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Regenerating Political Animals Regenerating Political Animals by Emma Catherine Planinc A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science University of Toronto © Copyright by Emma Catherine Planinc 2017 Regenerating Political Animals Emma Catherine Planinc Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science University of Toronto 2017 Abstract Regenerating Political Animals situates the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) and the French Revolution in the theological natural science and political theory of the eighteenth century. Beginning with a “counter-revolutionary” account of the philosophy of this period—which situated the “return to nature” and assertion of natural right in atheistic and materialist philosophy—this thesis argues that the more influential and dominant account of “nature” in this period was one which asserted the uniqueness of the human being through the “spirituality of his soul,” and his capacity to perfect and regenerate himself through regenerating his moral and political conditions. Rooted in the natural theology of Georges-Louis LeClerc Comte de Buffon and Charles Bonnet, the “perfectible” human being also served as the Archimedean point of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s philosophy. These three thinkers are the focal points of the thesis, which culminates in the argument that what was born in Revolutionary France was a “new man” —l’homme régénéré—and a new conception of human nature that still courses through our contemporary conception of human rights, and of the human being. Rights are still grounded in a natural theology that has faith that a future possible world will better accord with nature; and we, as regenerative political animals, are the self-regenerative agents of the transformation of the world. ii Acknowledgements Regenerating Political Animals would not have been possible without the unwavering encouragement and feedback I have received from my supervisor, Peggy Kohn, and from my committee members, Rebecca Kingston and Ronald Beiner. It was Ronnie who held from the beginning (despite my protestations) that this would be a thesis about Rousseau—and it appears that he was right all along. Rebecca has consistently brought me back to Montesquieu, and has been a fount of wisdom about all things in the French Enlightenment. Above all, however, it is Peggy who supported the project from the first, seeing that my eyes lit up when I talked about polyps. It is the greatest gift to receive from a supervisor to be given the freedom to explore ideas and to be creative. In addition to her incisive feedback, Peggy’s supervision and support made possible and maintained this thesis, and for this I owe her the greatest debt. Many thanks also to Torrey Shanks and Jason Neidleman, my examiners, whose comments and feedback are provocative and challenging, and will serve as the bridges to the next phase of the project. I also acknowledge the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (and Thomas and Beverley Simpson), which allowed me to free up space and time for writing that would not otherwise have been possible. I am especially honoured to have been a Northrop Frye Centre Fellow at Victoria College for the academic year of 2015-2016. I have also had the privilege of participating in the Centre for Ethics as a Graduate Associate throughout most of my graduate career, and in the working group at the Jackman Humanities Institute, “Animals in the Law and the Humanities,” run by Angela Fernandez. It has been a pleasure, and a reward, to have been part of the Political Theory community at the University of Toronto, which consists of faculty of the highest calibre from whom I have learned a great deal, and all of whom have shown me a great deal of support; especially Ed Andrew, Ryan Balot, Joe Carens, Simone Chambers, and Ruth Marshall. I have also been blessed with wonderful peers, colleagues, and friends—both old and new. Their collegiality, wit, wisdom, and companionship have been integral to my success and happiness, and it has also been a pleasure to watch their own successes over the years. iii Especially to Sophie Marcotte-Chénard and Laura Rabinowitz: your happiness increases my own; the true mark of friendship. Two mentors turned dear friends deserve special mention: Teresa Bejan and Mark Kingwell. On both counts, my transformation from employee to peer has been a special joy. I still (and always) learn from you and your support and friendship have been invaluable. I hope that our relative lack of good manners continues to keep us together. I am also thankful for those who have maintained an interest in my work, and become valued interlocutors: in particular, Stefan Dolgert, Sue Donaldson, James Ingram, Will Kymlicka, Simon Kow, Rob Sparling, and Ann Ward. And, finally, to my family. To my grandmother, Lucille: whose own life did not allow for an education, but who delights in educated and caustic women, and who is a gifted artist and matriarch of the highest order. To my siblings, Jake, Lucy, and Eila, who are in all ways better, nicer, and funnier than I, and who are the great gifts of my life: in these pages you will find Ancient Greek tragedy and Enlightenment Clouds, happy and healthy hearts, and natural scientists who stand at the frontier of a new universe, exploring strange new worlds. And to my parents—all of them. It is not every person who gets four. To Oona and to Paul, whose support and love has meant all things. Finally, to Leah and Zdravko: it is to you that this thesis is dedicated. It is by one’s family that one’s character is formed. All that is good in me, and in these pages, is owed to them; all the ills are of my own making. iv Regenerating Political Animals Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents .........................................................................................................v List of Appendices ..................................................................................................... vii Introduction ..................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Beasts by Nature .....................................................................................22 Skeptics, atheists and anarchists ......................................................29 Materialism and the brute soul ........................................................35 Ape and man: how are we to know ourselves? ...............................46 Chapter 2: Infinite Degrees, and Degrees of Separation ........................................52 The scientific method: Buffon’s interlocutors .................................55 The Great Chain of Being ...............................................................61 Buffon’s natural science and the discovery of the polyp ................65 Histoire Naturelle and the spirit of man ..........................................72 Chapter 3: Buffon, Bonnet, and the Palingenetic World .......................................82 Buffon’s unaltered prototype, and the alterations of man ...............85 An Ode to Nature, and to man perfected .........................................89 Bonnet, the polyp, palingenesis .......................................................96 Perfection through perfecting: Bonnet on moral education ..........105 Chapter 4: Rousseau’s Perfectible Animals ..........................................................113 The Essay on Man and the Great Chain of Being .........................115 The state of nature and natural man: man, or animal? ..................125 The advantage of perfectibility ......................................................138 Chapter 5: Redemption in Rousseau: From Sin to Salvation ..............................145 The human being: a sin against nature ..........................................154 Rousseau’s natural theology: nature, what is it good for? ............163 Human nature and Emile ...............................................................169 v Chapter 6: Regeneration, Revolution, and the New Man ....................................188 The general will: ordering oneself to the whole ............................194 Natural man, the greatest good ......................................................199 Rousseau and regeneration ............................................................209 The new man of the French Revolution ........................................225 Conclusion ................................................................................................................234 Appendix ...................................................................................................................240 Bibliography .............................................................................................................241 vi List of Appendices 1. Volumes and publication dates of Georges-Louis LeClerc Comte de Buffon’s Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, avec la description du cabinet du Roy (Paris: De L’Imprimerie Royale) .................239 vii For my parents, Who brought me into the world, and taught me to strive for the good In the beginning, men had eyes, but could not see, They had ears, but could not understand; They wandered like dreams. Until I taught them to see the stars. -Aeschylus Prometheus Bound Introduction
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