects to finality: the aposte'P'iovi aspect, or finality extrap­ olated by the observer from his contemplation of organic systems in the execution of what appear to be mechanistically controlled.opera­ tions , and second, a requisite aspect, or a p r io r i principle formulated in the name of cognitive exigences which must precede the mechanistic operations. Since Gassendi’s primary concern was to make both aspects the object of empirical science, his consideration of finality in nature is situated at the biological level and conceived in view of understand­ ing the "mechanism," or what Cureau was later to call the "system," of the soul as organizer and coordinator of psychophysiologieal operations.

31 Ib id .3 p / 434. 298.

According to Bloch, the formulation of Gassendi’s empirically- based finalist theory took place sometime between 1641 and 1644,.the period during which he synthesized conclusions reached in two.areas of 32 earlier investigation—crystallography and ”chemistry” orchymie.

Taking the Epicurean theory of the molecule or semina considered to be an agglomerate of atoms and superimposing upon it a creationist premise, he arrived at the notion ofsemina animatiion^ or the existence of molecules penetrated with science and prescribed with divine instruc­ tions of a somewhat psychological order. As Bloch has noted, this gen­ eralization of the anti-creationist Epicurean cosmogony to.the Christian revelation of Genesis which posits God as the author of both movement and intelligence is without a doubt the most characteristic trait of

Gassendi’s "m etaphysicsalthough it probably does not constitute the 33 most profound aspect of i t .

With these considerations in mind, if we look now at the school of thought that was founded in Gassendi’s name, it is clear that the methodological concern he manifested in all of his works for regarding nature as a spectacle from which the scientist infers probable explana­ tions for the mechanisms appearing to govern the movements and cycles of all its phenomena, is what rallied a number of his contemporaries to

32Ib id , s pp. 450-51.

33I b id ,, pp. 456- 57. 299

champion the cause of an empirically-based probabilistic science against the proponents of Cartesian rationalism and idealism.

Cureau de La Chambre and the Polarization of Philosophical Attitudes Between 16^0 and l 660

With the presentation of his Meditations to the Sorbonne in

March of 16Ul, Descartes unwittingly launched a series of polemics that was to bring "la vraye Philosophic" into direct confrontation with the traditional scientific methodology best exemplified in the writings of

Gassendi. In Disquisitio Metaphysioa seu Dubitationes et Instantiae adversus Renati Cartesii Metaphysioam^ et Responsa (Amsterdam, 1644), the professor from Aix delivered the most comprehensive and profound criticism of the C ogito to date, flatly rejecting the fundamental Car­ tesian theory of a direct link between the subject's inner world and the essential nature of things outside him. While the confrontation between these two men was of detailed interest only to the erudite com­ munity of the mid-seventeenth century, the polarization in attitudes toward science which transpired from this controversy was very impor­ tant in dividing intellectuals into partisan groupings around the two proponents of methodological theory and in generating a great deal of scientific interest among the frequenters of two important philosophic salons: Mme de Sable's and Mme de La Sabliere's.

As we saw in chapter 2, Cureau de La Chambre was involved in both the erudite and popular circles between' 16140 and 1669 as both a theorist and methodologist of the art of knowing men. Hence, he had in retrospect what seems to have .been.the double advantage of being • 300

knowledgeable about the intricacies, of the issues under discussion in

the scientific foyers while remaining closely in touch with the general

reaction to these ideas in the less erudite m ilieux* It is likely that

through his involvement in the salons, he was able to obtain an over­

view of the basic problems at stake$ and in this regard, maintained a

better general understanding of the entire movement of ideas in the cen­

tury. In any event, his last major work, Le Systems de I when

placed in the context of the scientific debate of his time, appears to

have been conceived by the author not only in view of completing his

personal project—the formulation .of an art of knowing men—but also

in view of defending the Aristotelian doctrine of substantial forms in

accordance with the organic theory of nature.

Mechanism and the case against final causes

At the outset at least,.the mechanist theory of nature appeared

to stand in direct contradiction to the Aristotelian approach which

eventually leads to animism, or at best, to vitalism. Doing away with

the notion of final cause thus became a rallying point around which men

interested in the possibilities for positive science could assemble and

from which they could begin to deal with the task of replacing the

premises of traditional qualitative physics with experiment ally and/or

mathematically validated laws. One difficulty remained, howevers to -

what extent was the method deemed most efficient for arriving at the

formulation of such laws—mathematics—acceptable as the" primary basis

for inquiry? It was precisely the answer to this question that set the

Cartesians apart from the rest of the scientific community. 301

Cartesian positivism; discovery of natural law through application Of the mathematical method of pure reason

For the followers of Descartes, the clear and distinct ideas of mathematics constituted the foundation on which scientific understanding of the physical world could he built. Experimentation was not so much a' part of investigation as it was a means of confirming a theory that had already been worked out on paper through computation and application of geometric principles. In short, the "empirical" science of the Car­ tesian was nothing more than the carrying out of a previous mental ex­ periment , the results of which are expected to correspond more or less to the conclusions obtained in the "perfect" universe of. mathematics.

Thus, if error was to be placed somewhere in the verification process, it was in the observation and not in the experimental design.

The Gassendists and inductive method; construction ofa body of scientific ’ concepts independent of a priori p rin c ip le s

In contrast to the positivistic framework of science guaranteed to the Cartesian experimenter by his mathematical deductions, Gassen­ dists formulated hypotheses on the basis of previous results and "common sense" principles of nature, e.g., nature always follows the shortest path, and tested these hypotheses under a series of modified conditions.

For example, Gassendi's interest in the mechanism of vision led him and his co-experimenter Peiresc, to dissect a number of different animal 302

species for purposes of comparing the variation in components involved

in sight. Unlike the Cartesian method, the empirical science of Gas­

sendi and his followers had no guarantee, of certainty attached to it ; whatever conclusions were reached on the. basis of one experiment or

series of experiments were not expected to be definitive—at least not

as long as there remained obvious parameters that had yet to.be ex­

amined. Practically speaking, Gassendists admitted that it was likely

such a complete understanding as one might hope to have of a problem might never be had, and so scientists should content themselves with provisional concepts, or hypotheses, which could be treated as valid assumptions until they were proven false.

In the context of a methodology such as the one just described, the existence of final causes did not pose a threat to the entire edi­

fice of science, since man did not assume himself immediately equipped to answer all of the questions. Whatever efficient causes.he could

identify in the events of a process leading from one physical state to

another had to be inferred from effects, and then reconstituted in

rational terms to give ap o s s ib le s and not a n ecessary} account for what had occurred.

Organic theory and the recognition of a life principle or soul; Cureau de La Chambre's reaffirmation of A ristotelian substantial forms in the interests of elaborating a theory of evolving biological structure

Because his attention had always been focused on the study of living things, Cureau de La Chambre never abandoned the notion of fihalism 303 in nature even though,he shared-the mechanist's suspicion of terms like "occult virtue" which had no observable.counterpart in the sensible world. However, in his initial clash with the Cartesian Chanet over animal intelligence and throughout the controversy which provoked the publication of the Traitt de ta connoissanoe des Animaux in 1647, Cureau was forced to discuss his theory of animation in very concrete terms in order to show exactly why his conclusions differed from those of Des­ cartes. In previous works like Nouvelles Conjectures sur la Digestion and Les Charact&res des Passions, the existence of a soul, or life principle, was always implicit; by 1660, however, Cureau obviously felt that it had to be demonstrated or else the art of knowing men through the interpretation of external signs of both physical and moral inclina­ tions had no real basis for justification.

Like Gassendi, Cureau encountered the need for final causes at the biological level. Without some directing principle— animistic or vital, if indeed such a distinction could be made— how could there have come to be such a variety of complex beings ostensibly capable of pro­ cessing all the information prerequisite to performing even the simplest of local movements? Despite the obvious absurdity of a theory that placed animals in the same category as man-made machines, demonstrating the existence of a soul on the basis of seventeenth-century physiology and "chemistry" inevitably led back to the central problem of occult virtues: how could one discuss the properties of a substance that could neither be seen nor conceived in any clear and distinct manner? 30U

From the vantage point of Cureau de La Chambres the theory of an image whose subject consists in a spiritual substance similar to invisible light was not the final answer; however, he considered it worth adopting as a provisional way of explaining certain phenomena which, in his opinion, could not be properly accounted for using the principles of mathematics and the tools available for direct observation alone. Among these inexplicable phenomena he included such things as learning, memory, and voluntary movements as we saw in chapter 6.

In many respects, Cureau*s system of the soul with its emphasis on evolving biological structure and sense cognition as the prerequi­ sites for explaining the intellectual dimension of human behavior ap­ pears to be a reworking and further elaboration of the.themes one finds in the parts of Gassendi * s work devoted to the consideration of similar problems. For example, the neo-Epicurean theory of semina animali&um and the ’’phantasmal images” which mediate contact between subject and object are conceived along the same lines as the corresponding theories of connatural or instinctual images and phantoms we found to be at the base of La Chambre’s teachings on instinct and sense cognition. How­ ever, to go as far as H. Bus son and call Le Systhne de I ’ame a defense of Gassendi’s atomism is a gross exaggeration.^ There are important nuances in Cureau’s thinking which reveal his own first-hand contact with, and continual reference to, the ancient sources. As an illustra­ tion, we might take the doubt that lingered in Cureau*s mind as to

Bus son. La Religion des Classiques (Paris* 19^8), note 1, p. 180. 305

whether the images are really corpuscular in nature. When speaking

about their actual substance, Cureau tends to view them more in terms

of the alterations they effect in the actual matter of the organs which

utilize them, rather than in terms of their entitative existence.

Hence, if Gassendi did help directly or indirectly to orient La Cham-

bre's thinking in conceptualizing the images, it might also be argued

that Descartes' theory of extended matter informed by movement must also be acknowledged and reckoned with as a possible source of inspiration.

Philosophy of Science and the Theory of Man; Focal Points of the Epistemological Debate in the Seventeenth Century

In spite of Descartes' effort to do away with final causes and

substantial forms in the explanation of living systems, the problem of

defining the nature of "soul” within the context of M s new methodology

did not go away; instead, it became one of the issues around which the

epistemological debate centered during the last half of the seventeenth

century. The controversy assumed at least three important forms, each

of which was to become a cause e&V&bTe in the philosophical salons of

Mme de Sable and Mme de La Sabli&re: the animal-machine, theory of the.

passions, and the constitution of a moral philosophy in keeping with the

positive outlook of science. Because of the previous studies he had

made in each of these areas, Cureau de La Chambre was frequently as­

sociated with, if not always directly involved in, these popular intel­

lectual controversies. Moreover, it was undoubtedly out of recognition

of a common source of di ffi culty— under st an ding the nature of the

soul— that he decided in the early l66o's to attempt a synthesis of his ■ 306

doctrine in Le Syst'&me de I 'ame in order to shed further light on the

controversial issues. By assessing his position with regard to these

particular problems, we should be able to draw closer to a more accurate

understanding of his role in the formulation of moral philosophy and the

esthetic consequences of this philosophy which we find in the works of

literary writers between 1660 and 1680.

The animal-machine; discontinuity between the sensible and rational orders

The traditional idea that animals are endowed with intelligence

similar to, though less universal than, the intelligence of men was probably introduced into the salons by readers of Montaigne who had

discussed the subject in his Essais. Taken in itself, the idea must have seemed quite acceptable to most people conditioned to viewing na­ ture as a hierarchy of being arranged according to various gradations, in

’’soul." For Descartes, however, there was only one sensible creature who possessed a "soul" in addition to a body, because in his view, the purpose of this component in a living system was to associate the sen­ tient half of the being to his rational half; in animals, this link

seemed unnecessary since as it was generally understood, they had no rational faculty, only corporeal organs.

Like Gassendi, Cureau de La Chambre espoused the traditional

idea that all living creatures are governed by some sort of life princi­ ple that cannot be explained Solely on the basis of mechanical laws of

force and resistance. The idea of calling this principle a soul seemed perfectly logical and did not seem to detract from man because there ( 307 vere, as both Aristotle and Plato recognized, three levels at which one could properly use the term. Thus, while animals were credited with vegetative and animal soul, only man was endowed with an intellectual dimension.

Historically speaking, Cureau was one of the most persistent defenders of the theory of animal intelligence. Prompted by the appear­ ance in 16U3 of the physician Pierre Chanet1 s Consid&Pations stir la eagesse de Chaprcn where.the theory of the animal-machine is opposed to

Montaignef s view of animal behavior, Cureau inserted a chapter in the second volume of Lee Charaat^res des Passions (1645) indicating his sup­ port for Montaigne’s idea but without naming his adversary. In 1646,

Chanet openly challenged La Chambre's position in a pamphlet entitled

’’De 1'instinct et de la connoissance des animaux avec 1'examen que

M. de La Chambre a eserit star cette matiereand this marked the be- ginning of a lively polemic involving numerous exchanges. 35 In the course of this debate, La Chambre’s attitude became more and more nega­ tive and sarcastic with regard to his opponent’s objections. Finally, in 1647, he decided to put an end to the entire matter with the Traiti de la connoissance des Animauss^ ou tout ce qui a est$ diet powr, et contre. le vaisonnement des bestess est exaraine* Although this tract was

35 On the controversy over animal intelligence between La Chambre and Chanet, see J. B. Piobetta, ”Au temps de Descartes. Une polemique ignoree sur la connaissance des animaux (Pierre Chanet et Marin Cureau de La Chambre)” in Travaws ,du IXe Congr&s international de philosophics lie partie (Paris, 1937), pp. 60-66. For general information regarding this controversy, see L. Rosenfield, From Beast-Machine to Man-Machine (Hew York, 1968). 308

the last word La Chambre officially wrote concerning the controversy

over the animal-machine 9 the arguments formulated and elaborated in the

course of the debate served him in Le Systlime de 1 !amei and again in

Be t ’amitiH et de la haine qui se trouvent entre les Animavxs as a

springboard for outlining a more general theory of the soul’s opera­

tions .

Although Cureau is usually associated with the anti-Cartesian

view held by Gassendi, it would be unfair to both men to call one the

disciple of the other. For Cureau, the existence of animal soul did not

necessarily imply a continuation between the sensible and rational

orders because, as we noted earlier, Cureau was not exactly what we can

call an atomist. If we consider again the nature of the understanding

faculty in La Chambre ’ s system with its special operation— intelligence—

and compare it to the animal faculties, we find that whatever "informing

virtue" functions in animals to guide and direct their organic develop­

ment is "used up” or confined to the specific organs of imagination.

Men, on the other hand, have a supernumerary supply of "soul" which

remains "unattached" and free to become ideas which the mind can then use

as new bases for action. And even though it is the organ of imagination

which makes it possible for the human mind to construct thought se­

quences, the intellectual capacity of man is virtually unlimited while

animals learn only as much as their organs will permit.

Hence, for La Chambre, the capacity to "reason," i.e., to for­ mulate propositions through association of images to form a judgmental

discourse prior to accomplishing any action, is quite inferior to the 309 capacity to “reason universally” since the latter implies what is for all practical purposes an unlimited field for producing new ideas from sensible experience. Moreover, the difference between human and animal intelligence is directly related to the theory of the passions because, as we shall see next, it is the vast opportunity men have to learn thaj) enables them to acquire the sort of wisdom that comes from self-knowledge. Thus, while men share with animals the innate disposi- . tions of instinct in their organic parts, they differ markedly from other sensible creatures in their ability to modify their original nature through acquisition, synthesis, and storage of vast amounts of new in­ formation. In doing this, they become conscious agents in the direction and control of their own destinies whereas animals learn and “reason” on a much more limited basis. ' . -

Theory of the passions and possibilities for human excellence

According to Cureau de La Chambre1s theory of the passions, man's essence lies in the primordial inclinations of his mind which to­ gether constitute the psychophysical and moral paradigms for his actions.

