FRENCH 17

AUNE, BRUCE. "Speaking of Selves." PhQ 44 (1994), 279–93.

A. examines ideas of John Mackie ("The Transcendental 'I'"), Roderick Chisholm ("On the Simplicity of the Soul"), and Elizabeth Anscombe ("The First Person"). A. sets out ". . . to expose an instructive error that seems to motivate exotic theories of 'the self.' Such theories have appeared regularly since the time of Descartes; [B.] wants to make another attempt to stop them." A. notes that he has "tacitly criticized the basic strategy [Chisholm] employed in supporting his belief that a Cartesian view of persons is still a live option." According to A., ". . . Chisholm focused his attention on a limited number of alleged metaphysical certainties, and thereby neglected much (perhaps most) of what we actually know or have good reason to believe about the nature of living human beings."

AVIGDOR, EVA. "Jérusalem dans la mémoire du XVIIe siècle." PFSCL 21 (1994), 485–498.

A. questions whether Jerusalem as a "place of memory" enjoyed a special status during the century. The common view of Jerusalem—that of the Old and New Testaments rather than the Crusades—is attributed to the Bible, the writings of Josèphe Flavius, and religious art.

BARBER, KENNETH F. and JORGE J. E. GRACIA, eds. Individuation and Identity in Early Modern Philosophy: Descartes to Kant. Albany: SUNY UP, 1994.

Review: M. A. Bertman in Choice 32 (1994), 298: "The ten articles in this collection discuss a central metaphysical consideration of early modern philosophy, from Descartes to Kant: the issue of identity and difference, a topic that persists into modern discussions .... The collection on the whole is excellent (almost all the articles are of an extremely high caliber)," says the reviewer, who regrets the absence of an essay on Hobbes, because the latter (in "Identity and Difference") "presents a path against his Cartesian opponents, of which this collection has ample discussion ...." Despite this perceived gap, M. A. B. says "... this outstanding collection should be obtained for every college library; it fills a real need for quality work overviewing what is perhaps the defining central issue of modern philosophy." Thomas Lennon's article "Individuation among the Cartesians" is mentioned in favorable terms.

BAR ON, BAT-AMI, ed. Modern Engendering: Critical Feminist Readings in Modern Western Philosophy. Albany: SUNY P, 1994.

Review: J. Genova in Choice 31 (1994), 1596: Descartes is among the numerous philosophers discussed in "this comprehensive collection of feminist critiques of the Western canon ...." "Written in a variety of philosophical styles and from a variety of viewpoints, the essays provide a source book of ideas for those beginning to question the so called gender neutrality of Western philosophy." G. praises this collection and "the companion volume (Engendering Origins . . .)," which deals with Plato and Aristotle, for "bring[ing] such variegated and sophisticated critical scrutiny to bear on the thinkers of the Western tradition. Interestingly," adds the reviewer, "the essays reveal a love/hate ambivalence with philosophy's founding figures."

BETEROUS, PAULE V. "Quand l'image rejoint le livre: schémas littéraires et artistiques de l'hagiographie de Verdelais." RFHL 78–79 (1993), 89–112.

The town of Verdelais located in the Entre-Deux-Mers area near Bordeaux has a Marian sanctuary whose ex-votos, painted from the early 17th century to the turn of our century, should be studied carefully by arts and literature specialists. The author examine the complex relationship between image and religious interpration as presented by Father Claude Proust's Guide des Pèlerins de Notre-Dame de Verdelais, published at Bordeaux in 1674.

BLAY, MICHEL. La Naissance de la mécanique analytique. La Science du mouvement au tournant des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1992.

Review: A. Bertrand in EP 4 (1993), 546–548: "Le travail de M. Blay présente un double intérêt: restituer d'abord les médiations qui ont permis le passage des conceptualisations géométriques de l'infiniment petit à une science différentielle du mouvement, et poser ensuite le problème du fondement des mathématiques qu'une réflexion rigoureuse concernant la légitimité de ce passage rendait nécessaire; histoire des sciences et philosophie se complètent ici pour donner lieu à un ouvrage d'une précision et d'une clarté remarquables".

Review: Gilbert Walusinski in QL (16–31 mai 1994), 27–28: "Au XVlle siècle, aussi bien chez Descartes que chez Galilée, et encore chez Newton 'la géométrie est le paradigme du vrai savoir' (J. M. P.) .... Pourtant, . . . [en] 1684, Leibniz a publié son premier texte fondateur du calcul différentiel. Mais ni l'inventeur, ni les savants qui l'ont lu n'emploient le nouvel algorithme dans les problèmes du mouvement. On s'en tient, comme Leibniz lui même, aux problèmes géométriques ...." "Quant à la théorie du mouvement, si Leibniz s'y est employé, . . . il faut attendre 1689 pour qu'il développe une transposition algorithmique encore incomplète. Qu'y manque t il? Sans doute le concept de 'vitesse à chaque instant' comme dira Varignon .... C'est sans doute un des intérêts principaux du livre de M. B. de faire, dans cette histoire de la mécanique, la juste place qui lui revient à Pierre Varignon, ce précurseur ignoré des grandes encyclopédies ...."

BURY, EMMANUEL. "L'humanisme de Huet: 'paideia' et érudition à la veille des Lumières," in Pierre Daniel Huet (1630–1721). Actes du colloque de Caen (November 12–13, 1993). PFSCL/Biblio 17, 83 (1994), 197–209.

