Le « contrecoup » de la compassion Déclinaisons d’un paradigme mécaniste de Malebranche à Mme Dupin (1660-1730)

Abstract

The article first distinguishes between two reference paradigms that seem to have inspired the interpretations of compassion developed or adopted by 17^th century French and English authors. These models are found to be alternative in several respects: one model explains compassion as the active work of the imagination and rational judgement, relating it to the individual self and its passions; the other model understands compassion as a kind of automatism rooted in bodily functions. The author focuses on this second paradigm, inspired by medical knowledge, to identify its distinctive features and explore its vicissitudes in the history of ideas at the turn of the 18^th century. Drawing on evidence from texts and the history of the book, the author traces the development of this conception of compassion. This links the reflections of Malebranche and Cureau de la Chambre to observations recorded in unpublished writings by Mme Du Châtelet and Mme Dupin from the 1730s and 1740s.

English Title: The Contrecoup of Compassion: Variations of a Mechanistic Paradigm From Malebranche to Mme Dupin (1660-1730)

Keywords: Compassion, Sympathy, Nicolas Malebranche, Émilie Du Châtelet, Louise Dupin