The subject of this thesis is the by now traditional grouping of certain innovative works of historiography produced in eighteenth-century Britain and France; namely the historical works of Voltaire, and the historical writings of the philosophes; and, in Britain, the histories of Hume, Robertson, and Gibbon. This thesis gives a historical and expository analysis of the individual strategies of literary self-fashioning and generic appropriation which underlie this impression of resemblance. It particularly demonstrates that the major characteristics of the contemporary vision of philosophic historiography – the idea of a European history of manners or l’esprit humain, and the insistence on the rejection of the practices of the érudits – which have become incorporated within scholarly definitions of ‘Enlightenment historiography’, are well-established generic tropes, adapted and affected in France as in Britain, by authors of diverse ambitions. The invitation to assume inauthentic connections contained within the practice of philosophic historiography is shown to be embraced by Gibbon, in a notable literary challenge to the paradigms of intellectual history. This study contrasts the textual evidence of these authors’ experience of literary, personal, and political challenges regarding the definition of their role as public, intellectual writers, to the acquired image of an ideal of ‘Enlightenment writing’. It considers the Frenchness of philosophie, and the potential Britishness of Hume, Robertson, and Gibbon. As part of its wider analysis of the practice of intellectual writing with a historical focus, its scope includes the writings of British clerics and writers on religion; of French academicians; and of the late philosophe Volney, and Shelley his interpreter. The major conclusion of this thesis is that eighteenth-century British and French history writing does not support any synthesis of an Enlightenment historical philosophy, narrative, or method; while it is suggested that one of the costs of the construct of ‘Enlightenment’, has been the illusion of familiarity with eighteenth-century intellectual culture, in France as well as Britain.

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Ce mémoire, qui s’intéresse aux enjeux de l’imbrication du philosophique et du romanesque chez les penseurs des Lumières françaises, cherchera à mettre de l’avant la contribution originale de Denis Diderot à la réflexion philosophique sur le roman, de même qu’à l’exploration des ressources littéraires permettant de philosopher par le roman. Nous nous proposons, dans un premier temps, d’examiner ce qui relève d'une théorisation explicite de l'écriture des fictions narratives dans l’oeuvre du philosophe langrois. Nous nous attacherons à montrer comment l’approfondissement des thèses de son matérialisme, ainsi que les déceptions consécutives à ses projets de réforme du théâtre, sont venus bouleverser les conceptions esthétiques et morales qui formaient le premier horizon normatif à partir duquel Diderot envisageait les modalités idéales de l'écriture et de la réception romanesques. Puis, dans un deuxième temps, nous chercherons à faire voir comment Diderot, à titre d’auteur de fictions narratives, entreprend une exploration aussi originale que féconde des ressorts proprement philosophiques de l’écriture romanesque. Les dernières sections de notre étude seront consacrées à une lecture approfondie de Jacques le fataliste et son maître. Nous tâcherons d’abord d’en dégager les principales ressources mises au service de la formation d’un lecteur de romans plus lucide et plus critique. Puis, nous chercherons à mettre en lumière de quelle façon cette propédeutique, si elle réussit, doit ultimement conduire le lecteur à entamer un véritable dialogue avec l’oeuvre, tant sur les questions métaphysiques et ontologiques qu’entraîne le « fatalisme » de Jacques, que sur les enjeux moraux qui en découlent. / This thesis, which deals with the interweaving of philosophy and literature in the work of French Enlightenment thinkers, seeks to shed light on Denis Diderot’s unique contributions to philosophical reflection on the novel, as well as to the exploration of the literary resources that make it possible to delve into philosophical issues through the novel. Beginning with an examination of Diderot’s explicit theories about writing narrative fiction, it argues that the outgrowth of his materialism and the disenchantment following his attempts at theatre reform upended the aesthetic and moral basis for the initial normative framework underpinning his analysis of how fiction is ideally written and received. It goes on to examine how Diderot, as a novelist, undertook an innovative and fruitful exploration of the unsuspected philosophical resources that narrative fiction offers. The final sections are devoted to a close reading of Jacques the Fatalist and His Master, beginning with an attempt to identify the main resources it deploys to train more lucid and critical readers of fiction. The thesis then seeks to show how this knowledge base, if successfully transmitted, ultimately leads the reader to engage in a genuine dialogue with the work, both in terms of the metaphysical and ontological issues raised by Jacques’ “fatalism” and the moral issues that ensue.