B. assesses the many contradictions in H.'s life and work: he is proof that "les mutations progressives dans ce domaine font de l'âge classique une sphère ample qui va au moins du doute montainien aux certitudes voltairiennes, . . . ."

CAPECCHI, ANNA MARIA et al. L'Accademia dei Lincei e la cultura europea nel XVII secolo. Manoscritti. Libri. Incisioni. Strumenti scientifici. Rome: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 1991.

Review: R. Darricau in RHLF 80–81 (1993), 387–388: This is the catalogue of a memorable exhibition held in Rome and Paris which commemorated the birth of modern scientific culture in 17th-century Europe. It focused on the collections of the founder of the Lincei Academy, Federico Cesi. A "beau catalogue".

CARRIOU, PIERRE. Les idéalités casuistiques. Aux origines de la psychanalyse. Paris: PUF, 1992.

Review: Jacques Le Brun in DSS 182 (janvier mars 1994), 188–189: Cette étude des cas de conscience rédigés par Sainte Beuve a pour défaut d'avoir voulu se limiter au texte sans tenir compte du travail de critique à ce sujet. Il est également regrettable que "les pages consacrées à 'Freud et la direction de conscience' soient sommaires et ne suffisent pas à justifier le sous titre."

CASCARDI, ANIHONY. The Subject of Modernity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Review: P. Miers in MLN 108 (1993), 1000–03: Study both conventional and original: "conventional in its careful, linear reading of the old familiar texts: Descartes, Hobbes, the Don Juan myth, Pascal and Cervantes. What is exceptional is that as Cascardi reads these texts he develops an argument for using the Hegelian account of desire in order to save Kant's notion of judgment, seeking to defend modernism from both the sterility of Habermasian renormalization and guerilla attacks by the trendy postmoderns. Unfortunately, the argument is only two thirds developed. We are given a revisionist account of the origins of modernism, a turn through Hegel on desire, but the final treatment of judgment is so compressed that it is hard to get a sense of the whole argument and its critical consequence ."

Review: J. Tambling in MLR 89 (1994), 435–37: C. "traces the history of modernity from the moment of Descartes and Hobbes onwards. One inspiration for going thus far back comes from Heidegger in the essay 'The Age of the World Picture' which argues that with the Cartesian moment comes the time when the world can be viewed as a picture by the subject who stands outside it, 'that the world becomes a picture at all is what defines subjectivity and distinguishes modernity as an historical paradigm."

CHILD, WILLIAM. "Vision and Causation: Reply to Hyman." PhQ 44 (1994), 361–69.

"Can we accept the causal theory of vision without accepting a broadly Cartesian view of visual experience—a view in which a visual experience is conceived as a subjective, mental ingredient in cases of seeing, a psychological episode of a kind common to cases of vision and hallucination?" C. and John Hyman have differing views of this matter. C. asserts, "objections to causal theories in the philosophy of mind have typically supposed that causalism was committed to a Cartesian, or Humean, view of mind .... [C.] rejects the Humean view, but insists that we should, none the less, think of the mental in causal terms."

CLARKE, DESMOND M. Occult Powers and Hypotheses. Cartesian Philosophy under Louis XIV. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.

Review: B. Hespel in RPL 91.2 (1991), 473–474: Clarke's contribution exceeds the scope of his book "qui se veut un simple livre d'histoire de la philosophie". He shows that far from being outmoded in the second part of the 17th-century, Descartes's conception of science even pervaded Newton's Principia Philosophiae and influenced all French scientists and philosophers from Rohault to Malebranche. "Un livre important" that one should read "lorsqu'on souhaitera estimer" what our conception of science owes to Descartes and his followers.

COIRAULT, YVES. "Saint Simon et les figures traditionnelles du sacre de Reims." PFSCL/Biblio 17, 80 (1993), 377–389.

"Etant discours de la pairie, le discours saint simonien du sacre se présente essentiellement comme un discours de l'inégalité."

COSTA, M., ed. Albert Bailly Evêque d'Aoste, trois siècles après (1691–1991). Actes du Colloque International d'Aoste (11–12 October, 1991). Aoste: Imprimerie Valdôtaine, 1993.

Review: D. Dalla Valle in PFSCL 21 (1994), 572: A major collection of studies of the religious and political figure.

DE PONTVILLE, M. "Pierre Daniel Huet, homme de sciences," in Pierre Daniel Huet (1630–1721). Actes du colloque de Caen (November 12–13, 1993). PFSCL/Biblio 17, 83 (1994), 29–41.

H.'s interest and accomplishments in the physical sciences, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, geography, and archeology. One finds in his work a "mise en cause du principe d'autorité, mise en valeur par contraste de l'observation et de l'expérience, pratique du doute systématique et de la discussion permanente."

DILMA, ILHAM. Existentialist Critiques of Cartesianism. London: Macmillan, 1993.

Review: J. H. Barker in Choice 31 (1994), 1449: The book is described as "an interesting attempt to compare existentialist critiques of objectivist (including Cartesian) epistemology with Wittgenstein's reformulation of epistemology and philosophy more generally. Even more interesting," says B., "D. does not rest with Wittgenstein but attempts to formulate an original epistemological and metaphysical position that emphasizes existential notions of the lived body in what D. calls the 'personal dimension.' His argument against Heidegger and Sartre would have been more convincing with at least some discussion of Husserl . . . ," in B.'s opinion. B. finds that ". . . D.'s own position . . . provides a useful and insightful account of the possibilities of knowledge, freedom, and change."