As we saw in chapter 6, organisms differ from non-living substances in that they are cognitive systems equipped not only to respond to the en­ vironment but also to select from it those things which foster survival and perfection. In modern terms, we might describe the conception of life to which Cureau is alluding in terms of the second law of thermo­ dynamics: living things manifest themselves as ordering processes which increase the general entropy of the environment as they ingest and 310 synthesize new material to decrease, or keep constant, their own inner tendency towards entropy.

Beginning with the premise of Galen and the Renaissance magi­ cians who regarded human temperament in terms of dynamic equilibrium,

Cureau de La Chambre affixes to the notion of dynamism the dimension of

"history" or a being existing over time whose optimum metabolic balance changes in accordance with the new "qualities" experience permits him to formulate through synthesis of the constant influx of information.

W. Riese, author of La th&orie des passions a la lumi&re de la pensSe midicale du XVIIe siecle* has underlined the important contribution made by La Chambre in this particular regard through analysis of the letter's conception of love— "le mouvement de 11 appetit vers le bien."^

As he observes, quoting the key texts from Les Charaot^res des Passions3 all of the passions in effect . . ne sont que de divers mouvements que 1'amour se donne, et de differentes figures qu'elle prend"; and

"l'amour n'est pas seulement la source de toutes les passions, elle

I'est encore de tous les biens et de tous maux qui arrivent aux hommes" (C.P., p. 1*7). Viewed in this perspective, "passions’* are really actions— a point which the author of Les Chapacteves des Passions stresses repeatedly in his works beginning in l63h with L ’Amowt* d 1 in­ clination and ending with Le Systems de l rdime. And since the passions are involved in every selective response we make to our surroundings,

W. Riese, La theorde des passions d la tumiere de la penste m&dicale du XVIIe sidcle (New York: Basel, 1965). See pp. 19-50 and passim. using them properly provides us with the matter and instrument for at­

taining virtue. As Riese remarks9 for Cureau de La Chambre, the idea

of using the passions to one's advantage is framed in the language of

his time, "langage de guerre,” where often ”il est question de combat, 37 d'ennemi, de force d'attaque, de defense et de fuite.” It is with

regard to this theory that the author of Les Charaeteves d.es Passions

emphasizes the distinction between the two orders of passions; those

which mark withdrawal from the object or situation (hate, aversion,

pain, fear, despair) and are called "passions timides,".and those which

mark aggression (hardiness or audacity, anger, constance) and are called

"passions courageuses."

This last aspect of his theory of the passions, when placed in

the context of his idea of love, lends a possible basis for moral phi­

losophy by projecting before us an ideal psychomoral type very close to

the model Cureau set for himself as we saw in chapter 3. The man who

uses his passions to proper advantage will not succumb to self-love as

long as he recognizes and strives to conform to traditional religious

guidelines for behavior. In Cureau's opinion, the opportunity for modification of one’s "inclination naturelie" lies in making the most of

one's experience and aiming continuously for self-improvement and

"spiritualization" of the instinctual patterns which are the ‘initios or primal dispositions toward vice and virtue. 312

Moral doctrine and its esthetic consequences; Cureau de La Chambre's theory of man in relation to the cultivation of art forms in the seventeenth century

Although Cureau did not expound the esthetic consequences of

the morality implicit in his theory of the passions, Riese has justly

underlined the "baroque" aspects of the physician's conception of human 38 nature. In viewing love as the psychophysical and moral force which

impels men towards the perfection of their being, the physician affirms

the organic definition of soul whose very essence is movement. The

classical ideal of mediocrity to which he subscribes is not static

equilibrium. For La Chambre, on the contrary, soul is the principle of

evolving biological structure which may more accurately be described as

an organizing force than as a final cause. If human destiny is epit­

omized in llle repos," then its perfection lies beyond a person * s ex­

istence as an animate being for as he writes in Lee Chapaat&res des

Passions:

II faut . . . cherchef ailleurs que dans la mediocrite, la constitution qui luy [to the soul] est plus convenable.. Serait ce point dans le repos? Car c'est la fin ou tendent toutes les choses qui se meuvent, c1est 1’etat qui exclud toute violence & qui par consequent est le plus nature!. Maxs I'ame n 1est pas de cet ordre-la, elle se meut sans pretendre a se reposer, ou pour mieux dire, elle trouve son repos dans le mouvement; car comme les corps celestes, le feu & les esprits memes se meuvent toujours,. il faut qu’elle, qui les surpasse en noblesse, les surpasse aussi en activite, et qu'elle ne cesse jamais de se • mouvoir non plus qu’eux pour estre dans la perfection qui luy est la plus convenable. . . (C.P*3 pp. 438-39)•

Hence, for Cureau, ceaseless movement is the nature of soul and for this

op Ibid.3 pp. 47-50. . 313

reason must be considered as its ultimate perfection. Reality„ then, is

characterized as instability, mobility, metamorphosis, and the fusion of

being with appearance. If La Chambre frequently resorts to metaphorical

language in his physiological descriptions, it is because “reality” is

metaphor: the movements and cycles of nature are uniform, and the

language used to describe any of its basic processes should essentially

-be valid for all of them. Of course, one expects variation in the de­

tails but failure to recognize the constants inevitably leads to a dis­

torted view of the whole.

In a sense, one can say that for La Chambre, multiplication of

perspectives, ornate language, and instability— the general character­

istics of the baroque esthetic, in short— were ways of expanding crea­

tion and glorifying the creator. Unlike Pascal, who strove for uni-

. vocity in language as the supreme expression of man's “spiritual” or

“figurative” nature,^ Cureau viewed man's verbal means of expression as

an organism which (as he states in the preface to Nouvetles Conjectures

sup la Digestion) is continually.adapting itself to change and discovery

brought about through scientific inquiry.

In brief, for Cureau, language originates with God and for this

reason is the link which binds man to his creator in a very special re- '

lationship. However, his perspective is essentially humanistic as far

as the purpose of this language in man's day-to-day life is concerned;

^Morot-Sir, La Mitaphysique de Pascal for analysis of Pascal' s theory of man as “'etre de figure." . 3lU

"truth” is not a refuge from the world except on the very personal level of one who knows, as Madame de Sable expresses it, how to "Men decouvrir 1'interieur d'autruy, et cacher le sien." His ideal is dis­ played in the honnete hormes not in le penitent— especially insofar as the honnete horme tries to transform himself into le g&n&reuXs or man whose virtuous example serves as an inspiration to those whose sights remain fixed on this world rather than on the next one.

Despite all the implications La Chambre's theory of "man in motion" might have for the cultivation of literary and art forms, it is important to keep in mind that these applications are not pointed out by the author of Les Charaat^ree des Passions, First and foremost, La

Chambre was a physician, and his primary purpose in analyzing the moral sense of the passions was not to search out the fundamental paradox of vice and virtue in the way that moralist writers like La Rochefoucauld and Jacques Esprit were wont to do. In Cureau’s opinion, moral actions constitute the category of human actions that may be described as "free" as opposed to "indifferent" or "instinctual" actions which are not de­ serving of praise, blame, recompense, or punishment. In the final anal­ ysis, morality is defined by Religion whose tradition teaches man the direction in which he should apply his reason in order to make it "right reason." Since Cureau believed so profoundly in the ability of men to use their personal experience as a springboard for moving towards virtue, the only "natural" origin of morality he could have been persuaded to concede is one of direction. Here we find the junction of his esthetic doctrine with morality since the knowledge of a universal beauty or good 315 is implicit in the informing virtue, or entendemeirb^ which guides, and directs the intellectual as well as the' physiological aspects:of the perfectation of one's being. In the most profound and total sense of the organizing, ordering phase of existence, Cureau de La Chambre has formulated a theory of man that accepts movement and change as realities not to be despised but rather to be cherished as the means for self- improvement and ennoblement of character. CHAPTER 8

REFLECTIONS OF SCIENTIFIC THEORIES OF MAN H MORALIST WRITERS OF THE CLASSICAL PERIOD; THREE EXAMPLES

Progress in the Sciences and Moral Philosophy; Background of the Formulation of New Intellectual Attitudes Towards the Study of Man by Man

Within the span of less than fifty years, scientific progress had gone from being the dream of an erudite few to becoming the profound expectation of the majority of French intellectuals. The Rosicrucian vision of a society committed to the advancement of human learning was no longer mere fantasy; throughout the centurys men of great genius con­ tinued to make discoveries in mathematics, physics, and astronomy that reaffirmed the notion of man's perfectibility. In these disciplines, at least, there was no turning back. But as the years of political up­ heaval and civil war subsided, giving way to an era of calm and relative stability under Louis XIV, the gap between man's knowledge of the world and his knowledge of himself became increasingly apparent. What good was all of the progress in the physical sciences when such ignorance reigned in the domains that affected man most acutely in his day-to-day life— medicine and morality?

The leaders of the initial wave of scientific "revolution" were the first to recognize and attempt to rectify the priorities. Descartes,

316 - 317 for example, wrote in the last part of his. Disoouvs de la Methods in connection with his hopes for "la vraye Philosophic”s.

Mais sifot que j'ai eti acquis quelques notions generales touchant la physique, et que, commengant a les eprouver en diverses difficultes particulieres, j'ai remarque jusques du elles peuvent conduire et combien elles different des principes dont on s'est servi jusqu’a present, j'ai cru que je ne pouvais les tenir cachees sans pecher grandement centre la loi qui nous oblige a procurer autant qu'il est en nous le Me n general de tons les homines: car elles m'ont fait voir qu'il est possible de parvenir a des connaissances qui soient fort utiles a la vie; et qu'au lieu de cette philosophic speculative qu'on enseigne dans les ecoles, on en peut trouver une pratique, par laquelle connaissant la force et les actions du feu, de 1 'eau, de I'air, des astres, des cieux et de tous les autres corps qui nous environ™ nent, aussi distinctement que nous connaissons les divers metiers de nos artisans, nous les pourrions employer en meme fagon & tous les usages auxquels ils sont propres, et ainsi nous rendre comme ma'itres et possesseurs de la nature. Ce qui n'est pas seulement & desirer pour 1 'in­ vention d'une infinite d'artifices qui feraient qu'on jouirait sans aucune peine des fruits de.la terre et de toutes les commodites qui s'y trouvent, mais principale- ment aussi pour la conservation de la sante, laquelle est sans doute le premier bien et le fondement de tous les autres Mens, de cette vie; car meme 1*esprit depend, si fort du temperament et de la disposition des organes du corps, que, s'il est possible de trouver quelque moyen qui rende communement les hommes plus sages et plus habiles qu'ils n'ont etS jusqu'ici, je crois que c!est dans la mSdecine qu'on doit le chercher. II est vrai que celle qui est maintenant en usage contient peu de choses dont 1 'utilite soit si remarquable; mais, sans que j'aie aucun dessein de la mepriser, je m'assure qu'il n'y a per­ sonae, mane de ceux qui en font profession, qui. n' avoue que tout ce qu'on y salt n'est presque rien a comparaison de ce qui reste a y savoir; et qu'on se pourrait exempter d'une infinite de maladies tant du corps que de 1 *esprit, et meme aussi peut-etre de I'affaiblissement de la vieillesse, si on avait assez de connaissance de leurs ^ causes et de tous les remedes dont la nature nous a pourvus.

Descartes, Discours de la M$thode3 ed. by L. Liard (Paris, i960), pp. 102-03. 318

So convinced of the importance of medical science in the overall plan for human progress was Descartes, that he claims in the very last lines of the discourse; "je dirai settlement que j'ai resolu de n ’employer le temps qui me reste a, vivre a autre chose qu’jt tacher d’acquSrir quelque connaissance de la nature, qui soit telle qu’on en puisse tirer des regies pour la medeeine, plus assurees que celles qu’on a eues jusques

& present."^

Other thinkers like Gassendi and La Chambre, who had begun their respective intellectual careers by considering a broad range of prob­ lems, did not state their philosophical aims quite as explicitly as

Descartes did at the outset. However, each of these men in his later years tended to move towards a synthesis of ideas from which guidelines for morality and epistemology are deducible. In the case of Gassendi,

Bloch has observed that it was out of a desire to reconcile his atomism with Christianity that the author of Syntagma Phitosopkiaum reworked the thoughts he had entertained between 1636 and 1637 in De Vita et Dootvini

Epiawri into the theory of semina3 . or molecules forming Mune substance active, qui n'est pas ignorante de son ouvrage, tel^e que seule petit

D I’Stre un esprit." Similarly, Cureau de La Chambre attempted in Le

2Ibid., p. 119.

^Bloch, La Philosophic de Gassendi, p. bkl. The Latin text from Syntagma philosophieum, IlUb, reads as follows; "Nimirum seminal!s vis in quadam actuosa, operisque sui non ignara substantia est, cuiusmodi esse solus spiritus potest.11 . 319

Syethne de I ,ame to bring the clinical study of the passions originally begun in Les Charaet&res dee Passionss and the practical guide for knowing men outlined in L 'Art de aormoistre les Hermesj, into the frame­ work of a total science of man grounded in the structural understanding of the soul as author and coordinator of all psychophysiological activ­ ities and moral behavior.

One of the most noteworthy characteristics of the theories of man outlined by scientific thinkers of the seventeenth century is the fundamentally optimistic outlook they maintain with regard to the capacity of human knowledge to understand nature in view of eventually exerting some control over its processes. The kind of moral philosophy which derives from such attitudes is obviously positivistic and oriented towards the attainment of pragmatic ends: for Descartes it consisted in a morality whose ideal he eventually expresses in terms of g§n£rosit§: for Gassendis the goal was expressed in the term libertas philosophandi summarized in the preface to Exereitationes Paradoxieae as ”ratio phi­ losophandi , quae apud ipsos viget$ improbatur: et ob dejectam ah eisdem philosophandi Libertatem expostulatur magnopere" (Op. 3S p. 102); and for Cureau de La Chambre, it was the practical guide to wisdom through understanding of the various passions put forth in L'Art de connoistre les Hermes. Whatever profound differences might have existed between the methodological theories underlying each of these three viewpoints on moral philosophy, it is clear that these men would have agreed on the premise that man, though imperfect and thoroughly corruptible in his behavior, is capable of dignity and a certain nobility if he learns to 320 . .

exercise some sort of intellectual or pragmatic discipline to correct and

modify the errors of his senses.

Outside the immediate circle of scientific authors, such op­

timism was not so prevalent as we saw in chapter 7° The reassertion of

voluntarism and Augustinian theories of love and divine will during the

first half of the century, arrived at through reinterpretation of the

Thomistic theory on the structure of the human intellect, fostered the notion that the only freedom possible for man lay in grace— a state in­

capable of being reached through human effort alone. The followers of

Jansenius who espoused this doctrine as a basis for reforming the Jesuit-

dominated educational system in France were particularly successful in

presenting and arguing the finer points of this theory, for unlike the

quasi-mystical Oratorians inspired by De Berulle, they presented their

case in rigorously logical terms, appealing to the heart via the intel­

lect, and using a rhetorical style that was unsurpassed by their adver­

saries. Far from being optimists about man’s ability to manage his af­

fairs, the Jansenists saw all the pomp and circumstance of this world

as pure ”divertissement,” or distraction from the primary obligation of

the faithful— penitence and devotion to God.

As Jansenism began to attract a sizeable following among the

intellectual groups of Paris, serious discussion and moral reflection

replaced the frivolity of ”la Carte du Tendre.” Although they were

sometimes outnumbered at social gatherings, the Jansenists were instru­ mental in setting the tone for introspective soul-searching sessions so

common in the salons of the second half of the seventeenth century.

Particularly in those groups where new converts to the faith 321 predominated— at Mae de Sable'ss for example —the primary concern was to coin maxims that would serve as mnemonic devices for the faithful— -a sort of sophisticated verbal counterpart to the medieval Book of Hours or to the Hermetic emblems of Renaissance Heoplatonists like Maurice

Sceve. As advocates for the method of positive science, the Jansen- ists played a central role in the effort to purify the language.

