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N° 55 Charron n° 55 Charron PUBLIEE AVEC LE CONCOURS DU CNL ET DE L’UNIVERSITE DE PARIS X NANTERRE N° ISSN : 0296-8916 299 n° 55 Pierre Charron mis en œuvre par Philippe Desan © Centre d’Études d’Histoire de la Philosophie Moderne et Contemporaine Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, 2009 N° ISSN : 0296-8916 299 TABLE DES MATIÈRES Philippe Desan Pierre Charron, théologien et philosophe ........................ 5 Jean Balsamo Un succès éditorial à l’aube de l’âge classique : La Sagesse de Pierre Charron .................................... 9 Sylvio Hermann De Franceschi Prudence et constance : diplomatie et art de négocier au temps de Montaigne et de Charron........................ 35 Claudiu Gaiu Repentance philosophique et remords théologique dans les écrits de Pierre Charron................................ 69 Nicola Panichi « Docteur en la nature » : de Charron à Sebond ?.......... 83 André Pessel Charron face à Duplessis-Mornay et à de Bèze : les marques de la vraie religion ................................. 109 Alexander Roose La curiosité de Pierre Charron........................................ 157 Alexandre Tarrête L’influence de Guillaume Du Vair sur La Sagesse de Pierre Charron......................................................... 169 Denis Kambouchner Descartes et Charron : prud’homie, générosité, charité..... 193 Isabelle Moreau Charron dans la bibliothèque libertine .......................... 209 1 CORPUS, revue de philosophie Gianni Paganini Charron et le scepticisme des modernes ....................... 231 Anna Bettoni La traduction italienne de la Sagesse dans son contexte vénitien .......................................... 251 DOCUMENTS Philippe Desan Eloge veritable ou Sommaire Discours de la vie de Pierre Charron Parisien par Gabriel de la Rochemaillet . 273 Liste des sommaires : voir notre site http://www.revuecorpus.com 2 PIERRE CHARRON, THÉOLOGIEN ET PHILOSOPHE Sur une page de garde de son exemplaire des Essais de Montaigne, le poète, philologue et critique Bernard de La Monnoye (1641-1728) offre le commentaire suivant : « On dit que des folies de Montagne, Charron avoit fait sa Sagesse. Celui-ci avoit plus de jugement, l’autre plus d’imagination »1. Ce verdict reflète la pensée de la fin du XVIIe siècle et de tout le XVIIIe siècle ; il place résolu- ment Charron du côté de la raison et du jugement alors que les « essais » de Montaigne sont qualifiés de folies ou d’imaginations (dans le sens négatif du mot). Comme tout bon penseur qui est à contre-courant de son temps, La Monnoye préfère bien entendu Montaigne à Charron. Mais le plus intéressant dans cette consta- tation, c’est bien entendu l’impossibilité de parler de l’un sans se référer à l’autre (Montaigne comme le précurseur de Charron dans le cas de La Monnoye) et vice-versa (Charron comme le plagiaire de Montaigne pour la plupart des critiques des XIXe, XXe et XXIe siècles). La question est de savoir si l’on peut et doit dissocier les deux auteurs. Peut-on lire et commenter Charron sans un éternel retour à Montaigne ? Commençons par la première réception de Charron. Il faut sur ce point rappeler que l’auteur de la Sagesse fut probable- ment plus lu que Montaigne au XVIIe siècle. Nous avons ainsi répertorié pas moins de 44 éditions de la Sagesse publiées entre 1601 et 1672. Pour leur part, les Essais de Montaigne n’ont connu que 25 éditions dans le même laps de temps. Aujourd’hui, le marché du livre ancien démontre amplement la diffusion bien supérieure de la Sagesse par rapport aux Essais au XVIIe siècle. 1 Essais, Paris, Abel L’Angelier, 1600, exemplaire de la Bibliotheca Desaniana relié en 3 volumes. Corpus, revue de philosophie, n° 55, 2008. 5 CORPUS, revue de philosophie Il en va de même pour les traductions puisque la Sagesse connaîtra 12 éditions en anglais au XVIIe siècle (contre 5 pour les Essais de Montaigne)2, une traduction en allemand (1669), et une en italien (1698). Il est vrai que Charron tombera ensuite dans un oubli profond puisqu’aucune édition de la Sagesse ne sera publiée en France durant plus d’un siècle (entre 1672 et 1768). Les temps modernes n’ont guère été plus indulgents : nous comptons seule- ment 6 éditions de la Sagesse imprimées au XIXe siècle et 2 au XXe siècle ! Les chiffres concernant les Essais de Montaigne sont aux antipodes de ceux de la Sagesse pour les XIXe et XXe siècles3. Montaigne semble avoir définitivement relégué Charron aux oubliettes de l’histoire des idées et Charron n’est plus mentionné que dans l’ombre de l’auteur des Essais. Une constatation s’impose : depuis plus de deux siècles, les écrits Charron n’ont pas suffisamment été étudiés pour eux- mêmes4. On peut dire que la pensée de Montaigne a corrompu 2 1608, 1612, [1613], [1615], [1620], [1625], 1630, 1640, 1651, 1658, 1670, 1697. Les dates de publication pour les éditions des Essais en anglais sont : 1603, 1613, 1632, 1685, 1693. 3 Voir notre livre : Montaigne dans tous ses états, Fasano, Schena Editore, 2001. Nous donnons dans le chapitre V (pp. 157-191) la liste complète des éditions des Essais : 66 éditions au XIXe siècle et 83 au XXe siècle. 