Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The basic question underlying this thesis concerns the identification of the fundamental elements constituting the Western religious tradition and the way in which these elements manifest themselves in the writings of French writers and philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, authors chosen as the subject of this work not only because of their historical and biographical resemblance to one another but also because both are inscribed within the same existentialist and pseudo-existentialist literary tradition emerging in post-war Europe during the nineteen-forties. In the case of both Sartre and Camus, this tradition is particularly characterised by a literature seeking to affirm itself as resolutely atheist on the one hand yet infused with an unshakeable moral imperative on the other, obliging not only an active engagement by their readers in the cause of those less fortunate, but also a continuous effort by the two authors themselves to justify this imperative in the face of their maintained conviction that the universe has neither creator, nor existential reason, nor inherent meaning. It is precisely the contradiction between these two characteristics, and particularly the fact that the first cannot be logically derived from the second, which leads me to propose that the atheism affected by both writers might not be as absolute, as natural or as real as it seems, and that, despite their efforts throughout their work to show to what extent they reject the notion of divine existence, the moral imperative both support with such fervour is actually derived from a lingering religious faith so psychologically primal that neither of them ever manages to rid himself of it entirely. Of course this faith is not based on any true intellectual conviction, but rather the result of two distinct factors: firstly, the adherence of both authors to a cultural and intellectual tradition wholly constructed on religious thought, thus forcing their art to reflect this thought and its constituent elements despite their own conscious objectives and desires, and secondly the irresistible influence of such personal and particularly psychological factors as prohibits either from partaking of an authentic atheist conviction. However, as both continue throughout their lives to deny the existence of this faith whose influence neither is capable of escaping, I also propose that this influence on their writing is necessarily opaque, and the god itself on which it is based, a hidden god. / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Modern European Languages / unrestricted

Boethius, a late Roman philosopher, composed his last work, De Consolatione Philosophiae, while in prison. His final effort crowned a lifetime of philosophical achievement, and the work was influential throughout the Middle Ages. Frequently translated, the Consolation was one of the books which was chosen by Alfred, a ninth century Anglo-Saxon king, for use in the rebuilding of his kingdom after the Danish invasions. Although intended for an audience which was heavily influenced by a lively pagan tradition, the book was re-interpreted during the Carolingian period to conform to a strict Christian standard. Alfred's own interpretation is indicative of this amalgamation of ancient learning in the milieu of an emerging European culture, as well as his own pragmatic personality.

Il s’agit d’examiner la signification du choix d’Empédocle d’exprimer son système philosophique dans un mètre, l’hexamètre dactylique, qui n’est pas seulement envisagé ici en tant que forme versifiée mais comme une tradition poétique. Les raisons de ce choix se laissent reconstituer de différents points de vue. D'abord, dans une perspective historique et comparative, l'usage de l'hexamètre inscrit l'œuvre d'Empédocle dans un moment particulier du développement de la « philosophie » ancienne. Le problème a également une dimension sociologique qui tient aux modalités traditionnelles de diffusion de la poésie hexamétrique, dans le cadre notamment des grands concours panhelléniques. De façon plus fondamentale encore, se pose le problème de déterminer le degré de nécessité du lien qui unit poésie et philosophie au sein de l'œuvre même d'Empédocle. Le mètre est-il l'ornement d'une pensée qui aurait tout aussi bien pu s'exprimer en prose ? Est-il un vernis artificiel, qui ne ferait que dissimuler la clarté du message philosophique ? Au contraire, le choix du vers témoigne-t-il d'une prise de position substantielle, qui signifierait que la compréhension du choix de la forme est indissociable de l'interprétation du message qui s'y déploie ? Les chapitres 1 à 4 examinent la théorie poétique développée par Empédocle. Les chapitres 5 à 7 étudient la façon dont ce projet se réalise dans la pratique poétique. Les chapitres 8 à 10 se proposent d’évaluer la signification du choix d’Empédocle dans le contexte du 5e siècle. / The dissertation intends to examine the signification of Empedocles’ choice to express his philosophical system into a peculiar meter, the dactylic hexameter, which is not only considered here as a poetic form but also as a poetic tradition. The reasons why Empedocles made this choice may be studied from several points of view. From a historic and comparative point of view, Empedocles’ use of the dactylic hexameter has his philosophy embedded into a particular moment of the development of ancient « philosophy ». Another, sociological, dimension of this problem pertains to the traditional modes of diffusion of dactylic poems, within the frame of panhellenic competitions for instance.More fundamental even is the question of how necessary is the link between poetry and philosophy in Empedocles’ work itself. Is the dactylic meter merely ornamental for a thought that could have been expressed in prose? Is it some artificial varnish, whose only effect would be to obscure the philosophical message? Or does the use of verses show, on the contrary, a substantial stance, meaning that the interpretation of the poetic features and the interpretation of the philosophical doctrine cannot be dissociated?The poetic theory of Empedocles is examined in chapters 1 to 4. Then, a study of the poetic realization of this project takes place in chapters 5 to 7. Finally, an evaluation of the meaning and relevance of Empedocles’ choice in the context of the 5th century is done through the last 3 chapters.

