DOCSLIB.ORG

Chapter Six Jaucourt, Republicanism, And

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Chapter Six Jaucourt, Republicanism, And CHAPTER SIX JAUCOURT, REPUBLICANISM, AND TOLERATION Simone Zurbuchen, Zürich One of the most effective arguments used to justify the oppression of Calvinism in France claimed an inherent relation between Protestantism and republicanism. The strength of the argument stemmed from the fact that it could be revived in different historical contexts. In the eighteenth century it took on a new dimension, as the accusation of political disloyalty no longer concentrated on a religious minority, but was aimed at the co­ operation between religious and political opposition of different origins. When the Edict of Toleration of 1787 was in preparation, its Catholic opponents suggested that the Protestants were in league with the Jansenists and the philosophes in their endeavor to destroy the Monarchy and the Catholic Church.l This allegation of collaboration between Protestants and philosophes was, however, initially contradicted by the fact that most phil­ osophers in France had welcomed the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685)2 and that prominent representatives of the Lumières such as Voltaire and Montesquieu had even repeated the accusation that Protestant­ ism tended to political rebellion.3 It was only with the Calas Affair that a concerted public campaign in favor of a new Edict of Toleration began. Its aim was, however, neither to dispossess the Catholic Church nor to over­ throw the Monarchy, but to grant civil status to the Huguenots, i.e. to concede them the authentication of births, marriages, and deaths. These moderate demands fit in well with the fact that the Calvinists who re­ organized their Church in France officially remained loyal to the Monarchy.4 According to Poland and Adams, who discuss the situation on the eve of the Revolution, the Huguenots were as royalist as the Catholics. 1 See B. C. Poland, French Frotestantism and the French Revolutiony pp. 141f. Similar accusations were reiterated after the French Revolution. 2 See G. Adams, The Huguenots and French Opinion 1685-1787. The Enlight­ enment Debate on Toleration, chap.II, pp. 19-33. 3 See Montesquieu, De l'esprit des lois, book XXIV, chap. 5. For Voltaire, see G. Adams: "Monarchistes ou Républicains?", p. 83. 4 See Adams, "Monarchistes ou Républicains?", pp. 83-95. 156 SIMONE ZURBUCHEN A general discussion of the alleged collaboration between Protestants and philosophes is beyond the scope of this article. Within the perspective of this question I will, however, attempt to evaluate the political ideas of the Chevalier Louis de Jaucourt, one of the rarely examined contributors to the Encyclopédie. I will argue that he conveyed to the French Lumières a sig­ nificant part of the political theory of the Huguenot diaspora, as it was formulated by Jean Barbeyrac and further developed by Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui. This school of political thought can be characterized by its anti-absolutist tendency, which was motivated by the Huguenots' interest in developing a coherent concept of religious toleration. As they relied both on secular and religious arguments to advocate toleration, it seems accurate to see in their political theory an example of the alleged relation between religious and political principles. 1. Jaucourt's contribution to the Encyclopédie and the inheritance of the Refuge The role which the Chevalier Louis de Jaucourt played in the French Enlightenment has for a long time been much underestimated. Although in vol. VIII of the Encyclopédie he is mentioned by Diderot as one of the most indefatigable contributors,5 his name was very soon forgotten. When the Encyclopédie was finished in 1765 Jaucourt retired from the literary scene and at his death in 1780 no eulogy was published. It seems that Jaucourt's self-sacrificing engagement on behalf of the Encyclopédie gave his contemporaries as much reason to scorn him as to hold him in esteem. Diderot, in a letter to Sophie Voll and, describes him as a person who never feels bored to "grind out" his articles and whose "physiognomy falls" when the end of the work is announced to him.6 Grimm, in the Correspondance littéraire, ironically suggests that with the money he earned thanks to Jaucourt's work the publisher Le Breton bought the house which the former had sold in order to pay his secretaries.7 The picture drawn in the eight­ eenth century of Jaucourt as a colourless compiler seems to explain why Jaucourt was of little interest to those who studied the contributors to the Encyclopédie up to the twentieth century. 5 Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, éd. by Diderot and d'Alembert, vol. VIII, "Avertissement", p. i. 6 Quoted by J. Lough, The Encyclopédie, p. 45. 7 Quoted by Lough, The Encyclopédie, p. 46. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Atheist's Bible: Diderot's 'Éléments De Physiologie'
    The Atheist’s Bible Diderot’s Éléments de physiologie Caroline Warman In off ering the fi rst book-length study of the ‘Éléments de physiologie’, Warman raises the stakes high: she wants to show that, far from being a long-unknown draf , it is a powerful philosophical work whose hidden presence was visible in certain circles from the Revolut on on. And it works! Warman’s study is original and st mulat ng, a historical invest gat on that is both rigorous and fascinat ng. —François Pépin, École normale supérieure, Lyon This is high-quality intellectual and literary history, the erudit on and close argument suff used by a wit and humour Diderot himself would surely have appreciated. —Michael Moriarty, University of Cambridge In ‘The Atheist’s Bible’, Caroline Warman applies def , tenacious and of en wit y textual detect ve work to the case, as she explores the shadowy passage and infl uence of Diderot’s materialist writ ngs in manuscript samizdat-like form from the Revolut onary era through to the Restorat on. —Colin Jones, Queen Mary University of London ‘Love is harder to explain than hunger, for a piece of fruit does not feel the desire to be eaten’: Denis Diderot’s Éléments de physiologie presents a world in fl ux, turning on the rela� onship between man, ma� er and mind. In this late work, Diderot delves playfully into the rela� onship between bodily sensa� on, emo� on and percep� on, and asks his readers what it means to be human in the absence of a soul.
