Vauvenargues by John Morley (1751)

Name: Vauvenargues
Author: John Morley

The work is a biography of the French philosopher and writer Vauvenargues. It explores his life, ideas, and literary career, providing an in-depth analysis of his philosophical views on human nature, morality, and society. The book examines Vauvenargues' contributions to 18th-century thought and his influence on subsequent philosophers.

By John Morley · First published 1751 · Genre: Philosophy, Biography, Literary Criticism · 12,328 words

First lines

One of the most important phases of French thought in the great century of its illumination is only thoroughly intelligible, on condition that in studying it we keep constantly in mind the eloquence, force, and genius of Pascal. He was the greatest and most influential representative of that way of viewing human nature and its circumstances, which it was one of the characteristic glories of the eighteenth century to have rebelled against and rejected. More than a hundred years after the publication of the _Pensees_, Condorcet thought it worth while to prepare a new edition of them, with annotations, protesting, not without a certain unwonted deference of tone, against Pascal's doctrine of the base and desperate estate of man. Voltaire also had them reprinted with notes of his own, written in the same spirit of vivacious deprecation, which we may be sure would have been even more vivacious, if Voltaire had not remembered that he was speaking of the mightiest of all the enemies of the Jesuits. Apart from formal and specific dissents like these, all the writers who had drunk most deeply of the spirit of the eighteenth century, lived in a constant ferment of revolt against the clear-witted and vigorous thinker of the century before, who had clothed mere theological mysteries with the force and importance of strongly entrenched propositions in a consistent philosophy.

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Vauvenargues is listed on Textopian as an essay by John Morley, dated 1751 CE.

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Work type: Essay
Author: John Morley
Date: 1751 CE
Language: English
Genres: Philosophy, Biography, Literary Criticism, Historical Analysis, Moral Philosophy
Length: 12,328 words
Structure: 1 section, 112 paragraphs
Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)

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Genres

Philosophy — The work explores deep philosophical themes regarding human nature, morality, and the balance between reason and emotion.
Biography — It provides a biographical account of Vauvenargues, detailing his life experiences and their influence on his thoughts.
Literary Criticism — The text critiques various literary figures and their works, reflecting on their contributions to literature and philosophy.
Historical Analysis — It situates Vauvenargues within the historical context of 18th-century French thought and its evolution.