What are the relationships between doubt and truth, thinking and writing in Montaigne’s Essais? We usually see Montaigne’s doubt through the lens of ancient schools of Scepticism and yet he notes that the Pyrrhonians ‘ne peuvent exprimer leur generale conception en aucune maniere de parler’: these philosophers describe their doubtful thought in negative affirmations but these are affirmations – ‘propositions affirmatives’ – all the same. This thesis approaches Montaigne’s doubt differently: I investigate the Essais not as an attempt to indicate or describe doubtful, ‘double et divers’ thought but as a tool for thinking doubtfully in writing. Montaigne’s literary use of language is therefore central to my analysis. Irony, ambiguity, the practices of rewriting and overwriting, the ‘polyphony’ of cited authors who advocate different positions: these afford ways of thinking that sustain duality and doubt. I focus on Montaigne’s engagement with Seneca and Plutarch, ancient authors who are, superficially, unrelated to doubt: the Essais constitute a particular form of humanistic engagement with ancient texts, concerned with practices and forms of writing as much as, if not more than, with philosophical concepts. These ‘dogmatic’ authors – they defend philosophical positions of certainty – were, counter-intuitively, seen by Montaigne to have a ‘forme d’escrire douteuse et irresolue’. This doubtful ‘forme’ shaped Montaigne’s own and it was, I argue, in working with and on these authors – reading, writing, and thinking with them – that he constructed a way of writing doubtful in both form and thought: a text that is double, unresolved, ambiguous, and yet ‘truthful’ in its capacity to perform and make legible the complex, multiple nature of his thought and his thinking.

This thesis seeks to examine the role of Sparta in the writing of the 16th century French author Michel de Montaigne. As he lived during the Religious Wars period in France, Montaigne's work was heavily influenced by the social and political upheaval that surrounded him. In particular, the actions of the elite throughout this era come under scrutiny in Montaigne's Essais. Although primarily analysed in modern scholarship as a man of letters, this thesis will examine the essayist through his social position of a nobleman, a position which was still defined by a martial chivalric ideal in Renaissance France. From the perspective of Montaigne as a member of this class of warrior-nobility, a unique reading of the Essais emerges. When considered alongside the literature of his peers, the extent to which the essayist's work complemented the rhetoric of the traditional military elite becomes apparent. Within this historical and literary context, the classics and especially Sparta become a mechanism through which Montaigne espoused his ideas on nobility in the Essais. Through an analysis of the ancients' presence in Montaigne's writing, the manner in which the classically educated essayist married the traditional military virtues of the nobility to the humanist teaching of the Renaissance becomes clear. By combining the noble ideal with developments in learning, Montaigne hoped to forge a new definition of nobility whose proponents' virtuous and just rule would restore peace to a troubled France. Through a combination of old concepts of nobility with the new ideas of the age, Montaigne was also able to justify his own place as a nobleman in France. With his family having risen to a noble rank from a mercantile background Montaigne was determined to establish his own credentials as a legitimate martial nobleman. He would accomplish this partly through his celebration of Sparta and her military reputation but also through his denunciation of Cicero. As the personification in the Essais of a new class of learned nobility who were roundly criticised within the traditional elite for the problems afflicting France, Montaigne condemns Cicero throughout his writing. As a foil to Montaigne's idealisation of Sparta, an understanding of Cicero's place in the Essais is crucial in order to define the essayist's thoughts on the noble ideal. This analysis of these classical sources within the literary and historical context of Montaigne's period, allows for a fresh insight into the Essais and Montaigne's conclusions on the role of nobility in French society. This thesis will contribute to the increasing interest in the reception of Sparta from the Renaissance onwards as well as offering a rare concerted study into the role of the classics in Montaigne's work, an often neglected area of Montaigne studies. By approaching Montaigne's work through his classical muses, entirely new perspectives on his thought can be recognised. Similarly, an appreciation of his use of Sparta can help chart future studies into the impact of the polis in European socio-political thought.

