Une passion genrée ? L’itinéraire de la compassion dans la littérature médico-philosophique moderne (1660-1780)

Abstract

Compassion is mentioned and studied within 17th- and 18th-century philosophical and medical literature as an emotional phenomenon. The advent of iatrophysics in explaining bodily functions, and the adoption of vitalist approaches, appear to have strongly influenced its conceptualisation. This study offers a historical overview, analysing a series of explanations and definitions of compassion formulated between 1660 and 1780 within various cultural contexts. The author detects a process of progressive genderisation of compassion, similar to that undergone by other passions, which were divided up during the Enlightenment into a kind of taxonomy of feelings. The article concludes by examining empirical psychological studies to show how this gendered categorisation of the emotional universe, fuelled by modern medical literature, still influences our perception of the self and otherness.