However, what they intended to accomplish through intense study of rhetoric and semantics was framed in a context quite different from the one in which the academicians conducted their various projects for language reform. As Morot-Sir has shown in connection with Pascal, language originates as the Word of God; it is a system of verbal signs which relates man to divine Truth through grace. Hence, for the author of Les PvowncidleS; rhetoric, or the art of spoken and written language, gives access to a much more general theory of language which recog­ nizes the synonymity of rhetoric and semantics. In Morot-Sir’s words, this generalized theory of language implies hypothesis on man:

”l'etre de I’homme est de meme nature que 1 ’§tre du signe; I ’homme n'est pas une substance qui produit des signes, mais un signe qui produit des signes et parmi eux, le signe ’substance.’ Ce qui entraine un nouvel

Slargissement du sens du nom ’rhetorique': il devient synonyme de mStaphysiqueThus, for Pascal in particular, and for the Jahsenists in general, there remained the underlying conviction that language, by

^Morot-Sir,.La M&taphysique de Pascal* p. 13. 322 dint of its unique manifestation in man, is the sign and therefore the

guarantee that God exists.*’

As we saw in chapter 7, the controversy over grace and free will that had begun in the theological circles during the first half of the seventeenth century, did produce a very important hypothesis about man among

Jansenist thinkers. It was this theory that was to undermine the doctrinal foundation for a positivistic philosophy of science propounded by Jesuits sympathetic with the idea of building a better world for man. Through the confrontation of two different systems of human values, the gap between fundamentally opposed but equally positive conceptions of scientific in­ quiry— Cartesian!sm or true science guaranteed by God, and Gassendism, or science based on probability— was brought sharply into focus. Hence, by the Classical period we find at least three different theories on man:

Cartesian, Gassendist (primarily Jesuit in its inspiration), and Jansenist.

It was precisely out of the conflicts generated by the clash between these three theories' that certain structuring principles for the constitution of new moral philosophies emerged.

Resumd" of the Basic Goals of Moral Philosophy in the Second Half of the Seventeenth Century

The moral philosopher of the classical period lived at a time when there was considerable interest in the study of human anatomy and physiology. And so, in an effort to discover the hidden dispositions that cause men to seem virtuous or vicious in the outward behavior, .

p. 151. 323

formulators of maxims and guides to the art of living consciously tried

to situate their analysis of human nature within the framework of con­

temporary medical knowledge. A good example of such concern for con­

creteness can he found in the following passage taken from La Roche­

foucauld’s self-portrait, in which the author underlines the distinction

between the sort of melancholy that stems from his temperament and the

mental disposition called "melancholic” which derives from external

'sources s

. . . pour parler de mon humeur, je suis melancolique, et je le suis a un point que, depuis trois ou quatre ans, a peine m'a-t-on vu rire trois ou quatre fois. J'aurais pourtant, ee me semble, une melancolie assez supportable et assez douce, si je n ’en avals point d1 autre que celle qui vient de mon temperament; mais il m ’en vient tant d'ailleurs, et ee qui m'en vient me remplit de telle sorte 1 ’imagination, et m ’occupe si fort 1 !esprit, que la plupart du temps ou je reve sans dire mot ou je n ’ai presque point d1attache & ce que je dis.6

A second characteristic of moral philosophy of particular im­

portance to Classical writers involved the establishment of typological

norms and standards of perfection towards which the individual could

strive. Although the traditional theory of temperaments based on four

primary humoral qualities provided a frame of reference for the psy-

chophysiological and moral analysis of man, literary writers did not

generally possess the sort of detailed knowledge of humors and disease

La Rochefoucauld, Maxvnes? suiwies des Reflexions diverasess du Portrait de La Rochefoucauld par lui~meme et des Remarques de Christine de Su&de sur les Maximess ed. J. Truchet (Paris, 1967), p. 25U. one encounters in the works of physicians like Cureau de La Chambre.

For this reason, the typological categories for human virtue turned out

in the drawing-room atmosphere of literary gatherings did not neces­

sarily connect psychology with physiology although the relationship was assumed. In reality, the typologies of literary artists like La Roche­ foucauld and La Fontaine evolved from the portrait which seventeenth- century readers of Montaigne like Honor# d'Urfe popularized in pastoral novels like L'Astrie* It was only as the art of maxim writing, or prescriptive phase in the the constitution of a moral philosophy, merged with the illustrative and descriptive vogue of verbal portraiture and culminated in Les CavaeteTes of La Bruyere, that we find the syn­ thetic and essentially literary expression of a new psychology of human character and behavior.

The idea of social reform, so apparent in La Bruyere1s incisive sketches of the various types of individuals that peopled the literary salons of his time, was only implicit in the works of maxim writers.

At the. salon of Madame de Sable, for example, we find the desire for social reform intimately tied to the Jansenist movement whose converts sought to lead the Church back to God. Nevertheless, it is significant to note that all of the major contributors to the Marquise's volume of guidelines for living were not Jansenists. In fact, the person uni­ versally acclaimed as the true genius in the art of maxims— La Roche­ foucauld— -seems to have remained relatively independent of any religious ties despite the fact that he surrounded himself with followers of the

Port-Royal doctrine. In order to determine to what extent social reform - 325

shaped the activities of small, private gatherings at which Cureau was often in attendance, we will devote the remainder of this chapter to comparing the ideas of exponents of moral philosophy at the salon of

Madame de Sables the Marquise herself, Jacques Esprit, and La Roche­ foucauld.

Rationale for Selection of Authors

In choosing the writers whose ideas might be considered in relation to the science of man in the seventeenth century, our design was threefold. First, since we are interested in the role of Cureau de La Chambre in the cultural evolution of his time, it was essential to restrict the examination to writers who would have been familiar with the general thrust of his philosophy, whether directly as in the cases of Madame de SablS and Esprit, or indirectly, as in La Roche­ foucauld’s case. Second, the character of the Port-Royal salon suggests that it was one of the major foyers for contact between scientific, religious, and philosophical doctrines in the last half of the century.

A recent convert to Jansenism, Madame de Sabi# brought together men and women whose knowledge and insight into human nature would serve in the constitution of an apology for Christianity capable of touching the hearts of a generation of individuals whose confidence in the future resided more directly in human science than in divine grace. As corre­ spondence around the period between 1660 and 1665 shows, the original plan for the maxims was to publish them (or at least circulate them among friends and associates of Port-Royal) in the form of a collab­ orative work which the Marquise calls "notre volume." 326

The likelihood that there was a very pragmatic and serious pur­ pose "behind the parlor game of maxim-coining that precluded a plan for social reform of a limited scope brings us to the third and last reason for our selection of authors: the important roles that each of the three major contributors to the volume appears to have been slated to play in the overall design. The philosopher and theologian of the group was Jacques Esprit, whose erudition was valuable in providing support for Jansenist-Christian doctrines through the drawing of historical parallels and through the refutation of Stoic and Aristotelian theories of human virtue. The only non-Jansenist of the trio— La Rochefoucauld- offered the sort of special genius for writing maxims which, together with his penetrating insight into human nature, constituted an impor­ tant asset to the collective project. Finally, Madame de Sable, as hostess and coordinator of the effort, enjoyed rendering her own ideas on virtue and friendship into maxims and reflections that were a bit more gentle and optimistic about man than either of her co-authors' views. Together, these three moralists, each for his own reasons, com­ mented, corrected, and admired each other’s work as a contribution to their joint enterprise.

What is perhaps most significant about the Port-Royal group of moral philosophers and their plan for a collective edition of maxims and reflections is that it failed. In examining the separate publications of each of the three collaborators which appeared after 1665, we can see why this failure was in a sense completely predictable: Esprit was a 327 radical Jansenist, La Rochefoucauld an irresolute fatalist, and Madame de Sable a true believer in the possible improvement of man’s earthly lot through the practice of virtue. For obvious reasons, these conclu­ sions are ultimately incompatible; the first offers man no hope outside of God, the second offers him no hope beyond what fortune together with one’s psychophysical constitution happens to bring him, and the third assumes that all men are capable of "right reason” in the same way that

Descartes thought them capable of methodical doubt.

The irony of the situation is that all three of these conclu­ sions are possible deductions from the theory of nature outlined by

Cureau de La Chambre in his various works. On the one hand, there is implicit in his organic conception of things the idea that an unknowable psychomoral principle called the informing virtue-— a concept not so different from Esprit's immanent and efficacious grace— is what guides and directs the organism towards his perfection and oneness with the .

Creator. On the other hand, there are the stars and planets which emit spirits and thereby influence all sublunar creatures by affecting their substance. Finally, there is the idea that virtue is an end-product of one's knowledge that can be consciously implemented by the individual as a means of securing health and psychological well-being for himself.

The difference between Cureau's theory of man and those suggested by the works of moral philosophers we have selected for discussion here is one of outlook. For Cureau, the universe is governed by an open-ended, organistic and expanding principle which is intensified and confirmed by human knowledge. What literary writers failed to grasp or else 328 refused to accept about this cosmology was the fact that man was neither the victim nor the prisoner of blind forces; he was meant to be the instrument by which God’s.infinite creative power is upheld and en­ hanced.

Madame de Sables Wisdom as the Key to Social Acceptance and Personal Satisfaction

Even though she adopted Jansenism in her later years, Madeleine de Souvre, Marquise de Sable never found her social and religious pur­ suits to.be anything but complementary. In fact, as she notes in the following maxim taken from her private collection, the role of the pre­ ceptor in the teaching of Christian values should be recognized as an important factor in the shaping of our moral attitudes:

Les maximes de la vie chretienne, qui se doivent settle­ ment puiser dans les veritez de I ’Evangile, nous sont toujours quasi enseignees selon 1 ’esprit et I’humeur naturelle de ceux qui nous les enseignent. Les uns, par la douceur de leur nature!, les autres par I'asprete de leur temperament, toument et employent selon leur sens la justice et la misericorde de Dieu.7

As the above text suggests, the purpose of maxims as understood by

Madame de Sable is to help to mediate contact between the Gospel and the individual by presenting morality in a manner that is gentle but per­ suasive, natural and empathetic, but firm and instructive.

The “morality” prescribed in the Marquise’s private collection of maxims is really more of an art of living than a coherent theory on'

Maximes de Madame de Sabl$3 ed. by D. Jouaust (Paris, l8%0), Maxim 57, p. 36. 329

man, such as the ones we will find in the writings of both Jacques

Esprit and La Rochefoucauld. Despite the ultimate preference for Jan- 8 senism demonstrated in the first maxim, she remains an advocate of

”virtue," which she regards as "le vrai mSrite," attainable only through

the exercise of "le bon sens, le sgavoir et la sagesse." As she remarks

in maxim 30; "Les liens de la vertu doivent estre plus estroits que

ceux du sang, I'homme de bien estant plus proche de 1 *hosme de bien par

la ressemblance des moeurs que le fils ne 1 'est de son pere par la 9 ressemblance du visage." •

In Madame de SablS's estimation, the key to wisdom and content­ ment is knowledge in the most all-inclusive sense of the term. Although

intellectual pursuits are recommended, she does not regard them as suf­

ficient means for attaining a maximum of satisfaction in life, for as

she explains in maxim 21;

II n’y a personne qui ne puisse recevoir de grands secours et de grands avantages des sciences; mais il y a aussi peu de personnes qui ne regoivent un grand prejudice des lumieres et des connoissances qu’ils ont acquises par les sciences, s'ils ne s’en servant comme si elles leur Stoient propres et naturelles.10

8 "Comme rien n ’est plus foible et moins rais cam able que de soumettre son jugemement & celuy d'autruy, sans nulle application du sien, rien n ’est plus grand et plus sense que de le soumettre aveuglS- ment i, Dieu, en croyant sur sa parole tout ce qu’il dit." Mcusimes de Madame de Sdbl^;, p, 13.

9Ibid.3 p. 25.

10Ibid., pp. 21-22. 330

Equally important in Madame de Sable's program for happiness in this world is individual health, well-being and comfort. As we saw in chap­ ter 2, the Marquise was a great believer in special potions intended to aid in maintaining a youthful appearance, and she took a great interest in the preparation of foods selected for their nutritive value as well as for their delicate flavors and aromas. In short, she considered physical fitness and moral integrity to be intimately related in man, and would have agreed with La Rochefoucauld when he quipped; "La moderation est comme la sobriSte; on voudrait manger davantage, mais 11 on eraint de se faire mal."

It is significant to note that out of a total of 8l maxims, only seven are addressed to the problem which predominates both La Roche­ foucauld and Jacques Esprit’s works— Z'amoMP-prcrpre. Like her collab­ orators, Madame de Sables defines self-love as "le prineipe de tous les vices que nous reprochons aux autres," and even goes so far as to admit that "II se cache toujours assez d*amour propre sous la plus grande 12 dSvotion pour mettre des homes 5. la charitS.” As for maxim 73, which reads, "L'amour propre fait que nous nous trompons en presque toutes choses, que nous entendons blasmer et que nous blasmons les mesmes dSfauts dont nous ne nous corrigeons point, ou parce que nous ne

— — . La Rochefoucauld, MaximeSj ed. by J. Truehet, in section entitled "Maximes supprimSes," Maxim 4, p. 136.

12 Maximes de Madame de Sdbl$3 Maxim 13$ p. 1 8 , and Maxim 6U, p. 39. 331

connoissons pas le mal qui est en nous, ou parce qua nous I'envisageons 13 touj ours sous I’apparence da quelque M e n g1’ . the thought is deserving

of a radical Jansenist like Esprit, or a clinical observer like La

Rochefoucauld, even though the expression is a bit awkward. But for

Madame de Sable $ it is important to realize that self-love does:not ap­

pear to exclude the possibility for self-improvement and perfection;

much closer to Descartes than to either of her co-authofs in assuming an

absolute distinction between body and mind, Madame de Sable credits man with an independence of mind and a capability for recognizing truth and withholding judgment in the face of false good;

Dans la connoissance des choses humaines, notre esprit ne doit jamais se rendre esclave, en s'assujetissant aux fantaisies d'autruy. II faut Stendre la liberte de son jugement, et ne rien mettre dans sa teste par aucune autorite purement humaine. Quand on nous propose la diversite des opinions, il faut choisir, s'il y a lieu; sinon, il faut demeurer dans le doute.-^

As for selecting proper models by which to gauge our self-

improvement , Madame de Sable claims that we need not look too. far. Com­ pletely in agreement with Cureau de La Chambre1s rationale for using

other men as a mirror to see ourselves more clearly, she observes in

maxim 51: "On s’instruit aussi bien par le defaut des autres que par

leur instruction. L’exemple de 1’imperfection sert-quasi autant & se

13Ibid.s p. 1*3.

^Ibid., Maxim 58, pp. 36-37- 332 rendre parfait que celuy de 1‘habilete et. de la perfection!'^ But rec­ ognition of others’ shortcomings does not mean publicizing their weak­ nesses to make oneself appear stronger and superior. In the Marquise's estimation, "85avoir bien dScouvrir I'interieur d'autry, et cacher le sien, est une grande marque de superiorite d*esprit.”^ What is more, in the end we may find that in our eagerness to point out the faults of men— particularly the faults of those who have power over us— we lose more than we have gained, for as she remarks;

Quand les Grands esperent de faire croire qu'ils ont quelque qualite qu'ils n'ont pas, il est dan- gereux de montrer qu'on en doute; car en leur ostant I'esperance de pouvoir tromper les yeux du monde, on leur oste aussi le desir de faire de bonnes actions qui sont conformes a ce qu'ils affectent.l?

The above text incorporates what is probably the most profound and most . original thought of Madame de SablS with regard to moral philosophy.

Here we recognize a woman of the seventeenth century who is extremely skilled in winning friends and influencing people through what can only be called an art of flattery. But unlike La Rochefoucauld and Jacques

Esprit, who denounce the tendency among politicians to pretend to greater virtue than they actually possess, the Marquise suggests en­ couraging them to live up to the high opinion they have of themselves by being supportive of them. Very cleverly, she hints that the gap be­ tween poraC'tre and etre can for all practical purposes be closed through

15Ibid.i p. 33.

^Ibid.3 Maxim 35, pp. 27-28.