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Dans la perspective de réhabiliter la stylistique herméneutique, L’emploi du Temps dans L’Emploi du temps de Butor cherche à montrer comment le style non seulement permet d’entrevoir les Visions du Monde passées ou présentes mais contribue à mieux comprendre le monde et offre même des pistes éthiques aidant à dépasser crises et impasses.Puisque ramenant constamment aux mêmes faiscsèmes (sèmes inhérents à plusieurs stylèmes et se retrouvant à des niveaux d’analyse différents), les stylèmes des architextes, énonciations, récit, histoire et écriture de L’Emploi du temps révèlent en effet qu’au Temps linéaire traditionnel issu du judéochristianisme, de la pensée bourgeoise et de lamécanique classique, Butor substitue non pas comme certains de ses contemporains un Temps labyrinthique et absurde mais un Temps stratifié, un Temps rendant compte à la fois des acquis de la pensée mythique et de certaines des conceptu-alisations philosophiques de Kierkegaard, Bergson, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre et Bachelard.Dépassant ces penseurs, prenant doublement à contre-pied Bergson, illustrant certaines des remarques d’Heidegger sur l’art, Butor en arrive même à mettre peu à peu en place, par le jeu complexe des stylèmes associés en faiscsèmes, un Temps structuré, spatial et musical. En découle un « emploi du Temps » bien moins anxiogène et tyrannique que celuique nous subissons depuis l’avènement de la révolution industrielle, un emploi du Temps qui aide à passer de l’inauthentique à l’authentique, donne épaisseur et poids aux actes, est source d’unification et de liberté, musicalise et poétise le réel, en un mot, permet de toucher du doigt monde, être et éternité / With a view to rehabilitating hermeneutic stylistics, L’emploi du Temps dans L’Emploi du temps de Butor seeks to show how style not only offers glimpses of past and present world views, but also enhances understanding of the world, even providing ethical pointers to help get over crises and deadlocks. Since they constantly bring us back to the same “faiscsèmes” (“asemeblies” ?) (semes inherent to several stylemes, found at different levels of analysis), the stylemes of the architexts, enunciations, accounts, story and writing of L’emploi du Temps reveal that instead of the traditional linear Time that comes from the Judeo-Christian view, bourgeois thinking and the classical physics/mecanics, Butor proposes, not like some of his contemporaries an absurd, labyrinthine Time, but a stratified Time, a Time reflecting both the experiences of mythical thought and some of the philosophical conceptualisations of Kierkegaard, Bergson, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre and Bachelard. Going further than these thinkers and doubly opposing Bergson, illustrating certain comments made by Heidegger on art, Butor even comes gradually to install a structured, spatial and musical Time through a complex interplay of stylemes combined into sembeams. This gives rise to a much less stressful and tyrannical use of time than has been imposedsince the industrial revolution, a use of time that helps us move from the unauthentic to the authentic, gives substance and weight to actions, is a source of unification and freedom, makes reality musical and poetic, in a word, brings us closer to a full grasp of world, being and eternity

Orientador: Patricia Borba Marchetto / Resumo: A bioética envolve questões que acontecem em um mundo multidisciplinar, interdisciplinar ou transdisciplinar, o que pode sugerir uma grande lacuna do direito, favorecendo ou até promovendo violações contra a humanidade, como também aos sistemas internacionais de direitos humanos e aos direitos fundamentais, estes inseridos no cenário constitucional brasileiro. Neste caso, a ciência e a tecnologia invadem o mundo do Direito, limitadas pelos institutos do direito à vida e da dignidade da pessoa humana, os quais são premissas constitucionais de formação do Estado para a construção e o fortalecimento do ordenamento jurídico composto por regras nacionais e por fontes internacionais, cenário permeado por questões éticas e morais que trazem interpretação tanto ao Direito quanto à Bioética e suas peculiaridades. A relevância do tema deve ser observada não somente pelo viés dos interesses econômicos que envolvem as pesquisas científicas ou a manutenção dos sistemas de saúde pública, mas, principalmente, para obtenção de respostas aos dilemas que envolvem a ciência e a saúde e suas sensíveis e possíveis violações aos princípios mencionados. Através de um caso concreto, ainda em trânsito no sistema de justiça brasileiro, abordando o direito de uma paciente submetida à lista de espera por um transplante de medula, a pesquisa se desenvolve no sentido de discutir a relação entre direitos humanos, bioética, preservação da vida, evolução científica e seus desafios modernos e, especialmente, ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Bioethics involves issues that happens in a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary