La Mothe Le Vayer

Introduction to a section comprising seventeen articles on skepticism in the modern world. Attention is given to historical and cultural background that shaped, and was shaped by, skepticism, including globalization, the Reformation, and the rise of modern science.

Recensione di un’edizione critica realizzata nell’ambito del CELLF 17e-18e siècles, dell’Université Paris-Sorbonne, in cui si analizzano cinque trattati francesi seicenteschi che affrontano tematiche storiche e permettono di riconsiderare la storiografia del Seicento.

In this paper we study a probable reference to Justin (an ancient Greek apologist) in
Montesquieu’s "Lettres Persanes". In letter 33, the Persian Usbek discusses the possibility of
salvation for Christians: in our opinion, this passage (and especially the expression “semence
de nos dogmes”) turns against Christians Justin’s conception of Λόγος σπερματικός. After a
short presentation of ancient Christian apologetics and of Justin’s thought, we will point out
that Montesquieu had a good knowledge of patristic literature and a copy of Justin’s works in
his library. Then we will see that Justin played a key-role in the seventeenth century debate on
the possibility for pagans to be saved (“querelle de la vertu des païens”) – a problem that
Montesquieu discussed in a lost work, and that is the real object of letter 33. Finally, we will
study the letter 33 itself. We will show that the allusion to Justin strengthens the irony and the
ambiguity of the text: precisely because of Usbek’s use of Christian expressions, this letter
challenges not only Christian, but also Muslim religious primacy.

Parmi les libertins dits érudits, François de La Mothe Le Vayer a souvent passé pour le représentant typique de la duplicité sociale, à la fois libre penseur accusé d’incroyance et précepteur royal fidèlement attaché à la cour. Ce travail cherche à saisir le lien entre la marginalité intellectuelle et la centralité politique de La Mothe Le Vayer en étudiant sa trajectoire comme acteur social. Il approche le préceptorat royal par des sources notariées et monarchiques qui permettent de situer le phénomène libertin dans la société parisienne, de décrire la proactivité des savants dans le système des charges et de comprendre l’activation conjoncturelle d’une relation de patronage construite dans le temps long.

Au sein du phénomène libertin, le philosophe sceptique François de la Mothe le Vayer (1588-1672) a souvent passé pour le représentant typique de la dissimulation auctoriale, avançant des idées neuves sous un masque toujours changeant. Cette forme cryptique a rendu l’étude de ses écrits difficile, suscitant de nombreuses querelles d’attributions et mettant en cause la cohérence de la pensée de l'auteur. En guise de repère méthodologique, on trouvera ici un inventaire de tous les écrits connus de La Mothe le Vayer, réunis par éditions originales en une bibliographie chronologique. Le lecteur curieux y trouvera aussi des liens vers les numérisations, disponibles en ligne, de ces ouvrages souvent rares en bibliothèques.

Le Vayer seeks to untangle the ambiguities and apparent contradictions inherent in the writings of seventeenth-century humanist polymath François de La Mothe Le Vayer. Although he served as a tutor for the young Louis XIV, La Mothe Le Vayer also acquired a reputation for being a libertine and embracing the subversive philosophy of Pyrrhonian skepticism. His extensive writings included both manuals for the instruction of the dauphin and skeptical dialogues about various subjects. While he openly embraced fideism, a view that privileged the reliance on faith over reason, his writings also seemed to challenge established intellectual and political authorities. Manea offers an original reading of these texts, paying attention both to his controversial writings and works "he wrote for the powerful" (p. 13).

François de La Mothe Le Vayer, filósofo francês do século XVII, é o autor do "Diálogo sobre o tema da Divindade", que faz parte de uma obra maior, os "Diálogos feitos à imitação dos antigos", publicada sob pseudônimo por volta de 1630. Às vezes considerado um libertino erudito, às vezes um cristão genuíno, La Mothe Le Vayer notabilizou-se por tentar conciliar ceticismo e cristianismo. Essa empreitada conceitual, que o levou a refletir sobre a relação entre a fé e os limites da razão, é exposta com ousadia no "Diálogo sobre o tema da Divindade", nunca antes traduzido para o português. (Texto da contracapa)

François de la Mothe le Vayer (1588-1672) is well studied by philosophers as the epitomical free-thinker. He was better known in his time as a devoted servant of the King, using the intellectual capital acquired as a philologist from the royal librarians to ascend the patronage mechanisms of Richelieu and Mazarin, eventually becoming royal tutor and historiographer. This study aims to consider philology as a gesture within a socio-political field and to understand its effects in the trajectory of an actor, through previously unseen social primary sources, an economical approach to erudite correspondences, and contextualization of the act of writing. It argues that the philological and political careers of Le Vayer are interdependent, the former being an instrument of political utility. The paper elucidates the social dimension of erudition, the competitive participation of scholars in the construction of the absolutist state, the utility of philological practices for the monarchy.

Il s'agit de montrer que la philosophie de la religion ne se réduit pas à la discipline philosophique structurée qui nait à la fin du XVIIIe mais qu'elle se pratique aussi dans les marges de la philosophie et de la pensée en général, comme l'illustre le numéro de ThéoRèmes sur la philosophie des religions chez les libertins et libres-penseurs, numéro auquel ce texte sert d'introduction.