^Ibid. s Maxim 75, p. Ub. 333

implementation of proper social conditioning! In a sense, what she is

saying is that it matters very little what a man really is, as long as he acts according to what he would like to.he, for it is action and not potential that keeps society stable..

This outlook on man's social behavior sketched by Madame de

Sabi# in the text cited above brings us to the most important goal im­ plied by her art of living— the cultivation of friendship. In her eyes, it is this relationship between men which acts as the instrument of promoting virtue among men, and closing the gap between pa&cn?bve and

With La Rochefoucauld and Jacques Esprit, she recognized the tyranny of self-love in human relationships and noted that Mil n'y a point de malice que 1 'amour propre ne presente a 1 'esprit pour s'en servir aux occasions, et il y a peu de gens assez vertueux pour n'estre 18 pas tentez." . However, she did not see how this emotion excludes all possibility for true friendship which in her opinion consists in "me espece de vertu qui ne peut estre fondSe que sur I'estime des personnes que I'on ayme, c'est a dire sur les qualitez de I'ame, comme sur la fidelite, la generosite et la discretion, et sur les bonnes qualitez de 1'esprit.Hence, friendship established on self-interest or plea- 20 sure rather than on virtue "ne meritent point le nom d'amiti#," . for as she explains: "ce n'est pas que les M e n fait s et les plaisirs qu'on

Maxim 13, p. 18.

19Ibid.3 p. 57.

20Ibid., p. 59. 33k regoit reciproquement des amis ne soient des suittes et des.effets de 2.3 I'amitie, mais ils n ’en doivent jamais estre la cause.” " In other words, friendship as understood by the Marquise is an entirely different relationship from love, or the attraction caused by one's natural bent.

As she reasons; "Lion ne doit pas aussi donner le nom d'amitie aux in­ clinations naturelles, parce qu'elles ne dependent point de notre volant# ni de notre choix, et, quoy qu'elles rendent nos amities plus agreables, 22 elles n 1 en doivent pas estre le fondement. To summarize,. Madame de

Sabi# rejects the usual definition of friendship as an association founded on similarity and resemblance of character. Unlike true friend­ ship, which is based on virtue and mutual respect, this latter relation­ ship proceeds from "un certain amour propre, qui fait que nous aymons tout ce qui nous est semblable, encore que nous soyons tres impar- OO faits." For the Marquise, the only noble motivation for human com­ merce is virtue guided by reason, because in the end, "celuy qui ayme plus son amy que la raison et la justice aymera plus en quelque autre pij. occasion son profit ou son plaisir que son amy." .

Although Madame de Sabi# does not elaborate any typological criteria in her maxims and reflections, we find that the ideal she pro­ jects for human perfection closely resembles Descartes 6 "genereux.”

Z1Ibid.s p. 58.

op Ibid.y p. 59.

23Ibid.s p. 59.

Ibid.3 p. 60. • . 335

Generosity as understood by both the Marquise and the philosopher is

grounded in the sort of virtue that can only be assured to individuals who are confident in their ability to apprehend and comprehend truth.

Like the True Philosophy of Descartes, Madame de Sable’s art of living precludes the existence of a principle of certainty for right reason— whether grace or infinite and invincible will— which serves to guide the individual in the perfection of his being. Despite the fact that she was a Jansenist, Madame de SablS’s idea of personal wisdom is not reducible to efficacious grace— a thesis which we will see next is fun­ damental to the moral philosophy of Jacques Esprit. However, we might take into account the fact that her maxims were not published with her consent; they appeared posthumously in a volume which also included 25 the thoughts of her friend D'Mlly. As far as the Marquise was con­ cerned, her maxims, like her recipes, were only intended for the perusal of her dearest friends.

Jacques Esprit mid the Falseness of Human Virtue: A Literary Expression of Radical Jansenism

Close associate of both La Rochefoucauld and Madame de

SablS and member of the French Academy, Jacques Esprit is the most enigmatic and in some ways the most interesting of the three collabora­ tors of the volume of maxims and moral reflections begun at the Mar­ quise's salon. For four years as a member of the Oratory Congregation,

^Ibi-de 3 x. 336 and later on as a Jansenist, Esprit took a much more philosophical and historical approach to the problem of human virtue than either the duke or the hostess; unlike the latters whose maxims suggest a universal capacity in man to temper his actions through the exercise of "right reason," Esprit systematically examines and ultimately rejects all human virtue as a false charade stemming from self-love. To a large extent, his attack is directed against the sect with which Madame de Sable’s ideas are most intimately associated— Seneca and the Stoic philosophers.

In fact La Fausseti des vertus humaines begins with an analysis of the. virtue called "prudence," which for Seneca marked the essence of human perfection, just as it seems to have done for the Marquise. Esprit pro­ ceeds to show that the prudent action recommended by the Stoics pre­ cludes confirmation of the pagan world-view, which regards Fate and

Fortune, not divine Providence, as the arbiters of human destiny. As he writes:

As God’s Providence is only the extent of his infinite Wisdom, which keeps the World in order, and rules all humane Events; Man doth not only offend this Providence, when by his ignorance or vanity, he ascribes to his Pru­ dence the happy success of his Designs; but also when to excuse himself for the miscarriage of his Projects, he lays the blame of it upon Fate, or the caprice of Fortune. These are two of the chiefest Errors, that obtain'd among the Heathens, and are still rooted in our Minds. The first, that the World is Govern'd by a blind Fate, and that all is transacted in it by the inevitable force of its Decrees: The other. That Fortune hath a powbr to depress and raise Men according to her wild Fancy. Pride cherishes this last Error, because, as we have said, it spares a Man the shame of his blunders, and he cunningly makes use of it to hide his faults, by deriving them from a foreign Cause. Hence it is, that those that have been a long time at Court without preferment, talk so often of Fortune, and are careful to make others take notice that she is cross and froward to 337

them; nay, some glory in their ill Luck, and adorn themselves with their Misfortunes. This way of speaking, and these heathenish Opinions that occasion it, shou’d never "be in the Months [sia] and Minds of Christians, because they do not agree with the be­ lief of a Providence, which engages us to think that we are wholly at her disposal, and that without her order not one hair of our Heads shall fall.2°

The other principal victim in Esprit8s denouncement of the mo­ tivations of human actions is Aristotle, whose idea of virtue consists 27 in the proper management of passions, "the arms of virtue," . by reason.

As Esprit explains in the passage below, "reason" cannot be isolated from and exercised independently of humoral movements, since both are aspects of the same life principle, or Soul: \

If we have a mind to see what lead[s] Av%stotfle into this grand mistake, we need by consider what he says: "That we must look upon the Passions as ’the Arms of Virtue.8" And again; "That we must make use of Anger as of a Soldier, and 'never suffer it to command in us, and do the duty of a Captain.'" For it is plain, that this great Philosopher thought that we cou'd handle Anger as a Sword, which we take up, lay down, thrust, and stop, and withdraw as we please. Which is a gross Error, since the most stupid may perceive, that if the Passions are Arms; "They are Arms," says Senecas "which themselves fight, and do not wait till they are us'd; and whereof a Man is so little master, that they wholly govern him." For what he says, that Reason ought to guide Anger, he then supposes Reason to be separate from Anger, and that it quietly and safely considers its Motions, and that they have each a different seat. Whereas they are both

26 J. Esprit, Disooupses on the Deceitfulness of Humane Virtues, translated by William Beauvoir (London, 1706), pp. 29-30. This work appeared in French for the first time in 1678 under the title La Faussete des vertus humaines» I regret that circumstances prevented me from consulting the first edition for this section of my work.

^ I b i d . 3 pp. 113♦ 338

in the Soul; and therefore when Anger is inflam’d, it . transports the Soul, and stifles the light of Reason. So that all reason can do, is to strive as much as it . can to prevent its rise; because if it suffers Anger to be inflam'd, it runs the risque to be.sway’d by this powerful and domineering P a s s i o n . ^8

like Augustine, and in keeping with the Jansenist position on grace. Esprit believed that the essence of human freedom lay in the will, or power that leads man to act in accordance with God’s plan.

However, Esprit's thinking is. not entirely clear with regard to how men are to achieve this state of grace— through merit or through preordained endowment. As the text below demonstrates, the "blessed Men," or group of individuals apparently synonymous with the Biblical elect, are char­ acterized by a phrase that implies that they have reached the state of grace through meritorious actions. Hence, it becomes difficult to see exactly what differences Esprit means to indicate as dividing lines be­ tween Christians and the contemptible "honest men";

To curb easily our Will on all occasions, and find no repugnancy to anything that shocks our Inclina­ tions , is not only a Virtue, but also a Collection of many extraordinary and excellent Virtues, and the heighth and perfection of Christian Piety. And there­ fore none enjoy it, but those blessed Men, who have labour’d all their lives to subdue their Affections, to destroy Self-love, and Die to themselves; And it is of them that it may properly be said, that they have no Will. But it is a false Virtue in the Chil­ dren of this World, who pretend to Honesty. For whilst they seem to do nothing for themselves, and to have no other aim but to comply with others, they pursue their Point, and only mind to satisfy their Passions.29

'^~>Tbid',3 pp. 113-1%.

^Ibid^, pp. 130-31. 339

The crux of the issue, for Esprit as for Madame de Sable, thus

"becomes epistemological: in Esprit’s case, one finds that while differ­ ent men exhibit the same external behavior, only the Children of God, or

Christians, can be considered virtuous since they alone act in accor­ dance with a law that transcends their amotcp^propre and corresponds to a sort of gnosis or intuitioni for Madame de Sable, on the other hand, we saw that there is a tendency to adopt the behaviorist view and assume that men may proceed from appearing virtuous to becoming virtu­ ous, and that self-esteem is society's instrument in aiding a person to go from the first state to the second. In short, Esprit refers us to a source of virtue that is unknowable to man in its essential form, since only God sees into the very heart of hearts of his creatures and knows the secret motivations behind their actions. Whereas Madame de Sabi#'s thoughts imply a continuity between human action and human virtue and leave open the possibility of inferring the existence of the latter from the former, Esprit insists on a complete rupture between the two. In his eyes, only Christians are truly virtuous, for in honest men, what passes for virtue is really amoitr-pvoppe in disguise.

Thus, we see that the moral philosopher as understood by Jacques

Esprit, is not a teacher of. methods by which men can learn to become more virtuous; on the contrary, he contends that only the Biblical rev­ elation accurately tells us what virtue is by contrasting human nature 3U0

before and after the fall, and by explaining Christ's redemptive purpose.

The descendants' of Adam are vicious and.corrupt; their punishment is

alienation from God in this life,, and eternal damnation in the next.

And so, in concluding his essay on the falseness of human virtue. Esprit

lists what he considers to be the eight lessons to be learned from his

work: l) not to assume the extraordinary and seemingly great actions of men as a. basis for calling them virtuous; 2) to acknowledge the essen­ tial meanness and weakness of the human heart and to subsequently admit

the impossibility for any freely willed actions; 3) not to depend on our

own strength to deal rationally with our passions; 4) to discount the

supposition that there are noble passions and great or generous souls;

5) to recognize the self-interest which is at the root of even our most

praiseworthy actions; 6) to discount any person's claim to the title of

honesty; 7) to find ourselves no longer disposed to practice virtue as

the men of honor and honesty" of this world practice it since they are motivated by temporal interests rather than by piety; and 8) to be con­

vinced of the necessity of recurring to God as the only true source of

that virtue which purifies the heart from all passions and destroys 30 self-love. In brief, the good Christian as characterized by Esprit

is essentially a mystic who experiences a oneness with God's will that

has no distinguishing external sign, only an inner sense of peace and well­ being that grace alone can give. This theory of man as a "solitaire” of

sorts epitomizes the Fascalian ideal of. a figurative, "being in the dormant --

^Ibid*, pp. 426-32. state; and although Esprit felt personally compelled to communicate his ideas to others, the message of La Fausset£ des vertus hvamines is not so much to incline the individual towards activism but rather to guide him in the introspective soul-searching which ultimately leads to pi­ etism and withdrawal from worldly life.

La Rochefoucauld and the Demasking of Human Nature: A Case of Personal Disenchantment

For the most part, Jacques Esprit’s conception of human virtue parallels the well-known, pessimistic and ego-centric picture sketched by La Rochefoucauld in Les Mag'lmes and elaborated in Les Bifle-xions dvoevses* However, it is important to consider with J. Truchet in his 31 excellent edition of La Rochefoucauld’s works that the definitive text of the maxims which appeared in the same year as Esprit’s Fausset§ des vevtus himaines is much mellower in tone than the original version of

1665. This latter edition, published under the collective title of

Reflexions ou Sentences movales, begins with a word to the reader promising a portrait of man’s heart which in the author’s words, "court fortune de ne plaire pas a tout le monde, parce qu’on trouvera pent- 32 'Stre qu’il ressemble trop, et qu’il ne flatte pas asses.’' The text itself begins on a note that goes directly to the bottom of the matter we saw to be the predominant concern in Esprit’s work; "L’amour-propre

31 See infvo.3 note 6 . 32 . • La Rochefoucauld, Maxitnes3 ed. by J. Truchet, p. 267. 3k2 est 1 ’amour de soi-meme, et de toutes choses pour soi; 11 rend les hommes idolatres d'eux-memes9 et les rendrait les tyrans des autres si *33 la fortune leur en donnait les moyens."

An exchange of letters between La Rochefoucauld and Esprit which dates to the period l662-l66k indicates that the duke was in the habit of submitting his thoughts to the Jansenist for approval and emendation.

Hence, it seems safe to infer that at this point in his intellectual development. La Rochefoucauld’s ideas on human nature were to a large degree in accord with, if not actually influenced by, Esprit’s Christian views. Comparing the 1665 version of Les Maximes to the fifth and de­ finitive version of 1678, however, we find that the introductory exposi­ tion on amour-propre has been supplanted by a far more suggestive and enticing maxim dramatically illustrative of the paradoxical character of human virtue:

Ce que nous prenons pour des vertus n ’est souvent qu’un assemblage de diverses actions et de divers intSrets, que la fortune ou notre Industrie savent arranger; et ce n'est pas toujours par valeur et par chastete que les hommes sont vaillants, et que les femmes sont chastes.^

The three maxims which immediately follow proceed to unveil the real though carefully hidden theme of the collections— amour-propre--through a series of three metaphorical characterizations: l) "L'amour-propre est le plus grand de tous les flatteurs"; 2 ) "Quelque decouverte que

33 • Ibid»3 p. 283. 3^3 lfon ait faite dans le pays de 11 amour-propre, 11 y reste.encore bien des terres inconnues1'; and 3) "L1 ^unour-propre est plus habile que le plus habile homme du monde.”^

The nusnced effect achieved in the later edition of the Maximes through rearrangement and deletion of material has caused scholars to wonder if the changes made by La Rochefoucauld in successive versions of his work were accomplished under the influence of any particular person.

The likelihood that someone close to him might have played a predominant role in convincing him to modify his treatment of amour-pvopre is es­ pecially strong, if we consider the first edition of the Maximes in the light of Jacques Esprit’s formative role with regard to the duke during the early 1660’s. The most obvious source of latter-day influence on

La Rochefoucauld and the person normally given credit for causing him to modify and curb his views is Madame de La Fayette who is said to have stated concerning their relationship; ”11 m ’a donnS de 1*esprit, mais qZf j’ai reforme son coeur.”

The theory of Madame de La Fayette’s influence on the final version of Les Maximes gains support from her reaction as it is ex­ pressed in a letter to the Marquise de SablS written at about the time of the publication of the first edition of the duke’s work. As she writes;

35Ibid., p. 7.

36 . . . See Segvaisiana, and La Rochefoucauld, Maximes, ed. by J. Truchet, p. xxvii, note 1. Nous [tone de La Fayette and Mine du Plessis] y [at Fresnes] avons leu les Maximes de M. de La Rochefoucauld. Ha Madame! Quelle corruption il faut avoir dans le coeur pour estre capable d'imaginer tout eela! J ’en suis si espouvantee que je vous asseure que si les plai- santeries estoient des choses serieuses de telles maximes gasteroient plus ses affaires que touts les potages qu'il mangea I1autre jour chez vous.37

What is more, since the close association between Madame de La Fayette and La Rochefoucauld appears to coincide with the lack of further cor­ respondence between Esprit and the duke after 1665, it would be conve­

nient to think that the author of Les Maximes traded one mentor for another.