DUFOURCQ, ELISABETH. Les Aventurières de Dieu: Trois siècles d'histoire missionnaire française. Paris: Jean Claude Lattès, 1993.

Review: A. Zavriew in RDM (mars 1994), 188–89: "Travail considérable, fruit de longues recherches. . . . Mais l'on est surtout sensible à l'attention portée à la problématique de l'action missionnaire et à ses ambiguités."

DUPRE, LOUIS. Passage to Modernity. New Haven: Yale UP, 1993.

Review: Anon. in VQR 70 (1994), 14: "This 'essay in the hermeneutics of nature and culture' focuses on the problem of modernity from an avowedly theological perspective. Broad in scope, D.'s reflections range over the cultural history extending from ancient Greece through the Baroque. In the tradition of Cassirer, the author traces the origins of the modern self, 'separated from that totality which once nurtured it,' and he aspires to a new wholeness in an age of disintegration." The reviewer predicts that "this . . . book . . . will be eagerly read by philosophers, theologians, and cultural historians."

EAMON, WILLIAM. Science and the Secrets of Nature: Books of Secrets in Medieval and Early Modern Culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1994 .

Review: J. L. McKnight in Choice 32 (1994), 477: "Although academic science of the Middle Ages was officially based on Aristotelian philosophy, E.... shows that there was a parallel interest among the literate in 'secrets,' the hidden parts of nature discovered by empirical means. Manuscript books of these occult recipes were popular for their promise of providing mastery of nature. With the advent of printing and its attendant increase in literacy, books of secrets became one of the most popular products of printers throughout Europe.... E. demonstrates convincingly how the empirical approach exemplified in these books led to the foundation of the scientific societies of the 17th century, which mark the beginnings of modern science." M. considers the book to be "a valuable addition to the history of science ...."

ENCYCLOPEDIE PHILOSOPHIQUE UNIVERSELLE, vol. 3: Les Oeuvres philosophiques. Paris: PUF, 1992.

Review: Jean Lacoste in QL (16–28 févr. 1993), 18–20: Project directed by Jean François Mattéi: "ce dictionnaire, ce sont deux épais volumes totalisant 4 656 pages, 1 400 spécialistes, 9 100 oeuvres et 5 400 auteurs analysés!" The work is divided into three parts. "La première partie—le bloc de la philosophie proprement dite, définie par son origine grecque et, plus largement, par l'usage de l'écriture—est elle-même divisée chronologiquement en six périodes [y compris] . . . l'Age classique (1599 1789).... A l'intérieur de chaque grande période les auteurs sont classés par ordre alphabétique et les oeuvres sont résumées en suivant de nouveau l'ordre chronologique." Somewhat mixed assessment, but L. believes that this expensive work (4 500 F) "peut offrir d'immenses services dans les travaux de recherche, d'édition et de traduction ...."

GANS, ERIC. Originary Thinking: Elements of Generative Anthropology. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1993.

Review: Andrew J. McKenna in P&L 18 (1994), 171–72: "This is an important book," M. declares; "it makes a simple and eminently reasonable demand of academics .... Generative anthropology asks us to focus on the unity of our species intensely and rigorously enough to entertain a hypothesis of human origins that is congruent with our entire cultural evolution ...." This book "regales the reader with stunning insights into classical, neoclassical, romantic, modernist, and postmodernist anthropologies that complement even while trying to negate each other." "The founding idea is René Girard's, namely that desire is mimetic ...." "... Neoclassical aesthetics is Christianity's decisive contribution, variously formulating the insight, requisite to all theologies but also to humanistic inquiry, of God's definitive absence." In M.'s view, ". . . G. rightly and penetratingly reveals aesthetics as indissociable from our ethical inquiry."

GINGERICH, OWEN. The Eye of Heaven: Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler. New York: American Institute of Physics, 1993 .

Review: H. E. Wylen in Choice 31 (1993), 626: "This outstanding volume collects 25 lightly edited papers on the history of astronomy ...." W. finds the papers to be "uniformly well written ...." "Collectively, these papers deal in depth with an extremely important period in the history of astronomy and are presented at a level understandable to a broad range of readers.... Highly recommended.

GOLDMAN, ALVIN. Liaisons: Philosophy Meets the Cognitive and Social Sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992.

Review: Andrew Pessin in PhQ 44 (1994), 255–57: "This is a selection of G.'s essays from the last twenty five years," including two new ones; "together they express the central themes of his work in epistemology and the philosophy of mind during this period. Of these themes one dominates the book . . .: the growing interfaces between traditionally a priori philosophy and various empirical sciences such as the cognitive and social sciences." Having mentioned "virtues" of the book, P. also cites "minor drawbacks"; according to P., "'the diachronic development . . . sometimes leads to repetitiveness . . . (e.g., in [G.'s] numerous treatments of the standard Cartesian Demon objection to reliabilism)." After calling attention to such "minor problems" in the study, P. concludes: "In general the book definitely merits a place on the bookshelves of epistemologists, philosophers of mind, cognitive scientists and philosophers of the social sciences."

GORHAM, GEOFFREY. "Mind Body Dualism and the Harvey Descartes Controversy." JHI 55 (1994), 211–234.

Study argues that Descartes "rejected Harvey's theory [of the cause of the heart's motion] because it seemed to him to require an unconscious mental operation, something entirely contrary to the principles of Descartes's famous dualistic ontology."