4 La meilleure étude sur Charron dans un contexte historique et biogra- phique demeure celle d’Alfred Soman, « Pierre Charron : A Revaluation », Bibliothèque d’Humanisme et Renaissance, t. XXXII, 1970, pp. 57-79. Signalons aussi la thèse de Philippe Ducoux, « Genèse et évolution de la Sagesse de Pierre Charron », sous la direction de Jean Lafond, Centre d’Études Supérieures de la Renaissance, Tours, 1992. Parmi les nombreux livres et articles comparant la pensée de Montaigne et de Charron, on pourra consulter Karl Wendt, Pierre Charron als pädagoge unter besonderer berücksichtigung seines verhältnisses zu Michael de Montaigne, Neubrandenburg, Buchdruckerei W. Dörnbrack, 1903 ; Philippe Roy, Les Sources de Charron (Du Vair, Bodin, Montaigne), Bordeaux, Imprimerie Commerciale & Industrielle, 1906 ; Jean-Baptiste Sabrié, De l’humanisme au rationalisme. Pierre Charron (1541-1603), l’homme, l’œuvre, l’influence, Paris, Félix Alcan, 1913 ; Paul Bonnefon, Montaigne et ses amis. La Boétie — Charron - Mlle de Gournay, 2 vols., Genève, Slatkine, 1969 ; Jean-Daniel Charron, The Wisdom of Pierre Charron. An Original and Orthodox Code of Morality, Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1960 ; Floyd 6 Philippe Desan nombre de lectures et, pour cette raison, il nous semblait essentiel de nous pencher sur l’œuvre de Pierre Charron sans Montaigne, ou du moins à partir d’une approche qui ne fasse pas appel aux Essais de façon déterminante. Les textes qui suivent constituent les actes d’un colloque qui s’est tenu au Centre de l’Université de Chicago à Paris le 18 avril 2008. La pensée de Charron est présentée sous différentes facettes, mais toujours à partir de son contexte intellectuel et historique direct, ou encore de sa réception dans l’histoire des idées et de la philosophie jusqu’au XVIIIe siècle. Philippe DESAN University of Chicago Gray, « Reflexions on Charron’s debt to Montaigne », French Forum, n° 4, 1961-1962, pp. 377-382 ; Anna Maria Battista, Alla origini della pensiero politico libertino : Montaigne et Charron, Milan, A. Giuffrè, 1966 ; Renée Kogel, Pierre Charron, Genève, Droz, 1972 ; La Saggezza moderna: temi e problemi dell’opera di Pierre Charron. Atti del Convegno di studi in memoria di Giampiero Stabile, Salerno (28-29 ottobre 1985), sous la direction de Vittorio Dini et Domenico Taranto, Naples, Ed. scientifiche italiane, 1987 ; Franco Polato, Saggezza e politica in Pierre Charron con antologia degli scritti, Bologne, CLUEB, 1987 ; Michel Adam, Etudes sur Pierre Charron, Bordeaux, Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, 1991 ; Christian Belin, L’Œuvre de Pierre Charron 1541-1603. Littérature et théologie de Montaigne à Port- Royal, Paris, H. Champion, 1995 ; Marie-Luce Demonet, « Les propres de l’homme chez Montaigne et Charron », in Montaigne et la question de l’homme, éd. M.-L. Demonet, Paris, 1999, pp. 47-84 ; ead., « Le langage de Montaigne à Charron : la fin du doute », Bulletin de la Société des Amis de Montaigne, n° 13-14, 1999, pp. 29-43 ; Emmanuel Faye, Philosophie et perfection de l’homme. De la Renaissance en France à Descartes, Paris, 1997 ; Thierry Gontier, « Montaigne et Charron. Stratégies du scepticisme », in Montaigne et la question de l’homme, op. cit., pp. 103-143 ; id., « Entre les ‘Politiques’ et Montaigne : le théologico-politique chez Pierre Charron », Montaigne Studies, vol. 12, 2000, pp. 105-122 ; id., « Pierre Charron », in Dictionnaire de Michel de Montaigne, sous la direction de Philippe Desan, Paris, H. Champion, 2007, pp. 182-185 ; Jeffrey A. Zuñiga Father Pierre Charron (1541-1603). Toward a Life of Wisdom, Manille, University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2001 ; Philippe Desan, Montaigne dans tous ses états, Fasano, Schena Editore, 2001, pp. 363-377 ; Jean-Pierre Cavaillé, « Pierre Charron, ‘disciple’ de Montaigne et ‘patriarche des prétendus esprits forts’ », Montaigne Studies, vol. 19, 2007, pp. 29-41 ; Nicola Panichi, « Della scienza alla saggezza : Charron lettore di Montaigne », ibid., pp. 43-56. 7 CORPUS, revue de philosophie 8 UN SUCCÈS ÉDITORIAL À L’AUBE DE L’ÂGE CLASSIQUE : LA SAGESSE DE PIERRE CHARRON Pierre Charron occupe une place centrale dans la philo- sophie de langue française au XVIIe siècle, entre Montaigne (si du moins ce n’est pas une erreur de perspective que de considérer l’auteur des Essais comme un philosophe), et Descartes. Il serait plus juste de dire toutefois que c’est son grand livre, La Sagesse, qui s’est imposé comme un succès éditorial à cette époque que l’on considère encore comme une époque de transition. Ce succès était posthume et donnait à l’auteur une notoriété qu’il n’avait pas connue de son vivant, « Charron appears to have been little known and without connections », ainsi que le notait Alfred Soman, dans une étude fondatrice1. Charron en effet n’avait pas été membre de la Respublica literaria de laquelle il briguait peut-être une marque de reconnaissance.
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