While it is quite likely that Madame de La Fayette did exert some moderating influence on La Rochefoucauld's pessimism, her role in this regard does not seem to have arisen so much out of a desire to moralize as out of a recognition on the part of both writers of their common interests. After all, as Truchet has observed, Madame de La 38 Fayette's own works cannot exactly be called optimistic, and besides, it is just as reasonable to assume that the duke influenced her outlook just as much as she might have influenced his. But even more signifi­ cant is the fact that the major attenuations in the pessimistic tone of

Les Maximes occur between the first and second editions, which are sep­ arated by only one year. As Truchet has pointed out, these changes

“7*7 1 Cited by H. Ashton in Madame de La Fayette: Sa Vie et Ses OEuvres (Cambridge, 1922), p. 97.

38 ' - ‘ La Rochefoucauld, Maximes, ed. by J. Truchet, p. xxvii, note 2. probably reflect an effort on the author’s part to accommodate the sharp

criticism of those who, like the Duchesse de Malnoue, accoused him of

denying the possibility of any human virtue and of providing encourage- 39 ment for libertine behavior. Of the maxims added to the third and

fourth editions, a number can be judged "pessimistic" in their sarcastic 40 portrayal of feminine psychology, and to a certain degree, lend the work a different, though equally incisive character. If Madame de La

Fayette did indeed reform the heart of La Rochefoucauld, it was because

she was able to befriend him and gain his trust— a major feat in the

case of this disillusioned aristocrat and ladies' man who had known a

life filled with passion and intrigue. What they offered to each other was friendship based perhaps on "interest" of the kind that comes out of

a need for compassion and companionship, but nonetheless a relationship

in which passion was probably not the dominant factor.

Whatever the source or sources of La Rochefoucauld's theory on Li human nature might be, its basic guidelines may be summarized as

follows: the hearts of all men exhibit evidence of what the author

calls "une generation perpetuelle de passions, en sorte que la ruine

^Ibid's p. xxii.

^See for example maxims 204, 205 $ 471 and 474 of the definitive text of the 1678 edition.. '

^Truchet is of the opinion that a complete reconsideration of the sources of La Rochefoucauld's ideas on human nature is essential to a proper understanding of his work. Among the thinkers he recommends as possible neglected sources of inspiration, he cites Cureau de La Chambre as a precursor to psychophysiology. See pp. xlii-xliii. 346 }±2 de I’une est presque toujours 1’etablissement d'une autre”;, what is

more, he exclaims in another maxim, “Quelque soin que 1* on prenne. de

couvrir ses passions par des apparences de piete et d'honneur, elles

paraissent touj ours au travers de ces voiles" m d as for will, he

quips, "Nous avons plus de force que de volonte; et e*est souvent pour

nous excuser a nous memes que nous imaginons que les choses sont im­

possibles.”^^ Nonwithstanding the existence of any supreme being, the

realities of the human condition as far as La Rochefoucauld is concerned

are fortune and humor which he characterizes as the forces ”qui gouver- 45 nent le monde." Hence, man’s control over his fate is merely an il­

lusion, for as the^duke observes: "L'homme croit souvent se conduire

lorsqu’il est conduit; et pendant que par son esprit il tend H un but,

son coeur I'entrsSTne insensiblement & un autre.What appear to be

examples of strength and weakness in a person’s spirit ”ne sont en effet 1 |,7 que la bonne ou la mauvaise disposition des organes du corps,” . since

it is our humor or nature which places "le prix it tout ee qui nous vient

Ibid.s Maxim 10, p. 9«

^Ibid., Maxim 12, p. 10.

^Ibid.s Maxim 30, p. 13. • ,

^Ibid., Maxim 435, p. 100.

^Ibid., Maxim 43, p. 16.

^Ibid.s Maxim 44, p. 16. 3U7 de la fortune.Fortune, in turn, consists in "des Stoiles heureuses ou malheureuses & qui elles [our actions] doivent une grande partie de la louange et du blame qu'on leur donne

Despite the dim outlook for man implied in these general ob­ servations 3 La Rochefoucauld does not feel that all men are "condemned” to equal viciousness. As he explains in Reflection 14, entitled "De la difference des esprits," there are several different kinds of human genius, some of which are more desirable, i.e., more likely to lead toward happiness and personal success,than others. And so, in prefer­ ence to Esprit * s division of humanity into Jansenist categories of

Christian and pagan. La Rochefoucauld remarks:

Bien que toutes les qualitSs de 1*esprit se puissent rencontrer dans un grand esprit, il y en a neanmoins qui lui sont propres et particulieres: ses lumieres n ’ont point de homes, il agit toujours egalement et avec la mSme activite, il disceme les objets eloignes comma s!ils etaient presents, il eomprend, il imagine les plus grandes choses, il voit et connait les plus petites; ses pensSes sont relevSes, etendues, justes et intelligibles; rien n 1 echappe it sa penetration, et elle lui fait toujours la verite au travers des obscuritSs qui la cachent aux autres. Mais toutes ces grandes qualites ne peuvent souvent era- pecher que 11 esprit ne paraisse petit et faible, quand 11humeur s’en est rendue la maltresse.50

As we can see by the last sentence in the above text, for La Roche­ foucauld all men, including those who are the most perspicacious, are

^ I b i d *3 Maxim 1*7, p. 17•

^Ibid* s Maxim 58, p. 19.

^ I b i d *3 p. 218. 3k8

subject to the persuasion of their "humeur" or psychophysiological dis­ position.

La Rochefoucauld then goes on to list and juxtapose the various kinds of genius that may predominate in human character according to the humoral constitution of the individual. First of all, there is the bet esprit, "qui pense toujours noblement”;. then the esprit adroit or facile and insinuant, who in La Rochefoucauld’s words, "salt eviter et surmonter les difficultes.” . Next, there is the bon esprit, who sees all things "comae elles doivent etre vues," who knows how to turn things to his advantage, and who is firmly attached to his thoughts "paree qu'il 51 en connart toute la force et toute la raison.” .

Having established the basic categories of human genius, La

Rochefoucauld proceeds to delineate some of the more subtle differences between popular typological nouns. For example, he remarks that the esprit utile and the esprit d'affaires are not one in the same type, since "on peut entendre [etre competent en matiere de] les affaires sans s’appliquer a son interet particulier.”^ Then, alluding to the famous

Pascalian esprit de finesse, which the author of Les Pens&es opposed to the esprit de giomitrie, the duke points out an interesting distinction when he writes; "Un esprit fin et un esprit de finesse sont tres dif­ ferent s . Le premier pla'i't toujours; il est delie, il pense des chases

dedicates et voit les plus imperceptibles. Un esprit de finesse ne va

^Ibid., p. 218.

^Ibid.., p. 219. 3b9 jamais droit, il cherche des biais et des dStours pour faire rSussir ses desseins; cette conduite est bien moins decouverte, elle se fait toujours craindre et ne m§ne presque jamais auz grandes choses.'1^^

By a similar token, notes La Rochefoucauld, there is an important dif­ ference to be noted between the esprit de feu and the esprit briliant:

"un esprit de feu va plus loin et avec plus de rapiditS; un esprit briliant a de la vivacitS, de lfagrSment et de la justesse."^^ And finally, the duke establishes an interesting category for what he calls the esprit de detail. In his estimation, this type "s'applique avec de 11ordre et de la rlgle it toutes les particularitSs des sujets qu’on lui prisente.”^^ Far from being incompatible with the earlier defini­ tion given to the bet esprits or one who takes a comprehensive view of- things. La Rochefoucauld observes that although the usual application of the esprit de d&tail is to small things, this application "n * est pas neanmoins toujours incompatible avec de grandes vues, et quand ees deux qualitSs se trouvent ensemble dans un mSme esprit, elles 11elSvent in- finiment au-dessus des autres."^

With La Rochefoucauld8 s rather detailed attention to the prob­ lem of human typology, we encounter one of the most striking pieces

53Ibid., W . 219-20o

5^IbicLs p. 220.

^Ibid.s p. 220.

p. 220. of evidence of the parallel concerns in scientific and literary circles with regard to formulating a new. theory of man: the search for a more concrete basis for organizing society in view of promoting the health, happiness, and welfare of individuals. As we saw in studying Cureau de

La Chambre's art for knowing men, the reasons for expanding human knowl­ edge of the world are inspired and justified by the teachings of both religion and our practical experience. Establishing typological norms • figures as a very important aspect of the general scheme, since these norms provide the sort of structuring framework within which both in­ dividuals and governments can select courses of actions that most ef­ fectively promote well-being through the practical application of the most up-to-date ideas. While it is not entirely clear that La Roche­ foucauld’s Maximes et Reflexions divevses harbored any profound design for social reform, it is significant that the duke bothered to re­ examine the typological categories currently being used to classify men, and to point out a number of interesting nuances. Moreover, as a mem­ ber of the old aristocracy of France, La Rochefoucauld was deeply dis­ turbed by the events leading up to the formation of Louis XIV’s absolute monarchy. Hence, the disenchantment with human nature in general which permeates so many of the maxims, and the subsequent desire to arrive at a new set of typological standards towards which individuals ought to strive, seems to a large degree to have been generated by a more funda­ mental disappointment vis-a-vis the political course his beloved France had chosen, to follow. As he remarks in the closing paragraph of the most lengthy and historically oriented reflection, entitled "Des evSnements 351 de ce siecle":

Si le sie;cle present n'a pas moins produit d’evSne- ments extraordinaires que les sieeles passes 5 on eon- viendra sans doute qu'il a le malheureux avantage de les surpasser dans I’exces des crimes. La France ffieme, qui les a toujours detestes, qui y est opposee par 1'humeur de la nation, par la religion, et qui est soutenue par les examples du prince qui regne, se trouve neanmoins aujourd'hui le theatre ou I'on voit paraftre tout ce que I’histoire et la fable nous ont dit des crimes de I1antiquite. Les vices sont de tons les temps, les hommes sont nes avec de 11interet, de la cruaute et de la debauche| mais si des personnes que tout le monde connait avaient paru dans les premiers sieeles, parlerait-on prSsentement des prostitutions d’Heliogabale, de la foi [bonne ou mauvaise foi] des Grecs et des poisons et des parricides [crimes Spouvantables] de MSd€e?57

This remarkable text, so eminently "classical" in its attempt to draw universal conclusions about human nature through comparison of the ancient and modem worlds, stands as one of the best examples of La

Rochefoucauld’s aristocratically inspired concern for his country. Com­ plete with its typological allusion to the existence of a national char­ acter based on humor, religious and political tradition, this passage evokes the memory of Cureau de La Chambre's preface to NoKoetZes Congeo- tures sux1 Za Digestion^ where the court physician and newly elected acad­ emician heralds the coming of another classical civilization modeled af- . ter the Greece of Pericles, but capable of surpassing the achievements of the latter through its expanding scientific knowledge of things. In con­ trast to the optimism and hope of the 1636 address. La Rochefoucauld’s essay reflects disappointment and sadness in the face of a beautiful

^Ibid., pp. 238-39. 352 vision gone awry because of man's ego-centric, self-loving and interest-

oriented nature„ It is almost as if the duke were unconsciously

prompted to respond to those who like La Chambre had outlined in the early part of the century a magnificent plan for France's growth and development based on an overriding faith in human nature. Unlike La

Chambre's preface which is depersonalized, practically devoid of allu­ sion to specific contemporary events and personalities,and inspired by romantic and almost mystical trust in the virtues of the French tempera­ ment , La Rochefoucauld's reflection is based on the acute remembrance of a turbulent era from which the long-standing French nobility had emerged weakened and compromised. Whereas the tone of the first is oratorical, the second communicates a feeling of nostalgia— the sort of nostalgia, and melancholy that can only come from the depths of a heart that once believed in a lofty ideal or else had been conditioned by family tradi­ tion to at least think he believed in it!

Cureau de La Chambre and the Hew Psychology of Human Mature in French Literature; Astrology, Grace, and Humors Versus Organicity

Despite the visionary quality of the prefaces and dedicatory letters that introduce all of his works, Cureau de La Chambre's concep­ tion of France as a political power was generated by the same pragmatic, forward-looking concerns that characterize his organically-based theory of man. For La Rochefoucauld, Jacques Esprit, and to some extent for the Marquise de Sable, whatever organically inspired ideas they might have harbored about the psychophysiological roots of amouv-ppoppe as demonstrated in the propensity of individuals to act out of habit and

inclination rather than according to reason, it is important to note

that none of them.really regarded this blind force as the true source of

human virtue like Cureau did (see chapter 7). For Esprit, virtue was

entirely grace-dependent and incapable of being divined from any exter­ nal sign. In Madame de Sable1 s mind, on the other hand, there remains

a strong undercurrent of Cartesian dualism, which precludes a struggle between reason and passion in which the individual’s triumph is measured by the extent to which the former dominates the latter. As in the ease

of Descartes, we find in Madame de Sable’s maxims the latent theme of

Augustinian grace and voluntarism as bases for assuring man of the pos­

sibility of certitude and "right reason." . La Rochefoucauld comes closer

than either of his contemporaries to understanding the scientific theory and its implications for human morality in the terms that would have been acceptable to La Chambre.. Yet, the physician is decidedly

optimistic about the prospects of using human self-love as the principle for restructuring the social order, while La Rochefoucauld remains es­

sentially pessimistic in this regard. In comparing the two latter thinkers precisely on the basis of their attitudes towards cmow?-'pvopves we can come to a final understanding as to how and why Cureau de La

Chambre’s conception of moral philosophy differed from those of the moralist writers in a very important way.

In a sense, one might say that La Rochefoucauld1s.notion of the

organism is really conceived along the lines of a mechanism whose design, though not fully understood, is nevertheless essentially programmed and ■ 35U

therefore stable. Hence, the stars— fortune— -snd. the humors— nature— ■

become the arbiters in a universe that is without grace—-or at least

without any sort of transcendent grace that operates independently of

other forces governing the cosmos. For Jacques Esprit, the transcendent

grace is there, but it is also given an immanent stature in accordance

with the Jansenist-Christian belief in preordained elect. Because this

inward grace gives no outward sign of its presence, however, and because

honest men can imitate the actions of the intrinsically virtuous elect 5

it is of little value to the scientific engineering of a society whose

goals are to provide opportunity for individual health, happiness, and

fulfillment. The Cartesian theory of generosity, by contrast, assumes

a continuity between appearance and essence that allows the external

observer to make certain hypotheses about individual character. Never­

theless , the affirmation of one's existence through radical doubt is a

completely inward experience, and all of the "right reason" which e . allegedly can proceed through application of method from this primary

recognition is ultimately certified by intuition, or a kind of inner

knowledge not unlike the grace bestowed on the elect. And even though

Descartes assures others in the opening pages of his discourse on method

that right reason is the one thing in the world that is the most equally

distributed, Malebranche*s attempt at a reconciliation between the Car­

tesian theory of innate ideas and the invincible will casts a shadow

over the epistemological foundation of "la vraye Philosophic" that has

never really been lifted.

In Cureau de La Chambre1s work, the distinction between mechanism and organism remains necessary because the incapacity of man to know how God, or pure spirit, relates to our spatiotemporal existence.