The Rococo period in the arts, flourishing mainly from about 1710 to about 1750, was stylistically unified, but nevertheless its tremendous productivity and appeal throughout Occidental culture has proven difficult to explain. Having no contemporary theoretical literature, the Rococo is commonly taken to have been a final and degenerate form of the Baroque era or an extravagance arising from the supposed careless frivolity of the elites, including the intellectuals of the Enlightenment. Neither approach adequately accounts for Rococo style. Naming the Rococo raises profound issues for understanding the relations between conception and production in historical terms. Against the many difficulties that the term has involved in accounting for an immense but elusive cultural movement, this thesis argues that some of the chief philosophical conceptions of the period clarify the particular character and significance of Rococo production. Rococo production is here studied chiefly in decor, architecture, and the plastic arts. This thesis also makes an extended general argument for the value of intellectual history. Rococo style is a group of visual effects of which the central character is atectonicity. This is established by a synthesizing overview of Rococo ornamental motifs. Principal theorists of post-Cartesian thought have failed to see how these distinguish Rococo style from both Baroque and Enlightenment culture. The analysis addresses the historical narratives of Benjamin, Adorno, Foucault, Deleuze, and others about Baroque and Enlightenment culture. The core historical claim of this thesis is that Rococo atectonic effects are visual forms of the anti-materialist, idealist ontology of George Berkeley and of the metaphysics and ontology in the early work of Giambattista Vico. Close readings of important passages from works of both philosophers published in 1710 develop the relationship between atectonics and idealist ontology. Both men rejected the Baroque hierarchical cosmology in favor of finitude as the key to human understanding. The readings center on the issue of causality, including Berkeley's views of the perfect contingency of the world and on Vico's theories of truth and ingenium. A reading of Diderot's critique of the Rococo, which led the reaction to it, shows that he recognized the power of idealist ontology in the Rococo cultural production. The larger force in the rejection of Rococo is the emergence of the sublime as a morally fearful feature of physical nature. Montesquieu's aesthetic work also shows the transition to a more rigidly determined view of existence, which was expressed but constrained in the little-recognized lattice motif in Rococo arts. The result of these readings is the influence during and after the Rococo period of the concept of continuous creation, in which the memory and imagination of the human subject relays God-given powers of creation into the production of culture. Continuous creation also suggested a human capability to animate material nature. Rococo style displays this as a pre-cinematic effects that represent the non-material, non-causal deep structure of reality.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 8 février 2024) / Derrière l'école se cache la question des finalités éducatives. Et ces finalités, à travers les époques, témoignent immanquablement d'idéaux axiologiques propres à une aire géopolitique et culturelle donnée. L'histoire de l'éducation occidentale a été caractérisée par plusieurs éléments de continuité, mais aussi, à d'autres moments par quelques moments de rupture. Ce fut notamment le cas dans l'Europe du XVIIIᵉ siècle, où la pensée philosophique des Lumières, marquée, entre autres, par des idéaux d'égalité, d'émancipation et de raison, et par la volonté claire d'abolir l'Ancien régime, influencera grandement la pensée éducative contemporaine. Afin de mieux comprendre comment la conception éducative des penseurs des Lumières est teintée par des considérations sociopolitiques sous-jacentes, nous avons tenté de répondre à la question suivante : Quel type d'individu l'éducation doit-elle tendre à former ? Pour y répondre, nous avons analysé la pensée éducative de Diderot, de Kant et de Rousseau, telle qu'elle peut respectivement être circonscrite dans l'*Encyclopédie, Réflexions sur l'éducation* et l'*Émile*. Si leur conception éducative est teintée d'idéaux qui leur sont propres et que, par voie de conséquence, chacun envisage l'éducation selon des finalités spécifiques, ils s'entendent tous sur le fait que l'éducation devrait préparer le terrain pour la mise en place d'un nouveau contrat social, dans lequel chaque citoyen contribue à l'établissement d'une meilleure société. / Behind the school lies the question of the purposes of education. And, through the ages, these purposes automatically attest to axiological ideals of a given geopolitical and cultural area. The history of Western education has been characterized by several elements of continuity, but also by moments of disruption. This was particularly the case in 18th-century Europe, where the philosophical thought of the Enlightenment--known for its ideals of equality, emancipation and reason, as well as the clear desire to abolish the Old Regime--would greatly influence contemporary educational thought. In order to better understand how the educational design of the Enlightenment thinkers was coloured by the underlying sociopolitical considerations, we have attempted to answer the following question: What type of individual benefits from education? In response, we have analyzed the educational concepts of Diderot, Kant and Rousseau as described in l'Encyclopédie, *Lectures on pedagogy* and *Emile*, respectively. Even if their views differ due to ideals which are specific to each, they nevertheless agree on the fact that education should lead to the establishment of a new social contract, where every citizen contributes to a better society.

This thesis contains four chapters. The first chapter gives an overview of the current situation concerning same-sex parent families in France. This involves discussions of the PACS (Pacte civil de solidarité), adoption, and marriage, as well as the societal influences that caused the massive negative response to the Taubira law. The second chapter goes into more detail concerning portrayals of homosexuality in French media throughout the years. There is a focus, however, on one of the earliest portrayals of lesbianism in French literature: The Nun by Diderot. Lastly, the third chapter involves further explanation of the history of homosexuality and same-sex parent families. This chapter explores these ideas specifically in the context of French history, as well as how conditions for same-sex parent families have changed in recent years. The fourth and final chapter presents conclusions of the research.