GOUHIER, PIERRE. "Vocation précoce, ordination tardive: la carrière ecclésiastique de Pierre Daniel Huet, " in Pierre Daniel Huet (1630–1721). Actes du colloque de Caen(November 12–13, 1993). PFSCL/Biblio 17, 83 (1994), 13–27.

Reviews H.'s career as a priest and bishop. Includes a section on iconography.

GUGGISBERG, HANS R., FRANK LESTRINGANT, AND JEAN CLAUDE MARGOLIN, eds. La liberté de conscience (XVIe–XVIIe siècles). Genève: Droz, 1991.

Review: L. Godard de Donville in PFSCL 31 (1994), 248–252: Papers from a conference on the theme during the 16th and 17th centuries.

HALLYN, FERNAND. The Poetic Structure of the World: Copernicus and Kepler. Trans.Donald M. Leslie. New York: Zone Books, 1993.

Review: Sandra Sherman in P&L 18 (1994), 189–91: This book "transcends its locus in the Renaissance, merging into that genre of texts which theorize scientific change. In its potential application," the reviewer believes, "it could have the impact of Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.... K. argues that change results when science culture radically breaks with prior models. H., however, focuses on how new hypotheses are chosen, and argues that the process is not delimited by 'science,' but is conditioned by a cultural dynamic in which science, art, indeed contemporary notions of representation and symbolology, constitute an intertext.

HARTH, ERICA. Cartesian Women. Versions and Subversions of Rational Discourse. Ithaca/London: Cornell University Press, 1992.

Review: E. Henein in PFSCL 31 (1994), 253–255: A study of the liberation and a new form of subordination of women in the context of D.'s thought. An important contribution to the study of the history of ideas.

Review: Susan Yates in RR 85.1 (1994) 159–60. A favorable review, Yates' evaluation stresses H's contribution to the "new feminist tradition" which seeks "examination of womens' history and literary production along with men's." H. sees "Cartesian women"—from the précieuses to Olympe de Gouges,—as those who believed that reason and "bon sens" were bestowed to all, and who saw Cartesian dualism as a means of discounting what was perceivedas "bodily frailty." This outlook permitted women to view themselves as "thinking subjects."

HERMANS, HUBERT J. M. and HARRY J. G. KEMPEN. The Dialogical Self: Meaning as Movement. Alberta: Academic Press, 1993.

Review: H. Storl in Choice 31 (1994), 1146: "Descartes' (largely) self sufficient self is at odds with findings in fields as diverse as psychology, sociology, literature, and biology." In the book being reviewed, the authors "expose the inadequacies of the Cartesian paradigm by reconsidering Giambattista Vico's conclusion that D.'s metaphysical and epistemological account of the self invites a 'serious reduction of the human condition, resulting in an ahistorical and disembodied conception of the mind.' As an alternative to Descartes view, H. and K. draw upon the ideas of William James, George Herbert Mead, . . . M. M. Bakhtin, and Theodore R. Sarbin to develop the thesis that the self is not by nature monistic, but pluralistic. In particular, the self is defined as a 'multiplicity of I positions."' S. adds that ". . . helpful case studies and endnotes make the text accessible to a wide audience...."

HJORT, METTE. The Strategy of Letters. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1993.

Review: James L. Battersby in P&L 18 (1994), 182–84: "M. H.'s intelligent and challenging book seeks to outline the theoretical underpinnings and practical implications of a critical discourse sensitive at once to the instrumental rationality of agents in interactive and conflictual situations and to the social and political conditions largely constitutive of those situations. She hopes, thus, to mediate between the intentionalist assumptions of 'humanist' critics and the 'globalizing,' 'holistic' inclinations of many poststructuralist critics who treat literary works as consequences, instances, or signs of something else, of language, discourse, or such macro forces as politics, power, or ideology." Works and figures discussed in the book include "Molière's Tartuffe and the public debate and controversy it occasioned," and "the antitheatrical writings of Pierre Nicole and William Prynne." B. states that ". . . most readers, and all fair ones, will recognize the importance of M. H.'s intellectual achievement" in this book.

HUFF, TOBY E. The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China, and the West. New York: Cambridge UP, 1993.

Review: L. C. Archie in Choice 31 (1994), 1601: "The historical sociology of science presented here draws from the studies of Robert Merton, Thomas Kuhn, Joseph Needham, and Benjamin Nelson and contrasts the development of science in the East and West. H.... undertakes a comparative study of the emergence of Arabic, Chinese, and Western science in the context of law, theology, philosophy, and social institutions." "The distinguishing feature of this study," according to A., "is the scale of the overview of Eastern and Western attitudes toward science; for this reason this basic text is recommended for university collections in the sociology of science.

JULLIEN, VINCENT. "La mémoire et les débuts de la formalisation mathématique." PFSCL/Biblio 17, 80 (1993), 75–89.

Studies the change in mathematical notation that occurred during the century: "il signale et organise . . . le détachement de la communication mathématique d'avec la langue usuelle."

KLAUBER, MARTIN I. "Between Protestant Orthodoxy and Rationalism: Fundamental Articles in the Early Career of Jean Le Clerc." JHI 54 (1993), 611–636.

A study of the Remonstrant theologian's debate with Richard Simon over the fundamental articles of the faith, a debate that had a major effect on the development of Biblical criticism.