world, which can suggest a wide gap of the Law studies, favoring or even promoting violations against humanity, but also to international systems of human and fundamental rights, these inserted into Brazilian constitutional scenario. In this case, the science and technology invades the world of law, limited by the institutes of the right to life and human dignity, which are constitutional premises of formation of the State for the construction and strengthening of the legal system composed of national rules and international fonts, scenery permeated by ethical and moral issues that bring interpretation both to the Law regarding Bioethics and its peculiarities. The relevance of the theme should be observed not only by the bias of economic interests that involve scientific research or the maintenance of public health systems, but mainly for obtaining answers to dilemmas that involve science and health and his sensitive and possible violations to the principles mentioned. Through a concrete case, still in transit in the Brazilian justice system, addressing the right of a patient subject to the waiting list for a bone marrow transplant, the research develops in order to discuss the relationship between human rights, bioethics, preservation of life, scientific progress and its modern challenges and, especially, to reach an analysis as to the application of national legislation con... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Le point de départ de cette thèse est une interrogation sur la littérature contemporaine, sur le rapport qu’elle entretient avec la tradition littéraire et sur la figure auctoriale qu’elle bâtit. Les oeuvres de Gonçalo M. Tavares (1970), Enrique Vila-Matas (1948) et Henri Raczymow (1948), placées à la croisée de la fiction et de l’essai, proposent un dialogue intense avec la théorie littéraire. Le travail de ces trois auteurs européens peut en effet être lu comme une réponse aux problèmes posés par la théorie, comme ceux soulevés par les notions de « mort de l’auteur » et d’épuisement de la littérature. La présente étude cherche à trouver de nouveaux outils pour lire ces textes contemporains, tout en observant, en même temps, leur corrélation avec les débats qui ont animé les études littéraires dans les années 1960 et 1970. Pour guider cette démarche, j’ai choisi le dernier cours de Roland Barthes au Collège de France, La Préparation du roman, entre 1978 et 1980. Barthes y réfléchit sur son désir d’entamer une écriture qui rompt avec ses travaux précédents, et réalise une recherche sur la façon dont l’écrivain fait une oeuvre. Il y ébauche certaines notions qui restent pourtant dans un état sommaire. Mon travail consiste à les interroger, les problématiser et à les dépasser, afin de les projeter sur l’oeuvre de trois auteurs en activité. L’étude des oeuvres de Tavares, Vila-Matas et Raczymow me permet d’esquisser une nouvelle figure auctoriale, plus active que celle du lecteur/scripteur, et qui ne ressent pas le besoin de choisir entre la maîtrise totale du texte et la « mort de l’auteur ». Cet auteur devient un auteur-squatteur, qui occupe sa place à force de filiation. Il construit son autorité en l’insérant dans un « lignage », en tant que continuateur de la littérature. / The starting point of this thesis is an examination of contemporary literature, specifically, the relationship it establishes with the literary tradition and the figure of the author that is constructed by its discourse. The works of Gonçalo M. Tavares (1970), Enrique Vila-Matas (1948) and Henri Raczymow (1948), situated at the crossroads between fiction and the essay, embody an intense dialogue with literary theory. The works of these three European authors can be understood as a response to the problems raised by theory, such as the idea of the “death of the author” and the exhaustion of literature. This study seeks to set out new perspectives for reading these contemporary texts while considering, at the same time, the way in which they correlate with the debates that animated literary studies in the 1960s and 1970s. In order to guide this approach, I chose Roland Barthes’ final course at the Collège de France, The Preparation of the Novel, which took place between 1978and 1980. Barthes reflects upon his desire to create a form of writing that breaks with his earlier work and proposes an investigation of how a writer creates a work. He puts forward some concepts, although leaving them underdeveloped. My research consists therefore in problematizing and elaborating these concepts through turning them into approaches for analyzing the works of three authors in action. The study of the works of Tavares, Vila-Matas and Raczymow allows for a vision of a new literary figure, more active than the lecteur/scripteur and who does not feel the need to choose between the total mastery of the text and the “death of the author”. This author becomes a squatter-author, who occupies his place through his affiliations. He constructs his authority by integrating himself into a lineage, as a continuator of literature.

