Université Jean Moulin-Lyon 3. Faculté de philosophie. IHRIM-Lyon3
1-2 avril 2020
Organisation: M.-F. Pellegrin
Comité scientifique: Ph. Desan, S. Ebbersmeyer, E. Ferrari, I. Garnier, T. Gontier,R. Hagengruber, S. Hutton, M.-F. Pellegrin, L. Shapiro.
Proposals for contributions must include a title and a summary of 200 words. They must be sent as an attachment (word or PDF) to M.-F. Pellegrin (marie-frederique.pellegrin@univ-lyon3.fr) before September 15, 2019. They will then be examined by the scientific committee of the conference.
Link to announcement : https://www.fabula.org/actualites/gournay-philosophe_90624.php
Marie le Jars de Gournay (1565–1645) is a philosopher, or at least that is the premise of this call for papers. A writer, translator, publisher, linguist, critic, literary theorist, she is already recognized as a woman of letters. She is usually associated with philosophy by way of her relationship with Montaigne, who referred to her as his adopted daughter, or fille d’alliance, and entrusted her with the posthumous publication of his Essays. We also know about her connection to La Mothe La Vayer, which invites a study of her intellectual connection to certain modern forms of scepticism beyond just Montaigne (notably with what has been called libertinage érudit). From a philosophical perspective, therefore, it is of interest first of all to look more closely at the role of scepticism in her thought. But reading her work also requires making sense of her use of Platonism and Aristotelianism. Just the variety of these influences shows the role philosophy plays in her thought. This leads on the one hand to a need for a precise study of the philosophical influences in Gournay’s work, and on the other hand to the question of whether Gournay has her own philosophy that can be illustrated and explained.
It would seem, then, that Gournay is not a philosopher simply by erudition and absorption. Her writings confront numerous philosophical issues through a large variety of genres: autobiography, maxims, digressions, philosophical commentary, and the promenade (philosophical novel and meditation), not to mention the treatise, are all ways of thinking and expressing philosophical convictions. The formal abundance of Gournay’s work in itself illustrates, moreover, the need to rethink the recognized forms of philosophical expression in the modern era, especially if we want to include women philosophers.
Many of the topics that interest Gournay touch on philosophy either indirectly or directly: indirectly, for example, when her poetic bias in favour of Petrarchism suggests anti-Stoic concerns; more directly, of course, with her philosophical treatises on equality. It is significant that Bayle cites her alongside Poulain de la Barre among the theorists of gender equality in note B of the article on “Marinella” in the Dictionnaire historique et critique.
Indeed, Gournay proposes a vast reflection on humans and their innate and constructed capacities. She thus examines the question of sex and of gender. At its heart, her philosophical reflection is feminist. Her thought in this respect is original in more than one way. First, the framework of equality that she champions is a minority framework, and thus original in its time. Second, her feminism does not simply have a religious or moral dimension; she makes it a social issue and statement. It is the place of scholars, and especially of female scholars in society that interests her. The issue is therefore also political. In this perspective, Gournay takes part in important political debates.
She is simultaneously associated with the academic projects that were reshaping the world of letters at this time. In light of the significant changes taking place in this milieu, Gournay’s modernism and anti-modernism also deserve to be interrogated in a philosophical and political way.
At any rate, such positions vis-à-vis her own society also demonstrate an ethical reflection whose moralistic themes have a profoundly philosophical depth.
It is finally important to emphasize Gournay as a scientist, who we know still too little. Passionate about experiments, in particular in the alchemical domain, Gournay dedicates a lot of time and of money to her scientific researches. This interest can be put in touch with her appreciation of the role of the curiosity (in particular feminine) in science.
What are de Gournay’s philosophical influences?
Can we identify Gournay’s own philosophy?
What are the anthropological, moral, social, and political stakes of her feminism?
The larger aim of this symposium is to participate in the exhumation of a philosophical matrimoine (exhumantion of a female philosophical heritage) which is actually remarkable for the modern era, but which the standard philosophical canon still largely obscures, especially in France. Many seventeenth-century writers of both sexes who patiently compiled lists of learned women invite this kind of investigation. Specifically, Gilles Ménage encourages such an approach, having published his Histoire des femmes philosophes, which deals only with Antiquity, in 1690. It is appropriate to extend this valorisation of women philosophers into his own time, namely the modern era.
Following the symposium, the contributions retained by the committee will be published in a volume that aims to be a kind of Companion to Gournay. It will be published in English in the collection Women in the History of Philosophy and Sciences (Springer; Eds. R. Hagengruber, G. Paganini, M. E. Waithe) in order to reach a large audience of specialists, non-specialists, and curious readers.