KOCHHAR LINDGREN, GRAY. Narcissus Transformed: The Textual Subject in Psychoanalysis and Literature. University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 1993.

Review: Jerome Schwartz in P&L 18 (1994), 368–70: The first chapter of this book includes brief discussion of Descartes, "among many others." "In philosophy the Cartesian foundation of philosophical narcissism has been irremediably challenged by the emergence, through psychoanalysis and literary theory and practice, of the unconscious and the fictional ruses of metaphorical thinking and 'mythicity' as attempts to fill the gap between language and meaning."

KRETZMANN, NORMAN and ELEONORE STUMP, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Aquinas. New York: Cambridge UP, 1993.

Review: John Jenkins in PhQ 44 (1994), 549–51: Various essays in the volume are discussed. ". . . Scott MacDonald ('Theory of Knowledge') writes that 'Aquinas' own grounds for thinking our faculties reliable are similar to Descartes'.... If this Cartesian Aquinas is the real one, then his confidence in his conclusions must depend largely on his philosophical arguments for the existence of a good creator.... M.'s reading, however, is hard to square with Aquinas' ambivalent attitude towards purely philosophical reasoning . . . ," says J., whose evaluation of the volume is favorable. "Not only is the book valuable for the fine essays it contains, but also because it can direct the perceptive and diligent reader to some of the unresolved issues in a vibrant and engaging field of scholarship."

KVANVIG, JONATHAN L. The Intellectual Virtues and the Life of the Mind. Savage, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1992.

Review: Steven D. Hales in PhQ 44 (1994), 254–55: "K.'s book is an extended treatment of a currently popular (cutting edge or trendy? perhaps too early to tell) movement in epistemology that of importing virtue notions into epistemology. The idea that there is a connection between ethics and epistemology is nothing new .... The recent twist is the application of virtue theory, which K. claims ought to be the focus of epistemology. Despite some weaknesses, his book is thoughtful and meticulous, and will have to be taken seriously by anyone interested in virtue epistemology." The author "begins by setting up two competing perspectives. The first is 'Cartesianism.' ... The second is virtue theory ...." According to K., "(1) there is something important about intellectual virtues, and (2) their importance cannot be captured by Cartesianism. It is to the second point that he devotes most of the book."

LAMPERT, LAURENCE. Nietzsche and Modern Times: A Study of Bacon, Descartes, and Nietzsche. New Haven: Yale UP, 1993.

Review: G. J. Stack in Choice 31 (1994), 1308: "In this scholarly, ambitious, and incisive endeavor, L.... digs—following the lead of Leo Strauss and Stanley Rosen—patiently and deeply beneath the surface of the writings of Francis Bacon and René Descartes to uncover their 'esoteric' teachings, their subtle and indirect efforts to displace a culture dominated by the dogmas and righteous violence of religion and establish the basis for a 'philanthropic' culture of science. With remarkable care and close reading, he uncovers B.'s 'holy war' against religious fanaticism and for the advancement of science and sees D.'s major writings as esoterically proposing a mathematical physics and a naturalism disguised by metaphysical meditations that D. signals are not worth considering." Calling attention to the author's "detailed (and bold) account of two giants of early 'modernity' . . . ," the reviewer "hlighly recommend[s]" L.'s book.

LLOYD, GENEVIEVE. Being in Time: Selves and Narrators in Philosophy and Literature. New York: Routledge, 1993.

Review: Peter Losin in P&L 18 (1994), 409–10: This work focuses on "the relationship between consciousness, especially self consciousness, and time. A subtopic is the role of narrative in reporting,solidifying, and creating consciousness." Among the works discussed is Descartes's Meditations. "In the absence of a settled and justified conviction of God's existence, the Cartesian self is radically dependent on God and trapped within itself. L. argues that the Meditations chronicles [sic] the self's movement from this unsettled condition to a unified consciousness .... The strength of L.'s discussion here is her attention to ways in which Descartes's epistemological and psychological claims are embodied in the narrative structure of the Meditations." The reviewer notes that the book includes "useful discussions of Humean reactions to Cartesian views, and Kantian reactions to Humean skepticism."

MAKARIAN, CHRISTIAN. "Les Mystères de la vierge Marie." Le Point (21 mai 1994), 54–65.

Article includes references to Louis XIII, who "a donné à son royaume la Vierge Marie comme patronne . . . ," and to Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673–1716), described as "le plus grand apologiste de la Sainte Vierge ...."

MAKARIAN, CHRISTIAN. "Amishs: Le Pèlerinage au bercail alsacien." Le Point (28 août 3 sep. 1993), 59.

Concerns a number of "amishs américains [qui] sont venus commémorer l'exode de leurs ancêtres chassés de France par Louis XIV." "Persécutés par les catholiques, rejetés par les autres protestants, Jakob [Amann] et ses brebis, baptisées amishs quittèrent l'Alsace en 1712, sur l'ordre de Louis XIV, pour s'établir en Amérique, nouveau Canaan de ces misanthropes germanophones." Numerous descendants of these people "ont choisi de revenir à Sainte Marie aux Mines, sur la terre de leurs ancêtres, pour célébrer le troisième centenaire de l'exode ....

MALBREIL, GERMAIN. "Le Traité philosophique de la foiblesse de l'esprit humain, de feu Monsieur Huet, ancien Evêque d'Avranches," in Pierre Daniel Huet (1630–1721). Actes du colloque de Caen (November 12–13, 1993). PFSCL/Biblio 17, 83 (1994), 169–182.