    [Show full text]
  • The Enlightenment Revisited: Sources & Interpretations. Learning Activities
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 406 276 SO 027 048 AUTHOR Donato, Clorinda; And Others TITLE The Enlightenment Revisited: Sources & Interpretations. Learning Activities. INSTITUTION California State Univ., Long Beach. SPONS AGENCY National Endowment for the Humanities (NFAH), Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 92 NOTE 121p.; This publication resulted from a 1992 summer institute at California State University, Long Beach. PUB TYPE Guides Classroom Use Teaching Guides (For Teacher)(052) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Eighteenth Century Literature; *European History; Foreign Countries; *French Literature; Literary History; Neoclassicism; Secondary Education; Social Studies; Teaching Guides; *World History IDENTIFIERS *Age of Enlightenment; France ABSTRACT This resource book provides 26 learning activities with background materials for teaching about the Enlightenment. Topics include:(1) "What Was the Enlightenment?";(2) "An Introduction to the Philosophes";(3) "Was the Enlightenment a Revolt Against Rationalism?";(4) "Were the Philosophes Democrats? A Comparison of the 'Enlightened' Ideas of Voltaire and Rousseau on Democracy and Equality";(5) "What is the Significance of the Term Enlightenment in the Context of the 18th Century?";(6) "Were the Philosophes Atheists?"; (7) "How was French Society Portrayed in the 'Encyclopedie?'";(8) "Were the Philosophes True Philosophers, or Illogical Extremists?"; (9) "Did the French Philosophes Inspire the French Revolution?"; (10) "The Salon' as a Center for Enlightenment in the 18th Century"; (11) "Reader's
    [Show full text]
  • Black Cosmopolitans
    BLACK COSMOPOLITANS BLACK COSMOPOLITANS Race, Religion, and Republicanism in an Age of Revolution Christine Levecq university of virginia press Charlottesville and London University of Virginia Press © 2019 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper First published 2019 ISBN 978-0-8139-4218-6 (cloth) ISBN 978-0-8139-4219-3 (e-book) 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available for this title. Cover art: Jean-Baptiste Belley. Portrait by Anne Louis Girodet de Roussy- Trioson, 1797, oil on canvas. (Château de Versailles, France) To Steve and Angie CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. Jacobus Capitein and the Radical Possibilities of Calvinism 19 2. Jean- Baptiste Belley and French Republicanism 75 3. John Marrant: From Methodism to Freemasonry 160 Notes 237 Works Cited 263 Index 281 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book has been ten years in the making. One reason is that I wanted to explore the African diaspora more broadly than I had before, and my knowledge of English, French, and Dutch naturally led me to expand my research to several national contexts. Another is that I wanted this project to be interdisciplinary, combining history and biography with textual criticism. It has been an amazing journey, which was made pos- sible by the many excellent scholars this book relies on. Part of the pleasure in writing this book came from the people and institutions that provided access to both the primary and the second- ary material.