For the physician, all that is evident from our limited vantage point is

that things change according to certain patterns, and these patterns sug­

gest that the process of change is "mechanically," i.e., predictably,

controlled. However, since Cureau reserves for God alone the right to

expand his creation indefinitely, as we saw in chapter 4, the possibility

that new creatures may appear, remains open. Moreover, the fact that we

cannot know how or out of what these changes are wrought compels us to

admit the likelihood of a sort of evolving biological structure which,

in its role as an informing virtue, authorizes its own form as the

organism grows and develops. Whether or not this "evolution" constitutes

a "mechanism" thus begs the unanswerable question: do the changes or mutations that occur in a living system arise from an instinctually

prescribed set of cognitive instructions, or is self-consciousness,

i.e.., the knowledge of a previous change recorded in the memory, the

only real knowledge that exists? For Cureau, this problem marks the

outside limit of man's knowledge as a body of image- or figure-based

ideas conceived in the spatiotemporal arena of human existence. CHAPTER 9

CUREAU DE LA CHAMBRE’S THEORY OF MAE IE THE CULTURAL EVO­ LUTION OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY: SOME FINAL REMARKS

Like so many of the terms we use to relate the intellectual out­

look of the past to our present understanding of things, "organic theory"

is a concept invented "by the twentieth-century mind.-1- Yet, there seems to be no seventeenth-century word or phrase that better conveys the general thrust of La Chambre's theory of nature vis-a-vis Cartesian mechanism and peripatetic philosophy than this one, nonwithstanding the ambiguous, over­ used, and often misleading label "Hermetic Neoplatonism." But lest we run the risk of merely adding to the already established list of intellectual categories applicable to the period, like "baroque, "classical," "bur­ lesque," and "prScieux" without providing any serious rationale for doing

so, it is appropriate that we direct our concluding remarks to explaining why the term "organic theory" might be useful in describing and analyzing aspects of the seventeenth-century cultural evolution in France.

1 One of the chief formulators of the organic theory of nature 1 in the twentieth century is Alfred N. Whitehead, whose book entitled Science arid the M o d e m World is frequently referenced in this chapter. He defines organic theory as follows: "The concrete enduring entities are organisms, so that the plan of the whole influences the very characters of the various subordinate organisms which enter into it. In the case of an animal, the mental states enter into the plan of the total organism and thus modify the plans of the successive subordinate organisms until the ultimate smallest organisms,such as electrons, are reached. Thus an elec­ tron within a living body is different from an electron outside it, by reason of the plan of the body" (p. 79).

356 357

Organic Theory as an Implicit Structure of Seventeenth- Century Thought

What is organic theory?

In his book Science and the Modem World3 Alfred N. Whitehead has aptly characterized those concepts lying outside the dualistic scheme of scientific ideas dominating Western thought since the seven­ teenth century (life, organism, function, instantaneous reality, inter- 2 action, order of nature) its "Achilles heel.” It is precisely in this collection of traditionally acknowledged but little understood notions about the behavior of phenomena that we find the makings for an organic theory of nature such as the•one outlined by La Chambre in BouveVtes

Pens$es sia* les causes de la lumieve in 1634 and eventually elaborated under the guise of a treatise on the soul viewed as the author of all psychophysiological activities. The fact that the formulation of this theory springs from the physician's lifelong effort to reconcile the rationalist cosmology of Plato with Aristotelian methodology and Chris­ tian theology is especially important. The works of both Plato and

Aristotle present the world as a sort of organism whose various compo- nent parts operate in the interest of survival and perfection of being in general. However, both pagan philosophers are apparently caught up in the "closed circle” of the Greek cosmos in which the dynamics by which things relate to one another are deemed predictable because they

2Ibid., pv 57. 358

are conceived:as "eternal" and .not "evolving" structures of the' system.

For this reason, neither Plato nor Aristotle insofar as we understand

them could have come up with a theory that might qualify as "organic" in

the modem sense of the term since'qrganicity precludes the kind of

spati©temporal evolution implicit in the histovioat framework of Judaeo-

Christian revelation. What Cureau and the long line of medieval scho­ lastics and Renaissance syncretists before him accomplished in trying to bring together theology and philosophy from Moses to Hermes

Trismegistus was to substitute for the Greek idea of remorseless fate the religiously inspired sense of prophetic destiny which requires time as the medium of its fulfillment.

Twentieth-century literary critics have come to understand the earliest appearance of what we call organic theory in terms of the

"baroque" esthetic. Far more than just a concept applicable to the various art forms, "baroque" has come to connote a certain world view which in its emphasis on movement and multiplication of perspectives amounts to a concerted attempt by men of a given time in history to represent things as they really were— in movement. In the realm of

scientific thought, the baroque mood of the first half of the seven­ teenth century emerges in the form of an observational science, the goal of which is no longer to classify but rather to hypothesize about "con­ stants" and "variables" involved in the process of change. The method" derived from this philosophy of science is to search for and accumulate

"facts" or evidence to be used in predicting the course of such change.

As we saw in chapter 7, the goal of this brand of scientific inquiry along with its methodological insistence on empirical data was by no means truth in the sense that Descartes understood it; Mersenne, Gas­ sendi, La Chambre— each of these men regardless of ideological biases-— accepted the limitations of human knowledge and remained content with the discovery of probable explanations.

Nevertheless, as physics and astronomy made great strides by organizing their investigation of phenomena in accordance with the mechanical model, and as the discovery of the calculating machine en­ abled men to determine the course of probability itself, scientists tended to adopt the more positive outlook of Cartesian philosophy along with its method. In keeping with this view, positivism invaded the ' domain of the life sciences as well, as physiology and anatomy looked toward mechanics to find explanations for the phenomena they studied.

Hence, the classical period of literature with its cosmos ruled by force of "fortune" and "humors" finds its analogue in the biological sciences, first in the concept of the animal-machine, and finally in the eighteenth-century theory of man with La Mettrie1s L'Homme-Machine*

Despite its capacity for capturing the scientific imagination of philosophers, the mechanist philosophy of Descartes with its in­ sistence on separating matter from "form" or soul did not satisfactorily account for the biological evidence many eighteenth-century thinkers were to bring against it. One has only to think of Diderot's discussion of nature's "monsters" to understand why mechanism eventually joined forces with a materialist theory of nature, as expressed in the f

360

philosophe’s notion of "la matiere sensible." Placing this mechanistic

materialism against the backdrop of Judaeo-Christian eschatological

prophecy and emphasis on history, we can already sense the vague outline

of Karl Marx’s dialectical materialism looming ahead in the distance.

But let us come back to the seventeenth century for a moment,

when the organic theory of nature still posed a viable alternative to

the scientific mind, in order to see why it did not succeed in prevent­

ing the triumph of mechanistic materialism. Caught between the"intense

revival of fundamentalist religion and its corresponding movement in nat­

ural philosophy— -the quest-for a ppiseae theologicae— the seventeenth-

century man was haunted by two notions very basic to the organic

theory of nature: the acceptance of a natural order and the concept of

two infinities. For example, in the maxims of La Rochefoucauld, the

"blindness" of fortune and hwors is by no means presented as an

sic sort of randomness; on the contrary, he presents these forces as

infinitely powerful and occult principles of order that might just, as

well be considered to be in the process of evolution as to be dubbed

"eternal." After all, what did man know of them? By a similar token,

the Jansenist who granted inordinate power to the divine will would never

have been so presumptuous as to deny the possibility of an evolving

order. In fact, such a view was quite reconcilable with Biblical proph­

ecy. Even the natural philosopher who accepted the Aristotelian doc­

trine of immanent forms would no doubt have been unwilling to stake his

reputation on the metaphysical notion that the hierarchy of being was

immutable.. For within the mechanism of a world created in one fell 361 swoop "but capable of performing organic functions like.growth and repro­ duction, who is to say that eventual error is impossible, or what is more, who is to guarantee that the imperfection of various creatures was not actually part of the creator's original plan as a provision for adaptation within the framework of ah evolving system? Just because an original set of checks and balances worked effectively at the start, there was no real reason to assume that deviation from the primordial norm was necessarily reflective of gradual degeneration of being; it might just as well mark the progression of things towards a more perfect state.

Given the general climate of potential support for the formula­ tion of an organic theory of nature within the major intellectual groups of the seventeenth century, it may seem somewhat surprising to realize that mechanistic materialism triumphed so completely in the eighteenth century. However, if we consider with Whitehead the fundamental course of Western intellectual history in terms of the theory of man it fos­ tered, it becomes difficult to imagine how things could have been other­ wise. The Cartesian supposition of independently existing subjects or souls and independently existing extended matter is really no more than the resurfacing of the Aristotelian "subject-predicate” or what we might O call "the doctrine of subjects with private worlds of experienceNot only was this the emphasis philosophic tradition communicated to seven­ teenth-century thinkers as the Greek world view; separation of man from

p. lUo. 362 the rest of nature is a theme consistently reinforced by what Whitehead calls "the work of Christianity in its pastoral aspect of shepherding „!* the company of believers. In his words:

For century after century it [Christianity] in­ sisted upon the infinite worth of the indivi­ dual human soul. Accordinglys to the instinc­ tive egotism of physical desires 3 it has super­ seded an instinctive feeling of justification for an egotism of intellectual outlook. Every human being is the guardian of his own impor­ tance. Without a doubt> this modern direc­ tion of attention emphasises truths of the highest value. For example» in the field of practical life, it has abolished slavery, and has impressed upon the popular imagination the primary rights of mankind.5

Thus, we find that in the seventeenth century what replaces the organic notion that man is an integral part of the evolving process called nature is the overriding concern with constructing a new theory of man that accounts for his separateness from and superiority to every­ thing else. One sign of this preoccupation that is particularly in evidence during the seventeenth century is the interest in human typology which we have witnessed among both scientists and religion­ ists. Ultimately, it seems, the purpose of the major seventeenth- century systems of typological classification is to divide men' into camps according to what is considered native ability to surmount the order of nature. Of course the methodology varies according to the

^Ibid*s PP« l4o-bl.

p. 151. 363

ideology: for the Jansenist, it consists in a program of self-denial

and beseechment of divine grace; for the Cartesian5 it involves learning

to make proper use of methodical doubt; and for La Chambre, it consists

in a striving to fulfill the noble purpose for which God put man on this

earth— to glorify and reinforce through the “production” of his knowl­

edge the order and structure of all created things.

La Chambre1s Seventeenth-Century Version of Organic Theory: Scope and Limits

Man and nature: separate or equal?

Although Cureau comes closer than most of his contemporaries to

formulating what may rightly be called an organic theory of nature

(emphasis on the unity of the whole in which man, like all other crea­

tures, participates'but which he does not ultimately control), we can

see by his interest in the setting up of typological standards con­

ceived in accordance with the epistemological role he believed that man was to play, that he, too, hesitates at what Whitehead calls "the

halfway house” of classification.^ The qualities of mind essential to

the happiness and well-being of the individual are discussed in relation

to the alleged temperament of individual organs, while a "perfect" in­

dividual possessing an ideal temperament (the androgyne) is projected as

the measure of all men. To this extent, La Chambre shares the

6 Ibid., p. 28. Whitehead characterizes classification as "a. halfway house between the immediate concreteness of a thing and.the incomplete abstraction of mathematical notions." . mechanistic materialist's view that an individual conscience as it emerges into self-consciousness separates itself from corporeal concerns to become the controlling factor of the organism, just as the informing virtue of the soul begins its cognitive function by responding to plea­ sure and pain only to evolve into the organizer and coordinator of all local movement. However, in his theory of "man in motion," portrayal of the soul as a principle of adaptation for the entire being hints at the underlying supposition on La Chambre1s part that while the ideal balance can be described, it may not be prescribed; as he notes in Le Systems de .

1 tSme3 ultimately every individual turns out to be a special case, operating according to his own inner law (see chapter 6). In other words, the ideal balance is something we recognize after the fact as an esthetically pleasing, harmonious relation between a given individual and his immediate surroundings. And while we may identify those char­ acteristic which generally tend to promote such harmonious relation­ ships between individual and environment and apply them to other men, the fact remains that we cannot predict with absolute certainty that a given person will be suited to a given set of circumstances. At this level, we can see that La Chambre's observation is quite in line with the profoundest methodological principle of the organic theory of na­ ture; that man's knowledge of what has happened gives us clues.as to what might happen in the future, but it gives us no assurance that what we have discovered is the "essence" of the'event; for as a totality evolving in a space-time continuum, that event reserves the right to change and redefine its relation to the surrounding events in what turns 365 out to be a completely unpredictable way, given what was known prior to the change.

La Chambre and Seventeenth-Century French Thought: Summary of his Role in the Cultural Evolution of France

In placing the theory of man according to Cureau de La Chambre within the context of the movement of ideas in France during the seven­ teenth century, it has not been our intention to imply that the extent of this author’s personal importance in the shaping of intellectual attitudes ought to be considered on par with all of the contemporary scientific thinkers to whom we have had occasion to compare him. Des­ cartes, Gassendi, Pascal— these men remain the leading characters in the unfolding drama which culminates in the birth of a new theory of man, conscious of his place between the two infinities and acutely aware of the responsibility involved in choosing between existentialist engage­ ment and mystic penitence and withdrawal from worldly affairs. But at the same time, I cannot help but recall the observation of Professor

Palmer quoted by Lovejoy in the introductory lecture of The Great Chain of Being as having once remarked:

The tendencies of an age appear more distinctly in its writers of inferior rank than in those of commanding genius. These latter tell of past and future as well as of the age in which they live. They are for all time. But on the sensitive responsive souls, of less creative power, current ideals record themselves with clearness.7

7 Lovejoy, The Great Chain of Beings p. 20, as quoted from Palmer’s Preface to The English Works of George Herbert (1905), xii. 366

Unlike the more outstanding men of his age whose dreams of a re­ formed order were not so deeply rooted in contemporary political de­ signs for the preeminence of France and of the French "race" or tempera­ ment, La Chambre's theory of man is to a great degree inspired by the plan to build a new and grand civilization the likes of which had yet to be seen on the European continent. The development and refinement of French language and the creation of French culture were to be two of the important means to achieving this end; in fact, the analogy La

Chambre draws between the cultivation of exotic plants and the projected development of French language and letters is particularly striking in this regard.

All things, be they men, nations, arts, or sciences, are governed by a "soul" or directive-adaptative principle seeking its own survival and perfection at the expense of other entities. Life as the creative force which perpetuates existence necessarily arises from and feeds upon that which it destroys or on that which expends itself; when the principle fails to satisfy the organic need for self-conservation, thereby allowing it to fall victim to external forces, the organism passes from "form" into "matter," or more accurately, from "informing" . into "informed," as it becomes the food upon which new and presently existing life nourishes itself. Such is the essence of the organic view of nature— -a view based entirely on human observation and providing both the point of departure and the frame of reference for all philos­ ophy and for all science.. 367

For Western Intellectual and cultural history, Greek metaphysical notions together with the Judaeo-Christian Biblical reve­ lation constitute what might be called the "informing virtue"; they are,

in other words, the matrix of theoretical assumptions from which we

formulate our hypotheses about the process we identify as "nature" and in turn deduce the relation of that process to our conception of man.

Given the general intellectual situation in Europe at the beginning of the seventeenth century, it is not difficult to imagine how mechanistic materialism quickly became the predominant approach to science in the eighteenth century: viewing himself as the master and potential possessor of nature, man had to believe in his capacity to understand and to eventually control all aspects of its system; after all, his only model was the Judaeo-Christian God of scholastic philosophy who created the world to operate according to certain eternal truths.

This tendency to set man apart from nature and give him status as a special instrument in the management of natural events is a very important aspect of French Classicism inasmuch as it involves the plac­ ing of mind over matter, The formation of the classical ideal comes on the heels of Cartesian positivism and is primarily of scientific in­

spiration : man begins to see himself as the key figure in the active search for principles necessary for exerting human control over the

"natural" order, which for him means sickness, disease, and continual threat of destruction. This stage gradually gives rise to a second one which, towards the middle of the seventeenth century, manifests itself most emphatically in art, literature, and the setting up of government institutions for the promotion of high standards in all areas of intellectual accomplishment. This era— the one we generally refer to as

the period of French Classicism— is characterized "by human application

of positivistic philosophy to pragmatic ends in the interest of estab­

lishing individual and social guidelines necessary for the survival and

perfection of the civilization. But there is also a third stage in the

unfolding of the classical, ideal which does not gain momentum until the

late eighteenth century when it crystallizes in the form of what we might

call "enlightenment ideology." By this time, man and God and/or Nature have come to be regarded as conflicting forces in the struggle for con­

trol over events. In the context of this dialectic, there are two op­ tions open to man: either he succumbs to what he considers the pri­ mordial order of nature by attempting to live in accordance with its

laws, as the Romantics professed to do; or else he takes over and makes

a god out of the welfare of the community at large, as Karl Marx sug­

gested by his doctrine of dialectical materialism.