M. sees the message of the controversial work as one of "demeurer universel et ouvert à tous, se prêter à autrui et ne se donner qu'à soi même, ne s'attacher et mordre qu'à bien peu, bref se tenir toujours à soi, 'parcourir toutes les sectes, dit H., en n'adhérant à aucune'."

MANNS, JAMES W. Reid and His French Disciples: Aesthetics and Metaphysics. Leiden/Kinderhook, NY: E. J. Brill, 1994.

Review: G. J. Dalcourt in Choice 32 (1994), 128: "Although scholars in this century have tended to dismiss the spiritualist thinkers who dominated French academic philosophy in the 1800s as unoriginal and parasitic on German idealism," according to D., "they have maintained a vigorous interest in the philosophy and influence of Thomas Reid. M.... argues here that the spiritualists borrowed little from the idealists but did rely greatly on Reid and Leibniz." The book includes "a lucid presentation of R.'s objections to Descartes, Locke, and Hume, as well as an insightful, readable, and at times humorous discussion of certain aspects of the political and intellectual life of France in the last century.

MARION, JEAN LUC. "Metaphysics and Phenomenology: A Relief for Theology. Trans.Thomas A. Carlson. CritI 20 (1994), 572–91.

M. summarizes his objectives: "In succession, . . . we will examine the meta physical figure of philosophy and the thought of God that it actualizes, and then the phenomenological figure of philosophy and the possibility that it keeps in store for God." Included in the article are brief references to Pascal and to Descartes.

MEYER, VERONIQUE. "Un recueil de thèses de médecine bordelaises." RFHL 80–81 (1993), 231–270.

A presentation and study of the 37 medical theses published in Bordeaux between 1616 and 1643 which are now in the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris. Meyer examines mainly the engravings that honored the authors's patrons. It was customary for publishers, since the new doctors were poor, to borrow and adapt pictures taken from previous theses.

MITCHELL, DONALD. "Reclaiming the Self: The Pascal Rousseau Connection." JHI 54 (1993), 637–658.

Traces Pascal's influence on Rousseau's fascination with the sources of deception and dissimulation in human conduct.

MORGAN, VANCE G. Foundations of Cartesian Ethics. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities, 1994.

Review: H. Pospesel in Choice 32 (1994), 299: "M. expounds D.'s ethical views set out in Part 3 of The Discourse on Method, the correspondence with Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia, and The Passions of the Soul. D.'s accomplishments in ethics are generally regarded as slight; that helps explain why this is the only book length treatment of Cartesian ethics in English.... M. contends that there is more to D.'s ethics than has generally been recognized. He outlines a view in which virtue is held to be a kind of attitude: roughly, the resolve to act rationally, mastering the passions. Those who achieve virtue so understood are rewarded with contentment. The book is written clearly and argued reasonably well," states P.; "the emphasis is on exposition rather than on critical evaluation. The most philosophically interesting parts of the book concern the connections between D.'s ethical views and his epistemology and metaphysics . "

MOROT SIR, EDOUARD. The Imagination of Reference: Meditating the Linguistic Condition. Gainesville: UP of Florida, 1993.

Review: Peter M. Cryle in SoAR 58.4 (1993), 123–25: C. finds this study "difficult . . . to situate . . . because it stands between or among so many disciplines." The reviewer states that the book "actually takes the form of a meditation, or a series of meditations," in which Descartes plays a role. "The outcome of these meditations . . . is a radically profound understanding of the nature and importance of reference." The author's "interest is . . . in referring as process, in the inescapable implication of reference in language." Despite its "clumsy expressions and . . . gallicisms," C. says ". . . this book is thoroughly and splendidly written." "Here is M. S.'s version of the Cartesian cogito: '. . . I write, therefore I refer to, which ... should be written: Writing, I refer to' ...." The reviewer believes this volume offers "an opportunity for specialists in literary criticism, as well as philosophers, to read a work of philosophy that knows itself to be written and aligns itself, helpfully and productively, with literature as meditation."

Review: David Herman in P&L 18 (1994), 167–69: "This book contains five 'Meditations' that purport to show how received ideas about the nature of language have prevented us from realizing that to exist is to refer to .... From the start, M. S.'s reexamination of reference is an avowedly interdisciplinary enterprise ...." H. finds that "... the chief strength of . . . [the volume] is also its weakness: the interdisciplinary outlook of the book, its attempt to make a synoptic survey of ideas drawn from linguistics, philosophy, and literary studies in discussing the dynamics of reference, gives way in the end to a methodological eclecticism as provocative as it is piecemeal." "Meditation One . . . acknowledges the broadly Cartesian inspiration of the book . . . ," which, according to H., "sometimes degenerates into a sort of pastiche of philosophico linguistic concepts." "Arguably, by construing 'Existence as Reference' (the title of his last Meditation), M. S. opens himself to the objection that in his scheme everything and therefore nothing counts as reference."

MOSS, JEAN DIETZ. Novelties in the Heavens: Rhetoric and Science in the Copernican Controversy. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1993.

Review: R. Palter in Choice 31 (1993), 627: "M.'s main thesis is that the Copernican revolution in astronomy was accompanied by a second revolution (for which Galileo was largely responsible) in the course of which astronomy became permeated by the techniques of traditional scholastic rhetoric (which had earlier been restricted primarily to politics and literature).... Essential to the new uses of rhetoric was the growth of a new, more or less popular, audience for science, and M. analyzes the character of this audience. But while she provides a fresh and useful introduction to a few leading issues in 17th century astronomy, some of her claims may be questioned." However, P. does recommend the work "for students of the history and philosophy of science."