    [Show full text]
  • 4. Diderot the Physiologist
    The Atheist’s Bible Diderot’s Éléments de physiologie Caroline Warman In off ering the fi rst book-length study of the ‘Éléments de physiologie’, Warman raises the stakes high: she wants to show that, far from being a long-unknown draft , it is a powerful philosophical work whose hidden presence was visible in certain circles from the Revoluti on on. And it works! Warman’s study is original and sti mulati ng, a historical investi gati on that is both rigorous and fascinati ng. —François Pépin, École normale supérieure, Lyon This is high-quality intellectual and literary history, the eruditi on and close argument suff used by a wit and humour Diderot himself would surely have appreciated. —Michael Moriarty, University of Cambridge In ‘The Atheist’s Bible’, Caroline Warman applies deft , tenacious and oft en witt y textual detecti ve work to the case, as she explores the shadowy passage and infl uence of Diderot’s materialist writi ngs in manuscript samizdat-like form from the Revoluti onary era through to the Restorati on. —Colin Jones, Queen Mary University of London ‘Love is harder to explain than hunger, for a piece of fruit does not feel the desire to be eaten’: Denis Diderot’s Éléments de physiologie presents a world in fl ux, turning on the rela� onship between man, ma� er and mind. In this late work, Diderot delves playfully into the rela� onship between bodily sensa� on, emo� on and percep� on, and asks his readers what it means to be human in the absence of a soul.
    [Show full text]
  • Mind, Body, Motion, Matter Eighteenth-Century British and French Literary Perspectives Edited by Mary Helen Mcmurran and Alison Conway MIND, BODY, MOTION, MATTER
    Mind, Body, Motion, Matter Eighteenth-Century British and French Literary Perspectives edited by Mary Helen McMurran and Alison Conway MIND, BODY, MOTION, MATTER Eighteenth-Century British and French Literary Perspectives Mind, Body, Motion, Matter Eighteenth-Century British and French Literary Perspectives EDITED BY MARY HELEN MCMURRAN AND ALISON CONWAY UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London © University of Toronto Press 2016 Toronto Buffalo London www.utppublishing.com Printed in the U.S.A. ISBN 978-1-4426-5011-4 (cloth) Printed on acid-free, 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable-based inks. ___________________________________________________________________ Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Mind, body, motion, matter : eighteenth-century British and French literary perspectives / edited by Mary Helen McMurran and Alison Conway. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4426-5011-4 (cloth) 1. English literature – 18th century – History and criticism. 2. French literature – 18th century – History and criticism. 3. Philosophy in literature. 4. Materialism in literature. 5. Vitalism in literature. 6. Aesthetics in literature. I. Conway, Alison Margaret, editor II. McMurran, Mary Helen, 1962–, author, editor PR448.P5M55 2016 820.9'384 C2015-908168-8 ___________________________________________________________________ CC-BY-NC-ND This work is published subject to a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivative License. For permission to publish commercial versions please
    [Show full text]
  • On the Epistemic and Social Foundations of Mathematics As Tool and Instrument in Observatories, 1793–1846 David Aubin
    On the Epistemic and Social Foundations of Mathematics as Tool and Instrument in Observatories, 1793–1846 David Aubin To cite this version: David Aubin. On the Epistemic and Social Foundations of Mathematics as Tool and Instrument in Observatories, 1793–1846. Johannes Lenhard & Martin Carrier,. Mathematics as a Tool: Tracing New Roles of Mathematics in the Sciences, 327, Springer, p. 177-196, 2017, Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science. hal-01269674 HAL Id: hal-01269674 https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01269674 Submitted on 5 Feb 2016 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. On the Epistemic and Social Foundations of Mathematics as Tool and Instrument in Observatories, 1793–1846 David Aubin* May 2015, revised February 2016 The astronomer is dependent on his tools; the observatory is but the receptacle of his tools, his tool-chest so to speak (Harrington 1883–1884, 249). One night, in June 1782, the Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne suddenly felt “much out of love with his instrument.”1 William Herschel had come to Greenwich to stargaze in his company and Maskelyne had welcomed him. But to realize that all telescopes in the Royal Observatory were so much inferior to Herschel’s new reflector was disheartening to the Astronomer Royal.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Full Book