Juxtaposed to the ideologies which have shaped the political and

cultural conscience of Europe over the last three centuries, however,

there is the universal and subconscious realization on the part of many practicing scientists that the discovery of "final causes” is neither

possible nor of much consequence to their work. For these men, "expe­ rience" or science and "religion" or metaphysics are completely separate

orders of understanding. They.sense the direct line that connects their work to the work of all pure scientific thinkers and poets who, like

Aristotle, responded esthetically to the order they saw in nature and on

the personal level at least, required no further pragmatic justification for their endeavors. 369

In the seventeenth century among both the great and the not-so-

great minds, the traditional enthusiasm for knowledge for -its own sake

of things existing for their own sake is certainly in evidence in the

scientific writings themselves. But by another token we find, for

perhaps the first time in history, that we have a situation in which

many men of intellectual genius are not self-supporting; like the art­

ists and musicians whose works grace the courts of kings and noblemen,

scientific thinkers gradually came into the service of the state. Al­

though the quality of their work may not have actually been adversely

affected as a result of this situation, the directions in which they

applied their interest as well as the image of their profession which

they transmitted to the general public did not escape distortion.

This is precisely the situation in which we find Marin Cureau

• de La Chambre, whose remarkable career took him from quite humble ori­

gins in Le Mans to the very pinnacle of the Parisian social ladder.

Whatever deepseated and pure love of his work might be reflected in the

pages of his scientific writings, he not only accepted pensions from

his king and lesser lords— -he worked hard to earn them. As we have seen,

he did a great deal to propagate among intellectuals of his time the

importance of science in the building of France’s national image.: The

fact that his conception of life as evolving biological structure ac­

tually presents man as an integral part of nature and, if examined

closely, goes against, the grain of the mechanistic materialism that was

eventually to become science, is of little consequence to history even 370

though it might be of great interest to historians of science. When

La Chamhre is remembered for his role in the cultural evolution of the

seventeenth century, it will be for his efforts in promoting science to

its position of unchallenged preeminence in the structure of French

civilization. Ironically enough, it turns out that the scientific methodology that was to triumph and predominate the European outlook for- more than two centuries after his death is precisely the one he had tried so hard to discredit through the publication of his own organic theory of nature! Only now as our scientists strive to unlock the

secrets of the "soul's” system in their research on brain physiology,

do we find Marin Cureau de La Chambre's ideas and the questions he asked

surprisingly to the point. APPENDIX

CHRONOLOGY OF LA;CHAMBER'S WORKS

16 3H Nouvelles Pens6es sxir les causes de la lumiere, du desbordement du Nil, et de 1'amour d'inclination.

1636 Nouvelles Conjectures sur la Digestion.

1640 Les Characteres des Passions, I. Les Observations de Philalethe sur un libelle intitule "Optatus Gallus."

16^5 Les Characteres des Passions, II (Des passions eourageuses, De la connoissaace des bestes).

161+7 Traite de la connoissance des Animaux, ou tout ce qui a estS diet pour, et centre le raisonnement des bestes, est examine.

1650 Nouvelles Observations et Conjectures sur 1'Iris.

1653 Discours sur les Principes de la Chiromance et de la MStoposcopie.

1655 Novae Methodi pro explanandis Hippocrate et Aristotele specimen.

1657 La LumiSre.

1659 L'Art de connoistre les Homes (Premiere partie, ou sont contenus les discours prSliminaires qui servant d'introduction a cette science). Les Characteres des Passions, III and IV (De la haine et de la douleur).

1662 Les Characteres des Passions, V (Des larmes, de la crainte, du. desespoir).

166I+ Le Systeme de I'ame. Recueil des Epftres, Lettres et Prefaces de M. de La Chambre.

1665 Discours sur les causes du debordement du Nil; Discours de la nature divine selon la philosophic platonique.

1666 L'Art de connoistre les Homes (Partie Troisieme, qui contient la defense de 1'extension et des parties de I'ame).

371 372

1667 Discours de I ’amitie et de la haine qui se trouvent entre les Animaux

Undated works:

Memoire instructif [sur la charge du medecin du roi] (signed "Philalethe").

Lettre d'un habitant de Paris a un de ses amis de la campagne, sur la remonstrance du clerge de France, faite au P.oy par M, 1 1 archeveque de France (signed "Philalethe")* ABBREVIATIONS

Lirnio Nouvelles Pen sees sur les causes de la lumiere

Inot. L'Amour d!inclination

Dig, Nouvelles Conjectures sur la Digestion

C.P. Les Characteres des Passions

Lm, (1657) La Lumiere (1657)

Art L'Art de connoistre les Hommes

Syst. Le Systems de I’ame

Discours de 1*amitie et de la haine qui se trouvent

entre les Animaux

Epitves Reeueil des Epttres, Lettres et Prefaces de

M. de La Chambre

373 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. LA CHAMBER'S WORKS

La Chambre,- Marin Cure an de. Diseoux's de 1 'am'itit et de ta haine qvx se tvovcDent entve tes Animaux. Paris s C. Barb in, l66j *

' DisaoKPS s u p les TPpincipes de da Chivomanee et de ta Mitoposaopde^ Paris: P. Rocolet, 1653-

■ La Lumi^re. Paris: P. Rocolet, 1657-

. L'Avt de eonnoistre les Eormes. (Partie Troisilme, gui contient. la defense de 1 ’extension et des parties litres de I'ame.) Paris: C. Barbin, 1666. .

_____ ~ Les Charaetlkpes des 'Passions. Paris: P. Rocolet et P. Blaise, 1640. Des passions coupagenses3 De la oonnoissanae des bestes. Vol. II. Paris: P. Rocolet, 16^5- De la haine et de la douleicp. Vols. Ill & IV. Paris: P. Rocolet, 1659- 5es lcameSs de la cpadnte3 du desespoir. Vol. V. Paris: J. d'Allin, 1662.

. Le Syst^me de I ’ame. Paris: J. d’Allin, 1665.

. Nouoelles Conjeotupes stay la Digestion. Paris: P. Rocolet, 1636.

. Nouoelles Observations et Conjectures sttr I'Iris. Paris: . P. Rocolet, 1650.

_ . Nouoelles Penstes sur les causes de la lwrn.tre3 du desbordement du Nils et de Vamour d, ’inclination. Paris: P. Rocolet, 163U.

. Recueil des Epi>tress Lettres et Prifaces de M. de La Chambrei--- Edited by L'abbe P. Cureau de La Chambre. Paris: C. Barbin, 16 64.

_ . Traits de la connoissance des Animauxs oti tout ce qui a est$ , diet pour], et centre le ralsonnement des bestes3 est examin$. Paris: P. Rocolet, 1647.

374 375

II. HISTORICAL ASP CRITICAL WORKS IK WHICH LA. CHAMBRE IS CITED

Books

Adam, Antoine. Histoir-e de la littevature fvancaxse au XVIIe sidele* 5 vols. Paris: Domat, 19^8-1956.

Balzac, Jean-Louis Suez de. Lettres ohoisies* Amsterdam: Chez les Elseviers, 1656.

. Lettres de feu M. de Balzac h M, Conrart. Paris: Courbe', 1659.

. Lettres famil'i&res de M. de Balzac d M. Chccpelain. Paris: Courbe, 1656.

Barthelemy, Edouard de. Les Amis de la Marquise de Sable: Receuil de lettres des prinoipaux habitues de son salon arec une introduction sur la societe precieuse au XVIIe sidcle. Paris: E. Dentu, 1865•

Belot, Jean. Apologie de la longue Iodine contre la preface de AF de La Chambre3 en son Livre des "Nouvelles Conjectures de la Digestion*" Paris: Francois Targa, 1637.

Bertrand, Joseph-Louis-Fr8J15bis. L 'Academic des Sciences et les academiciens de 1666 a 1695* Paris: Hetzel, 1869.

Biographic Universelle: Ancienne et Modeme. Edited by J.-F. Michaud. U5 vols. Paris: Mme C. Desplaces; Leipzig: Brockhaus. Begins 1864.

Blondeau, Claude. Les Portraits des hormes illustres de la province du . Maine. Le Mans: Jacques Ysambard, 1666.

Boileau-Despreaux, Nicolas. OEuvres completes. Edited by M. Daunou. 4 vols. Paris: P. Dupont, 1825-1826.

Boisrobert, Frangois Le Metel de. Epistres en vers. Edited by Maurice Cauchie. 2 vols. Paris: Hachette, 1921-1927.•

Bordeu, Theophile de. OEuvres completes. Edited by M. le chevalier • Richerand. 2 vols. Paris: Caille et Ravier, l8l8 .

Bouhours, Le R. P. Dominique. Les Entretiens d ’Ariste et d 'Eugene. Edited by Ferdinand Brunot. Paris: A. Colin, 1962.

Busson, Henri. La Religion des Classiques (1660-1636). Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1948. 376 Chanet, Pierre. De I Hnstinet. et de la connoissanae des animaux, avea 1 'examen de ce que Monsieur de La Chambre a escrit sur oette mati&re. Paris: La Rochelle, chez Toussaincts de Gouy, 16U6 .

Chapelains Jean. Lettres* Edited by Philippe Tamizey de Larroque. 2 vols. Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1880-1883.

Charron, Pierre. OEuvres. Reprint of Paris edition of 1635. GenBve: . ' Slatkine Reprints, 1970.

Chatelain, Urbain-Victor. Le Surintendant Nicolas Foucquet: Protecteur des LettreSj, des Arts et des Sciences* Paris: Perrin, 1995.

Condorcet, Jean-Antoine-Hicolas de Caritat, Marquis de. Eloge des acadentieiens de 11 Academic voyale des Sciences marts depuds I’an 1666 gusqu'en 1669* Paris: Hotel de Thou, 1773.

Conrart, Valentin. Mimoires de Valentin de Cqnrart3 premier secretaire perpetual de l fAcad

Cousin, Victor. Madame de SabVe: Nouoelles Etudes sur les femnes illustres et la society du XVIIe si%cle* 5th ed. Paris: Didier, 1882.

Crestois, Paul. L 'Enseignement de la botanique au Jardin Royal des Flantes de Paris* Cahors: Imprimerie A. Coueslant, 1953.

Damiron, Jean-Philibert. M&noires pour servir h I'histoire de la philosophic au XVIIIe siZcle. 3 vols. Paris: Ladrange, 1858- 186 H.

Delaunay, Paul. Chiromancie et Chirognomonie: Etude historique* Taken from Le ProgrZs Mddical3 No. 28 (Sept. 22, 1928).

De la physiognomonie a la phr$nologie: Histoire et Evolution ~ "des Scales et des doctrines. Taken from Le Progrbs medicals Nos. 2 9 , 30, 31 (21, 28 July and h August 1928).

______. La Vie m&dicale aux XVIe3 XVIIe et XVIIIe silicles* Paris: Editions Hippocrate, 1935.

. Vieux m$decins sarthois , 1st series. ParisChampion, 1906.

Descartes, Rene. Les Passions de I'ame* Edited by Genevieve Rodis- Lewis. Paris: J.Vrin, 1955.

Dezeimeris, Jean-EugBne, Ollivier d ‘Angers, and Raigne-Delorme. Dictionnaire historique de la m&decine ancienne ei modeme. U vols. Paris: BSchet Jeune, 1828-1839. 377

Dictiomaire de Biographie franqcdse. Vol. X. Edited Roman d'Amat and R. Limousin-Lamothe. Paris: Letzouzey et Anfe, 1965-

Doranlo, Robert. La M&decine au XVIIe si'&ele: Marin Cureau de La Chambres M$deoin et Philosophes 1594-Z669. Paris: Jouve et Cie, 1939.

Fabre $ L’abbe Antoine. Charpetain et nos deux premieres Academies. Paris: Didier-Perrier et Cie, 1890.

Foerster, Use. Marin Cureau de 'Za Chambre (Z594~Z675): Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der psyohomoraXisehen Literatur in Frarikreidh* Breslau: Verlag Priebatschs Buchhandlung,. 1936.

Franck, Adolphe, editor. Diotionnaire des sciences philosophiques. 6 vols. Paris: n.p., I885.

The GeneraZ BiographicaZ Dictionary. Edited by Alexander Chalmers. 32 vols, London: J. Nichols and Son, et aZ., Vol. viii, 1813.

Gory, GedSon. Marinus Curaeus de La Chambre^ Ludovici XIV Medicuss Quid de Cognitiane et de Affectibus senserit. Lugduni, ex typis Alexandre- Rey, 1896.

Grente, Cardinal Georges, editor. Diotionnaire des Lettres franqaises. Le XVIIe si^cZe. Paris: A. Fayard, 195^.

Haur6au, Jean-Barthelemy. Histoire Zitt$raire du Maine. 10 vols. Paris: Dumoulin, 1870-1877. (See Vol. Ill, 188-219.)

Hazon, Jacques-Albert. Eloge historique de Za FacuZt$ de m$decine de Paris. Paris: Butard, 1773.

Notice des horrmes Zes pZus cSZdbres de Za Faculty de m&dedne en Z'Universite de Paris^ depuis ZZZO gusqu’en Z750. Paris: B. Morin, 1778.

Ivanoff, Nicolas. La Marquise de SabZe et son SaZon. Paris: Les Presses modernes, 1927.

Jal, Auguste. Diotionnaire critique de biographic et d'histoire. Paris: H, Plon, 1867.

Kerviler, Rene Pocard. Le ChanceZier Pierre Segiciev; Secorid protecteur de i ’Acadimie Franqaise. Paris: Didier, I87U.

. and Edouard de BarthSlemy. VaZentin Conrarts Premier Secretaire perp&tuel de Z'Acad&mie Franqaise: Sa Vie et sa Correspondence. Paris: Didier, 1881. 378

La Fontaines Jean de. Discoups

La Place, P. A, Pieces intepessantes et peu connues.j, poup servCi'- h I'kistoire et & la Httiratupe. Vol. IV. Paris; Prault, 1785.

La Rochefoucauld, Frangois due de. Maximess suivies des Reflexions dtvevses, du Portrait de La Rochefoucauld par iui-meme et des ■ Remarques de Christine de Suede s u p les Maximes, Edited by Jacques Truchet. Paris; Garnier, 1967.

Lavater, Johann Caspar. L tArt de connaitre les hommes par la physiognomie. 10 tomes in 5 vols. Paris; Depelafol, 1820.

Le Vayer de Boutigny. Tarsis et Ztlie. Paris; Thomas Jolly, 1665.

Malebranche, Le R. P. Wic.olas.de, OEutres completes. Edited by AndrS Robinet. 20 vols. Paris; J . Vrin, 1963-196^.

Maury, Louis-Ferdinand Alfred. Les Academies d ’autrefois; I ’Andenne Aeadfmie des Sciences. Paris; Didier, 1864.

MSnage, Gilles. Menagiana, ou hons mots3 rencontres agrcables3 pensees judicieuses3 et observations cvrieuses de M. M&nage. Amsterdam; Chez Pierre de Coup, 1713-1716.

Mersenne, Le R. P. Marin. Correspondan.ee du P. Marin Mersenne3 religieux minime. Published by Mme Paul Tannery; edited and annotated by Cornells de Waard, Rene Pint 3rd, and Bernard Rochot. 10 vols. Paris: B. Beauchesne, 1932-1970. (Volumes V-XI have imprint • “Editions du Centre National de la Recherche scientifique.")

Mesnard, Paul. Histoire de VAcademic Franqaise depuis sa fondation jusqu'en 1830. Paris; Charpentier, 1857.

NicSron, Jean Pierre. M&noire pour servir d I ’Eistoire des Hommes Illustres dans la Republique des Lettres3 avec un catalogue raisonn§ de leurs ouorages. 43 vols. Paris: Briasson, 1727- 1.745.