NIDERST, ALAIN. "Comparatisme et syncrétisme religieux de Huet," in Pierre Daniel Huet (1630–1721). Actes du colloque de Caen(November 12–13, 1993). PFSCL/Biblio 17, 83 (1994), 75–82.

"A trop vouloir prouver, à marquer trop de confiance dans l'érudition et trop d'optimisme dans la nature humaine, H. devint l'auxiliaire des déistes et des fossoyeurs de toute religion. Il est vrai qu'il était devenu aussi, et c'est plus précieux pour nous, le précuseur de Georges Dumésnil."

NOURRY, PHILIPPE. "Quand Versailles dresse le grand couvert." Le Point (11–17 déc. 1993),

The article focuses on "cette superbe exposition organisée par la Réunion des musées nationaux et du Musée national du château de Versailles consacrée aux tables royales en Europe ...." "Grâce aux prêts de collections étrangères, cette fastueuse exposition glorifie le savoir faire de l'orfèvrerie française et de la porcelaine de Sèvres."

PETERSON, RODNEY L. Preaching in the Last Days: The Theme of "Two Witnesses" in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. New York: Oxford UP, 1993.

Review: D. C. West Jr. in Choice 31 (1993), 623: This work deals with a theme found in the Book of Revelation. "P.'s fine study focuses on the interpretation of this passage [Rev. 11: 3–13] among Protestant reformers during the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly Anglo American commentators." W. finds the study "well illustrated and indexed (both general and scriptural)," with "[a] good bibliography."

PICHOT, ANDRE. La Notion de vie. Paris: Gallimard, 1993.

Review: André Brack in QL (1er 15 févr, 1994), 26–27: According to B., the author "a réalisé un remarquable travail d'historien en suivant l'évolution de la notion de vie à travers les écrits des grands penseurs et savants de l'Antiquité à l'aube de la biologie contemporaine.... L'auteur distingue deux grandes conceptions de la vie, celle d'Aristote (transition continue de la nature à la vie, de la vie à l'âme) et celle de Descartes (animal machine ou la vie conçue sur le modèle de la physique mécaniste)." Adding to these "deux paradigmes généraux," P. "a . . . superposé un découpage plus fin comprenant l'Antiquité . . ., la Renaissance . . ., la période de la grande crise (Descartes, Malebranche, Stahl et Bichat), et enfin la période contemporaine ...." While enabling the reader to "découvrir comment la pensée humaine a perçu et formulé la notion de vie tout au long de son histoire," the book also provides insight into foundations of scientific thought in the modern world.

RAHE, PAUL. Republics Ancient and Modern. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1992.

Review: David Lewis Schaefer in P&L 18 (1994), 197–98: "Although not strictly concerned with 'literature,' P. R.'s monumental and impressively documented book is essential reading for scholars throughout the humanities as well as in history and political science. Combining the expertise of a classical philologist, a historian, and a scholar of political theory, R. provides a comprehensive examination of the character of political and social life in the ancient polis, highlights the radical differences between classical and modern republicanism, and illuminates the extent to which modern political life owes its distinctive character to a conscious project devised by philosophers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and carried to fruition by the philosophes of the eighteenth century and the founders of the American republic." Descartes is among the authors treated.

RODIS LEWIS, GENEVIEVE. "Huet: Nouveaux mémoires pour servir à l'histoire du cartésianisme," in Pierre Daniel Huet (1630–1721). Actes du colloque de Caen (November 12–13, 1993). PFSCL/Biblio 17, 83 (1994), 183–196.

H. "met très justement en garde contre un Descartes trop sûr de lui, . . . ."

QUANTIN, JEAN LOUIS. "La raison, la certitude, la foi: quelques remarques sur les préliminaires de l'acte de foi selon Huet," in Pierre Daniel Huet (1630–1721). Actes du colloque de Caen(November 12–13, 1993). PFSCL/Biblio 17, 83 (1994), 83–97.

Q. attempts to account for contradictions in H.'s thought: ". . . ce dénigrement théorique de la raison impose précisément de la réintroduire en pratique comme une préparation de la foi."

REVEL, JEAN FRANÆOIS. Histoire de la philosophie occidentale, de Thalès à Kant. New York: Nil Editions, 1993.

Review: Dominique Antoine Grisoni in Le Point (30 avril 1994), 63: "L'anticonformisme est la règle de J. F. R.," says G., "et l'érudition sa religion. Il le montre dans cette réédition de son histoire de la philosophie occidentale." In the varied writings of this "rebelle patenté" (this "esprit libre 'jusqu'au boutiste"' and "critique obstiné"), G. asserts, ". . . on retrouve toujours les mêmes vertus: clarté du verbe, précision de la référence et rigueur du raisonnement." "Brillant, limpide, sérieusement informé, développant avec bonheur l'anecdote et l'exposé de doctrines complexes, l'ouvrage manifeste en bloc toutes les qualités du pédagogue. Et, surtout, il offre une voie royale au non philosophe pour pénétrer les arcanes d'un corpus d'écrits et de travaux qui a la réputation d'être inaccessible au profane."