Au cours de sa longue histoire, Rome a soumis de nombreux peuples et augmenté singulièrement la taille de son territoire au point de devenir le centre de gravité de tout l’univers antique. L’essor extraordinaire de cette cité a toujours intrigué les penseurs. Rien d’étonnant dès lors si Montesquieu, philosophe français des Lumières, a étudié à son tour le monde romain et son développement dans un grand nombre de ses ouvrages. Afin de faire comprendre les raisons de la grandeur des Romains ainsi que de leur décadence, Montesquieu a examiné l’évolution de la politique et de la morale romaines depuis la fondation de l’Vrbs jusqu’à sa chute. L’auteur analyse attentivement les institutions civiles et militaires romaines afin de déterminer leur excellence – sans oublier de signaler leurs limites. Dans sa démarche sociologique et critique, cet écrivain s’appuie sur une riche documentation livresque qui révèle la grande influence de Machiavel et de Bossuet. Néanmoins, de son œuvre se dégage un point de vue novateur qui ouvre la voie à des champs d’investigation inédits. / During its long history, Rome has subjugated numerous peoples. Its territory increased so much that it became the center of gravity of the whole antique world. The extraordinary expansion of that city has therefore always surprised the thinkers. Understandably Montesquieu, a French philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, has himself studied the Roman world and its development in a number of his works. In order to explain the reasons behind the magnificence and the decadence of the Romans, Montesquieu examined the evolution of Roman politics and ethics from the foundation of the Vrbs until to its decline. The author carefully analyses the Roman civil and military institutions in order to establish their excellence and even to point out their limits. In his sociological and critical approach, this writer uses a rich literature that reveals the influence of Machiavel and Bossuet. Nevertheless from his work emerges an innovative standpoint that opens up for original fields of investigation.

Ce mémoire de recherche porte sur la méthode de travail de six historiens du haut moyen âge : Frédégaire, Jonas de Bobbio, Nithard, Richer de Reims, Raoul Glaber et André de Fleury. Elle démontre que l'élaboration d'oeuvres historiographiques et hagiographiques dépendait de l'utilisation de sources à la fois orales et écrites tout au long de la période. Du VIIe au XIe siècle en Gaule franque, la perception et l'utilisation des sources connaissent toutefois des changements : signe d'une évolution des mentalités, les historiens utilisent de plus en plus la rumeur publique, au point d'éclipser d'autres types de sources orales plus courantes au début de la période. Cependant, les saintes Écritures sont omniprésentes à toutes les époques et les témoins directs reconnus nommément sont toujours de sexe masculin et membres de la hiérarchie ecclésiastique. L'évocation constante de la Parole et de son interprète exclusif, le prêtre, démontre que l'histoire demeure un moyen d'éducation du groupe intra-monastique; l'écrit historiographique n'a pas encore atteint le stade la prédication populaire. / Québec Université Laval, Bibliothèque 2014