Patin, Guy. Lettres choisis de feu., 4 vols. Rotterdam: Reinier Leers, 1725•

Pellisson-FontanierPaul and Pierre-Joseph :d*Olivet. Histoire de I ’Acad&nie Franqaise. Edited by Ch.-L. Li vet, 2 vols. Paris: Didier, 1858.

Perouse, Gabriel. "L!Examen des Esprits" du Docteur Juan Huarte de San' Juan: Sa diffusion et son influence en France aux XVIIe et XVIIIe sidcles. Paris: "Les Belles Lettres1970. 379

Petit, Pierre. Lettre de M. Petit} ci Mf de La Chambre sur le livve du sievr Petit* centre le systhne de I ’ame. Paris; n.p. „ 1666.

Piobetta, Jean B. Pierre Chanetj m e psychologic de I'instinct des fonetions de I 'esprit au temps de Descartes. Paris; Paul. Hartmann, 1937.

PriSzac, Saloman de. Lettre a Af. de La Chambre sur la Limiere. Paris 1 P. Rocolet, 1657.

Riese , Walther. La theorie des passions & la IvrmZre de la pensie m&dicale du XVIIe si&cle. Bale, New York; S. Karger, 1965.

Rosenfield, Lenora C. From Bedst-Machine to Man-Machine: Animal Soul in French Letters from Descartes to La Mettrie. New York; Octagon Books, 1968. Sabatier, Antoine de Cast res. Les trois siecles de Z-t-t t ature frangaise, ou Tableau de I 'esprit de nos &erivainss depuis ■ Franqois J, jusqu’en 1773. 2nd edition revised and enlarged. 3 vols. Amsterdam; De Hansy, le jeune, 1772™177^« Sabra, A. I. Theories of Light from Descartes to Newton. London: Oldsboume, 19 67.

Sainte-Beuve, Charles Augustin. Les petites $colesA Vol. IV of Port- Royal. Edited by R. L. Doyen; and C. Marchesne. . Paris; La Connaissance, 1927. •

Shumaker, Wayne. The Occult Sciences in the Renaissance: A Study in Intellectual Patterns. Berkeley; Los Angeles; London; The Uni­ versity of California Press, 1972.

Sicler, Adrian. La Chiromance royale et nowelle. Lyon; Daniel Gayet, 1666.

Sorbiere, Samuel-Joseph. Sorberiana* ou les pensies critiques de M. de Sorbi&re. Edited by M. Graverol. 2nd edition revised and enlarged. Paris; Florentin & Pierre Delaune, 1695*

Sorel, Charles. La Bibliotheque Franqoise; ous le choix et I'examen des livres franqois qui traitent de I '$loquences de la philosophic^ de la devotion et de la conduite des moeurs. Paris; •Compagnie des libraires du Palais, 166U. .

Tallemant Des Reaux, GSdSon. Historiettes: M&moires pour servir ct I'histoire du XVIIe si'bcle publics sur le manuscrit autographe de I ’auteur. 10 vols. in 5 . Paris; Gamier, 1861.

Taton, Rene. Enseignement et diffusion des sciences en France au XVIIIe ( Si&cle. Series "Histoire de la pensee" xi. Paris; Hermann, 196U. 380

Thorndike, I^nn. A History of Magic and Experimental Science.. 8 vols. Hetr York: Macmillan Company, 1929-1958. Vols. III-VIII are published by Columbia University Press.

Wrangel, F.. U. Premiere Visite de Christine de Su&de d la Cour de France (1656). Paris: Firmin-Didot et Cis, 1930

Articles

Bertrand, Alexis. "La psychophysiologie an XVIIe siecle: Cureau de La Chambre et Honore Miquet.” Bulletin de la Faculty des Lettres. Poitiers, IX (1890), 3^9-387.

Chardon, Henri. "Les debuts au Mans de Cureau de La Chambre." Bulletin de la Society d'agriculture3 des sciences et des arts de la Sarthe, XIII (1873-1874), 603.

Coutard, Abbe Albert. "Notes inedites sur M. Cureau de La Chambre." Revue historique et arch&ologique du Maines XXX (1891), 253-256.

Hamy, E.-T. "Les debuts de 1'anthropologie et de lfanatomie humaine au Jardin des Plantes: M. Cureau de La Chambre et P. Dionis (1635-1680)." L ’Anthropologie3 V (1894), 257-275.

' "Note sur un medallion de J.-B. Tuby representant le portrait de M. Cureau de La Chambre ■, demonstrateur au Jar din Royal (1635-1669) Bulletin du Museum de I’Histoire naturelle3 VI (1895), 229-232.

Hucher, Eugeite. "Renseignements sur le portrait de Cureau de La Chambre grave par Nanteuil." Bulletin de la Societe d 1 agriculture3 des sciences et des arts de la Sarthe3 XXII (1873-1874), 983.

Jussieu, A.-L. "Notice historique sur le Museum d*histoire naturelle (Depuis sa fondation jusqu’en 1643)." Annales du Mus$um d ’Histoire naturelley i (Paris, 1802), 1-14.

' ' ' "Notice historique sur le MusSum d 1histoire naturelle (Depuis 1643, jusqu'en 1683)." Annales du Museum d*Histoire naturelle3 ii (Paris, 1803), 1-17°

Kerviler, Rene Pocard. "Le Maine a 1'Academic Frangaise: Marin. Cureau de La Chambre," in Revue historique et archeologique du Maine, II (1877), 28-7 8 ; 131-182.

Noir, Dr. J. "Marin Cureau de La Chambre: Membre de 1*Academic Frangaise, Medecin ordinaire du Roi, Demonstrateur au Jardin du Roi (1594-1669)." Bulletin de la Montague Sainte-Genevi^ve, vii (1920-1928), 142-145. 381

Piobetta, Jean B„ ,fAu temps de Descartes; une polemique ignoree sur la connaissance des animaux (Pierre Chanet et Marin Cureau de La Chambre)in Travaux du IXe Congv&s international de "philosophies Part 2, Etudes oartesienneSs pp. 60-66. Paris: Hermann et Cie, 1937.

Proust, Jacques. "Diderot et la physiognomonieCahiers de I 'Associa­ tion. intema,tionale des etudes franqaiseSs XIII (1961), 317-330.

III. WORKS OF GEHERAL INTEREST WHICH WRE CONSULTED

Books

Adam, Antoine. Sur le probt&me religieux dans la premiere moitii du XVXIe si'&ale. Oxford; Clarendon Press, 1959 •

Aristotle. Traite de I*cane* Translation and notes by G. Rodier. 2 vols. Paris: E. Leroux, i960.

Arnold, Paul. Eistoire des Rose-Croix et les origines <£e la franc- maqormerie. Paris: Mercure de France, 1955«

Ashtons Harry. Madame de LdFayette: Sa vie et ses oeuvres. Cambridge, England: The University Press, 1922.

Astruc, Jean. Mimpires pour servir h I ’histoire de la Faculty de M$dedne de Montpellier. Paris: P. G. Cavelier, 1767.

Baillet, Adrien. Vie de Monsieur Des-Cartes. Paris: Chez Daniel Horthemels, 1691.

Bishop, Morris. Pascal: The Life of Genius. New York: Greenwood Press, 1937.

Bloch, Olivier-Rene. La Philosophic de Gassendi: Nominalisme, Mat$rialisme3 et M&taphysique. La Haye: Martinus Nijhoff, 1971.

Bonasea, Bernardino M. Tommaso Campanella: Renaissance Pioneer of Modem Thought. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University Press, 1969.

Bouillier, Francisque. Eistoire de la philosophic cart$sierme. 2 vols. Paris: Durand, Lyon: Brun et Cie, I85U.

Canguilhem, Georges. La Formation du concepts de reflexe aux XVIIe et XVIII si^ales. Paris: Presses Uhiversitaires de France, 1955* Colorobey, Emile (pseud.). BueVtes et Cabarets: H'Lstoi.ve anecdotique de la VittGvabure franqcri.se. Paris; E. Dentu, 1888.

Crow, W. B. A History of Magios Witoharaft and Occultism* London; The Aquarian, 1968.

Delaunay, Paul. Les Guevisseires ambulants dans le Maine sous I!Ancien Regime. Evreux: Ch. Herissey, 1922.

Denis, Jacques. Sceptiques ou libertine dans la premiere moitii du XVIIe si'&cle: Gassendi,, Gabriel Haud&, Gui-Patin, Lamothe- Levayer, Cyrano de Bergerac. Caen; Typographie de F. Le Blanc-Hardel, 1884.

Descartes, Rene. Correspondence. Edited by Charles Adam and Guy Milhaud. 3 vols. Paris; Presses Uhiversitaires de France, 1936-1947.

■ Discours de la M&thode. Edited by Louis Liard. Paris; Garnier, i960.

. Discovers de la M&thode. Edited by Etienne Gilson. Paris; Librairie philosophique J „ Vrin, 1925«

______. OEuvres. Edited by Victor Cousin. 11 vols. Paris; F. G. Levrault, 1824-1826.

■______. OEuvres philosophiques. Edited by Ferdinand Alquie. 2 vols. Paris; Gamier, 1963-1967.

Dethan, Georges. Mazarin et see amis, suivi d lun choix de lettres in&dites* Paris; Berger-Levrault, 1968.

Dreyfus, Ginette. La Volonte selon Malebranche* Paris; J. Vrin, 1958.

D*Orfi, Honore. L'Astrie. Edited by Hogues Vaganay with preface by Louis Mercier. 5 vols. lyon: Pierre Masson, Sditeur, 1925.

Esprit, Jacques. Discourses on the Deceitfulness of Humane Virtues* Translated by William Beauvoir. London; A. Bell, 1706.

Festugiere, Andre Marie Jean. La Philosophie de Vamour de Marsile Ficin et son influence sur la litt&rature franqaise au XVIe si'&cle. Paris; J. Vrin, 1941.

' La R&v$lation dfHerm&s Trism&giste* 4 vols. Paris; Lecoffre, J. Gabalda et Cie, 1949-1954.

______. Personal Wisdom among the Greeks. Berkeley, Los Angeles; The University of California Press, 1954. 383 Ficin s Marsile. ThSotogie pZatoniaienne de Z !'irmoTtaZ‘ite des dmes* Edited by Raymond Marcel. Paris: "Les Belles Lettres1964.

Figardg Leon. Un MedecZn-phLZosophe au XVIe s-u&cZez line itude step Za psychoZogZe de Jean FemeZ. Paris: Felix Alcan, 1903.

Frankfurts Harry G. Demonss Dreamers and Madmen: The Defense of Reason in Descartes1 "Meditations." Indianapolis; Hew York: the Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1970.

Gaffare1, James. Unheard-of Curiosities Concerning the TaZismanicaZ ScuZpture of the Persians; the Horoscope of the Patriarkess and the Reading of the Stars. Translated by Edmund Chilmead. London: G. D., 1650.

Gillot, Marguerite. Des Borders, des Envouteurs, des Mages. Paris: La Table Ronde, 196l.

Gilson, Etienne. Etudes sur Ze role de Za pens£e m$di$i)ale dans la formation du systhne oartisien. Paris: J. Vrin, 1930.

____ . La Liberte chez Descartes et Za Theologie. Paris: Felix Alcan, 1913.

■ La PhiZosophie au Moyen Age (des Origines patristiques & Za fin du XlVe si'&cle). 2nd edition, revised and enlarged. Paris: Payot, 1962.

Grillot De Givry, Emile Angelo. Le Mus$e des Borders, Mages et Alchimistes. Paris: Claude Tchou, 1966.

Houssaye, Ars§ne. Histoire du 4le FauteuiZ de lsAcad&mie Franqaise. Paris: Bibliotheque-Charpentier, 1894.

Huarte, Dr. Jean de San Juan. Anacrise, ou parfait jugement et Examen des Esprits propres S. naiz aux sciences. Translated by Gabriel Chappuis. Lyon: Didier, 1580.

Huxley, Aldous. The Devils of Loudun. Hew York: Harper & Bros., 1952.

Jansen, Paule. Le Cardinal Mo.zarin et Ze mouvement .janseniste franqais, 1653-1659, d'apr&s Zes documents ined.its conserves dans Zes Archives du Minist'&re des affaires etrangeres. Paris: J. Vrin, 1967.

Jung, Carl G. Psychology and Alchemy. Hew York: Bolligen .Foundation Pantheon Books, 1953.

Kiblansky, Raymond, Erwin Panofsky and Fritz Saxl. Saturn and Melancholy: Studies in the History of Natural Philosophy, Religion and Art. Cambridge: Helson, 1964. 38b

La BruySre» Jean de. OEuvres completes. Edited by Julien Benda. Paris; Gallimard$ 1951.

Le Magnet, Paul-Emile. Le Monde medi-adl parisien sous le Grand Roi3 siri-wi du Portefeuilte de Valiant. Paris; A. Maloine, 1899*

Lenoble, Le R. P. Robert. Mersenne; ou la naissance du m&ccotisme. Paris; J. Vrin, 1943.

Levrault5 Leon. Maximes et Portraits (Evolution du Genre). Paris; Paul Delaplane [1909].

Levy-¥alensis Joseph. La MSdeoine et les Midecins franqais au XVIIe si’&ole. Paris; J.-B. Bailliere$ 1933

Lewis, Clives Staples. The Discarded Image; An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature. Cambridge, Eng.; University Press, 1964.

Les Salons litteraires au XVIIe siecle. Paris; Bibliotheque Rationale, 1968.

Le Soleil d la Renaissance: Sciences et Mythes. Collogue international tenu en avril 1963 sous les auspices de la FSdSration Internationale des Instituts et Societies pour 11 Etude de la Renaissance et du Ministere de 1'Education nationale et de la Culture de Belgique. Bruxelles; Presses Universitaires; Paris; Presses Universitaires de France, 1965.

Lovejoy, Arthur 0. Essays in the History of Ideas. New York; G-. Braziller, 1955.

• ♦ Reflections on Human Nature. Baltimore; Johns Hopkins Press, 1961.

. The Great Chain of Being: A Study in the History of an ■ Idea. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1936.

- . The Reasons the Understandings and Time. Baltimore; John Hopkins Press, 196l.

Malebranche, Nicolas. De la recherche de la viritt. Edited by Fraricisque Bouillier. 2 vols. Paris; Gamier, i860.

Mandrou, Robert. Magistrals3 et Borders en France au XVIIe siecle: Une Analyse de psychologic historique. Paris; Plon, 1968.

Millepierres, Frangois. La Vie quotidienne des Medecins au temps de Molidre. Paris; Hachette, 1964. 385 Morot-Sir, Edouard. La Metaphysique de Fasoat. Paris: Presses Uhiversitaires de France, 1973.

Mousnier, Roland, editor. Lettres et m&tnoires adpess&s ecu ahaneeHev . Fiewe Seguiev (1633-1649). 2 vols. Paris: Presses Uni- versitaires de France, 1964.

Mucchielli, Roger. Caraat^res et Visages, Paris: Presses Uhiversitaires de France, 1963.

Paracelsus, Theophrastus Bombast Von Hohenheim. Selected Writings. Edited with introduction by Jolande Jacobi; translated by Herbert Guterman. 2nd edition. Hew York: Bolligen Foundation, 1958.

Pascal, Blaise. OEuvres completes. Edited by Jacques Chevalier. Paris: Editions de la Pleiade, 1964.

Picard, Roger. Les Salens litt$raires et la soci§t§ franqaise (1610- 1789). Paris: Brentano's, 1943.

Pintard, Rene. Le Libertinage evvdit dans la premiere moitie du XVIIe siecle. 2 vols. Paris: Boivin et Cie, 1943.

Raynaud, Maurice. La Medecine au temps d,e Moli'&re: Moeurss Institutions3 Doctrines. Paris: Didier, 1863.

Read, John. Prelude to Chemistry: An Outline of Alchemy3 its Litera­ ture and Relationships. Hew York: The Macmillan Company, 1937.

Rice, Eugene F. The Renaissance Idea of Wisdom. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1958.

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