SALAZAR, PHILIPPE JOSEPH. "Huet, ou l'art de parler de soi," in Pierre Daniel Huet (1630–1721). Actes du colloque de Caen (November 12–13, 1993). PFSCL/Biblio 17, 83 (1994), 133–140.

"Face aux Modernes, H. affirme l'existence d'un soi . . . et qu'il lui faut résister, . . . à la moderne tentation de parler non pas de soi, mais 'de moi.'"

SALLMANN, JEAN MICHEL. Naples et ses saints à l'âge baroque (1540–1750). Paris: PUF, 1993.

Review: Jean Nicolas in QL (16–30 juin 1994), 24–25: The author "a voulu dessiner la trajectoire des centaines d'individus morts en odeur de sainteté et restituer l'univers mental de leurs contemporains ...." He has examined "la vaste littérature hagiographique méridionale des XVle et XVlle siècles, toutes ces Vies des saints . . . qui imposaient les modèles de conduite pieuse et éclairent aujourd'hui les pratiques et les croyances d'alors. Mais," adds the reviewer, "[S.] a su trouver aussi d'autres sources originales négligées par les historiens, comme les décrets de la congrégation des Rites aux Archives vaticanes, et aux Archives diocésaines de Naples les copieux dossiers de béatification." N. praises "dans ce grand livre une intelligence de l'intérieur, une méthode impeccable qui scrute son objet si singulier pour l'installer dans l'universel."

SICARD ARPIN, GHISLAINE. "L'exil des prédicateurs protestants." PFSCL 21 (1994), 381–390.

Studies the theme of spiritual exile in sermons delivered during the two years following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The vision of a unified, protestant Europe and exile as a voluntary state characterized by free conscience become the dominant themes.

TOMBAL, DOMINIQUE. "Le Polygénisme aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles: de la critique biblique à l'idéologie raciste." RBPH 71 (1993), 850–74.

"Nous avons seulement pour dessein de retracer le cheminement et la métamorphose, aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, de cette doctrine—que l'on pourrait quasiment considérer comme un corollaire du courant matérialiste qui prit son essor dans la critique biblique, pour se murer peu à peu en 'théorie scientifique' de la jeune anthropologie, et soutenir ou implicitement ou ouvertement, la politique colonialiste et esclavagiste."

TRIBOULET, RAYMOND. Gaston de Renty 1611–1649: Un homme de ce monde un homme de Dieu. Paris: Beauchesne, 1991.

A study of a remarkable layman of the Counter Reformation.

VAN DELFT, LOUIS. "Memoria/prudentia: les recueils des moralistes comme arts de mémoire." PFSCL/Biblio 17, 80 (1993), 131–145.

The relationship between memory and prudence in the formation of manuals on the conduct of the good life: ". . . prudentia et memoria se subsument, en quelque sorte, dans l'image du livre, 'petit monde' qui est le lieu de la seule part de vérité—celle sur la conduite de sa vie—à la portée de l'homme."

VESEY, GODFREY. Inner and Outer. London: Macmillan, 1991.

Review: J. E. R. Squires in PhQ 44 (1994), 135–36: "G. V.'s seriousness, persistence and wisdom strike [the reviewer] afresh in this collection of previously published essays on action, perception and communication." According to S., V's "writing is remarkably clear; communication with anyone prepared to wrestle with these central issues is the aim. This wonderful strand in our philosophical tradition, at least, is shared with Descartes and Russell (who otherwise tend to be the villains of the pieces)."

WAQUET, FRANÆOISE. "Uezio: note sur la fortune de Pierre Daniel Huet en Italie," in Pierre Daniel Huet (1630–1721). Actes du colloque de Caen (November 12–13, 1993). PFSCL/Biblio 17, 83 (1994), 61–74.

Examines principally Muratori's refutation of H.'s "Traité philosophique de la faiblesse de l'entendement humain." H., "le docte théologien que Muratori avait admiré et même cité en exemple, finissait sous les traits d'un nouveau Luther ou, pour sauver les apparences, se trouvait présenté comme un cerveau dérangé."

WOLFE, MICHAEL J. The Conversion of Henri IV: Politics, Power, and Religious Belief in Early Modern France. Boston: Harvard University Press, 1993.

Review: L. R. N. Ashley in BHR 56 (1994), 156–57: "This is a history not only of the king's actions but of the public's reactions, and thus it becomes a portrait of a nation at a critical moment in its development as a state and as a state of mind."

ZWICKY, JAN. Lyric Philosophy. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1992.

Review: Donald Phillip Verene in P&L 18 (1994), 124–30: This book "is the work of a poet trained in Wittgenstein and contemporary Anglo American philosophy, applying her insights and basic approach to the world to get beyond either analysis or system as the basis of philosophy." "What is striking," in V.'s opinion, "is the nearly complete concentration in quotation from standard figures associated with the development of British empiricism and continental rationalism . . ." (including Descartes) and various modern thinkers. ". . . Lyric philosophy attempts to begin with the lyrical relationship to the world and move from it, not to poetry . . . but to philosophical understanding." V. believes that ". . . Z.'s attempt is marred by a very limited reading of what exists in the full history of philosophy." "Because Z. ignores the original relationship philosophy has to myth in its origin among the ancients, and the views of wisdom and language that are present in the Latin and humanist traditions, she has to create her conception of lyric philosophy largely out of her own powers of introspection." According to V., the author "misses the important connection between poetic and rhetoric by taking up the common Lockean, Cartesian, Kantian prejudice against rhetoric ...."