    Selling Beauty Martin, Morag Published by Johns Hopkins University Press Martin, Morag. Selling Beauty: Cosmetics, Commerce, and French Society, 1750–1830. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009. Project MUSE. doi:10.1353/book.3456. https://muse.jhu.edu/. For additional information about this book https://muse.jhu.edu/book/3456 [ Access provided at 1 Oct 2021 08:28 GMT with no institutional affiliation ] This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. SELLING BEAUTY The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science 127th Series (2009) 1. Monique O’Connell, Men of Empire: Power and Negotiation in Venice’s Maritime State 2. Morag Martin, Selling Beauty: Cosmetics, Commerce, and French Society, 1750–1830 Selling Beauty Cosmetics, Commerce, and French Society, 1750–1830 MORAG MARTIN The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore This book has been brought to publication with the generous assistance of the Karl and Edith Pribram Endowment. © 2009 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2009 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 246897531 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Martin, Morag. Selling beauty : cosmetics, commerce, and French society, 1750–1830 / Morag Martin. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8018-9309-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8018-9309-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Cosmetics industry—France—History. I. Title. HD9970.5.C673F866 2009 381Ј.4566850944—dc22 2008048621 A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
    [Show full text]
  • Disclosing an Unknown Source of the Eskimo Entry of Diderot & D
    Journal of Literature and Art Studies, November 2019, Vol. 9, No. 11, 1139-1148 doi: 10.17265/2159-5836/2019.11.003 D DAVID PUBLISHING Disclosing an Unknown Source of the Eskimo Entry of Diderot & d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie Giulia Bogliolo Bruna Centre d’Études Arctiques—CNRS, Paris, France The Eskimo entry of the Diderot & d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie [Encyclopaedia] conveys a stereotyped, preformed, and caricatured image of the folk, built in with bias, omissions, and generalizations. It emphasizes their bestiality and primitivism, to stick them as the prototype of the savagery, the personification of a degenerated and shy humanity of the borders. The author of the entry, the well-known Chevalier de Jaucourt, widely plagiarizes an undisclosed source, “Une lettre de Ste Helene, du 30 Octobre 1751” [An October 30, 1751 letter from Ste Helene], a purportedly anonymous text, the author of which is identified here in Mère [Mather] Marie-Andrée Duplessis de Sainte-Hélène. The Chevalier bafflingly removes all the sentences of the Lettre which can turn-out celebratory of the Eskimos’ technological skill and their religious sense. These severe cuts show an adverse apriori on the veracity of a document written by a woman, and—what is more—a nun. Keywords: Eskimos’ image, Encyclopaedia, Diderot, Chevalier de Jaucourt, unknown source, Marie-Catherine Homassel-Hecquet, Mather Marie-Andrée Duplessis de Sainte-Hélène Introduction The present paper retraces, in an ethno-historical perspective, the genesis of the oriented, elliptic, simplistic, and reductive representation of the Eskimos in the Diderot & d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie [Encyclopaedia]. Adopting an inter-disciplinary approach (historical, anthropological, and textual, as well), the paper wonders upon the mechanisms which have governed the construction of the Eskimos’ image and deciphers them considering the philosophical challenges and the ideological conditioning of the Century of Lights.
    [Show full text]
  • Darkness As a Metaphor in the Historiography of the Enlightenment
    JANNE TUNTURI Darkness as a metaphor in the historiography of the Enlightenment his paper concentrates on darkness as a metaphor pretation of the origins and development of the Age in eighteenth century historical writing. In contrast of Light. The concept of ‘history’ was radicalised by Tto the celebration of light as a symbol of knowl- defining it as a description of the processes leading edge and progress, the interpretations of the meaning to the modern use of reason. Clairvoyance or visual of darkness varied. For many historians, it symbolised acuity was conceived of as the essential characteristic backwardness, or decline, which culminated in medi- of the scientific spirit. Light symbolised the natural eval society. Yet, the relationship between eighteenth sciences, as well as the use of reason untrammelled by century historiography and the Middle Ages was not superstition and religion. (Schneiders 1990: 83–93.) as explicit as the usual suspects such as Voltaire and Edward Gibbon suggest. First of all, the understanding of the culture or texts of the Dark Ages signalled the Darkness and the Dark Ages in the Age of Light skilfulness of the interpreter. Secondly, some supposed The dichotomy between light and darkness had be- features of the medieval culture, such the free use of come quite complicated in the eighteenth century. the imagination, gradually became more appreciated. Implicitly, darkness symbolised the deprivation of natural light. Even in the Encyclopédie (1751–72) Louis de Jaucourt claimed that ténebres signified the The Enlightenment in the eighteenth century lack of light (privation de clarté). It was the opposite was a movement which renewed the world by adapt- term of natural light.
