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Enlightened pleasures : eighteenth-century France and the new epicureanism / Thomas M. Kavanagh

Author
Kavanagh, Thomas M.
Published
New Haven [Conn.] : Yale University Press : Annie Burr Lewis Fund, [2010]
Copyright Date
©2010
Physical Description
254 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

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Series
Contents
Introduction: A new epicureanism -- The pleasures of failure : Jourdan's Le guerrier philosophe -- Mirroring pleasure : La Morlière's Angola -- Life-writing as Epicurean allegory : Thérèse philosophe -- The esthetics of pleasure : Du Bos and Boucher -- Rousseau's Eudemony of liberty -- Laclos' Anthropology of pleasure -- Recasting the Epicurean novel : Mirabeau's La morale des sens -- Theaters of pleasure -- Conclusion: From pleasure to happiness.
Summary
"Novelists, artists, and philosophers of the eighteenth century understood pleasure as a virtue-a gift to be shared with one's companion, with a reader, or with the public. In this daring new book, Thomas Kavanagh overturns the prevailing scholarly tradition that views eighteenth-century France primarily as the incubator of the Revolution. Instead, Kavanagh demonstrates how the art and literature of the era put the experience of pleasure at the center of the cultural agenda, leading to advances in both ethics and aesthetics." "Kavanagh shows that pleasure is not necessarily hedonistic or opposed to Enlightenment ideals in general; rather, he argues that the pleasure of individuals is necessary for the welfare of their community."--BOOK JACKET.
Subject(s)
ISBN
9780300140941 (cloth : alk. paper)
0300140940 (cloth : alk. paper)
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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