Orestes A. Brownson was an American journalist who converted to Catholicism in 1844, at the age of forty-one. He had been writing editorials and occasionally managing publications since 1828 in connection with religious activities as minister to various sects, Brownson, from the 1830's on, read, reviewed, and kept abreast of European literature concerned with philosophy, social, political, and economic theory. It was assumed that he continued that practice after his conversion in 1844 and that he would enlist the aid of European Catholic theorists to develop an acceptable Catholic system of thought—particularly since American Catholic literature in the mid-nineteenth century was mainly devoid of theoretical works. A brief scanning of Brownson's works written after 1844 revealed the names of several French Catholic writers who were part of a group known as Traditionalists--De Maistre, Bonald, Lamennais, Veuillot, Donoso Cortes, Bonnetty, and others. The problem evolved from this discovery to determine whether Traditionalists had influenced Brownson's Catholic theorizing, and if so, to what extent. The main source of reference for this research problem was the twenty-volume collection Henry Brownson had compiled of his father's Catholic journalistic efforts. Henry Brownson also published a three volume biography of his father, and I obtained the first volume, Early Life. Other biographies on Brownson have been written by Theodore Maynard, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., and Doran Whalen, which were useful for background material. A variety of articles have been written about Brownson, but none related him to Traditionalism; their usefulness, therefore, was limited. I relied on secondary sources for interpretations of the French Traditionalists: Quinlan's thesis and Cohen's article on Bonald; works from Lively, Greffer, and Koyre on de Maistre; and a variety of French historical surveys. I also consulted materials which would provide background information on the Enlightenment--a necessity since Traditionalists and Brownson continually attacked Enlightenment ideas. I compared the social, political, and economic aspects of Brownson's ideas to those of the Traditionalists. The conclusion arrived at was that Brownson had used Traditionalist theory almost exclusively as a foundation for his own work. Brownson not only displayed ideas similar to the Traditionalists, he featured their exact terminology: "germ of perfection theory", "divine origin of language", and "generative principle of constitution.” He referred to them as the "illustrious Bonald" and "illustrious de Maistre”l and occasionally stated that he was sympathetic to Traditionalist ideas. Brownson's deviation from Traditionalist theory was usually a result of translating French ideas to American society. He was careful to make the point that the ideas he altered remained valid for France, and Traditionalists were essentially correct in their entire assessment of society.

This thesis argues two issues: William James' philosophy was-to a great extent derived from his interaction with the French philosophers, Charles Renouvier, Henri Bergson, Maurice Blondel and Emile Boutroux. Correlative to the fact that these five figures have an intellectual relationship with one another, I also argue that in order to understand James, he must be placed within the context of these relations. These five philosophers, as a group, can be clearly seen and understood in the context of an identifiable movement. Each one was a part of a whole reality with their own slightly different perspectives. However, the context that I present reveals the motivating factors of this movement towards a philosophy of action. This is not to say that there was one defined philosophy of action. Each contributed to the conception of a philosophy of action by their response to the same dilemmas of their time.

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