    [Show full text]
  • Configuring Mesopotamia
    Rune Rattenborg Configuring Mesopotamia: Regional Signifiers and the Many Locations of the ‘Land Between the Rivers’ Summary It seems a travesty to reiterate exactly what we mean by ‘Meso- sondern vielfältige Merkmale. Ich untersuche hier die wech- potamia’.The tautological qualities of Greek mésos (‘middle’,‘in selnden Bedeutungen des Begriffs ‚Mesopotamien‘ für das Ein- between’) and potamós (‘stream’,‘river’) often rule out further zugsgebiet von Euphrat und Tigris vom 2. Jahrtausend v. Chr. elaboration of its origins and the assumed self-evident nature bis heute und komme zu dem Ergebnis, dass die heutige Vor- of its current application. Yet regional concepts are not stable. stellung von ‚Mesopotamien‘ in der Zeit des Ersten Weltkriegs Their delineation may be defined according to a complex set entstanden ist und damit nur wenig zu tun hat mit neutralen of attributes not related to physical borders alone. I consider Quellenhinweisen auf die ferne Vergangenheit. here the changing meanings of ‘Mesopotamia’ as a name for Keywords: Mesopotamien; Alter Vorderer Orient; Orientalis- the drainage of the Euphrates and Tigris from the 2nd millen- mus; Region; Historische Geographie; Erster Weltkrieg nium BCE until the present day. In conclusion, I argue that current notions of ‘Mesopotamia’ are a product of the First World War, and hence far from unproblematic references to a Professor Hugh Kennedy provided me with the initial impetus distant historical past to which they bear no inherent relation. for this study, and has offered welcome points for discussion on several occasions. I thank the organisers and the Topoi Ex- Keywords: Mesopotamia; Ancient Near East; orientalism; cellence Cluster for inviting me to participate in the conference, region; historical geography; First World War and the entirety of speakers and attendees for a very stimulat- ing and illuminating couple of days in May 2014.
    [Show full text]
  • Big Data and the Search for Balanced Insight In
    Grand Valley State University ScholarWorks@GVSU Student Summer Scholars Undergraduate Research and Creative Practice 2016 Big Data and the Search for Balanced Insight in the Digital Humanities: Macroscopic and Microscopic Reading of Citation Strategies in the Encyclopédie of Diderot (and Jaucourt), 1751-1772 Scott R. St. Louis Grand Valley State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/sss Part of the Digital Humanities Commons Recommended Citation St. Louis, Scott R., "Big Data and the Search for Balanced Insight in the Digital Humanities: Macroscopic and Microscopic Reading of Citation Strategies in the Encyclopédie of Diderot (and Jaucourt), 1751-1772" (2016). Student Summer Scholars. 181. http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/sss/181 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Research and Creative Practice at ScholarWorks@GVSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Summer Scholars by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@GVSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Acknowledgments This peer-reviewed article was originally published in Digital Literary Studies, a scholarly journal hosted by Pennsylvania State University Libraries. An earlier version of the article was presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies in Los Angeles, California on March 19, 2015. It was made possible by a generous full-time Student Summer Scholars research grant, provided by the Office of
    [Show full text]
  • By Mert Ertunga BA
    NEGOTIATING LITERARY IDENTITY DURING THE DIVIDE BETWEEN THE PHILOSOPHES AND THE ANTI-PHILOSOPHES (1745-1765) by Mert Ertunga BA, University of Alabama in Birmingham, 2007 MA, University of Pittsburgh, 2010 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2016 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH KENNETH P. DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Mert Ertunga It was defended on April 4, 2016 and approved by Lina Insana, Chair, Associate Professor, French and Italian Clark S. Muenzer, Associate Professor, German Todd Reeser, Professor, French and Italian Dissertation Advisor: Giuseppina Mecchia, Associate Professor, French and Italian Dissertation Advisor: Shane Agin, Associate Professor, French and Italian, Duquesne University ii Copyright © by Mert Ertunga 2016 iii NEGOTIATING LITERARY IDENTITY DURING THE DIVIDE BETWEEN THE PHILOSOPHES AND THE ANTI-PHILOSOPHES (1745-1765) Mert Ertunga, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2016 This dissertation centers on the negotiation of literary identity in the philosophes vs. anti- philosophes divide during the middle decades of the eighteenth century. During that time, the ideas of the philosophes were gaining ground in readership and popularity, and, as a consequence, their enemies were beginning to perceive their ideas as pernicious threats to the traditional values upon which the French monarchy was built. Voltaire, Denis Diderot, and Jean- Jacques Rousseau squared off against anti-philosophes such as Élie Catherine Fréron, Charles Palissot, and the abbé Nicolas-Sylvestre Bergier in debates concerning literature, religion, and education. Philosophes questioned the principles on which the old order rested and relentlessly called on “reason” to challenge prejudices, while the anti-philosophes accused their adversaries of conspiring to subvert the French monarchy by rattling the foundations of the established religious practices and social peace.
    [Show full text]