Bøger i Archives Internationales D'Histoire Des Idees Minor serien

A preface is best written last, after a book is done and its author may look back to survey what he hopes he has accomplished and what he must admit he has not. In hindsight virginity by itself has seemed a very large field to till, but with that reflection also comes a sense of the awareness that a really comprehensive treatment of misgiving, that subject would somehow have to encompass an enormous ter­ rain, the whole length and breadth of Christianity's attitude toward sexuality from the earliest times down to the high Middle Ages. It could be argued that no small book could cover so much ground, and I would be the first to agree. As its subtitle is meant to suggest, the present work is, in at least two senses of the word, an essay: both an initial and tentative effort to get at the meaning of an extremely important but as yet unprobed medieval belief in the perfective value of the virginal life; and an interpretive study of a complex subject from a limited point of view, specifically, that in which the virgin appears in devotional literature as the bride of Christ.

Charles Pinot Duclos' biography dramatizes the evolution from the rigid separation of the aristocratic and plebeian classes in the seventeenth century to the gradual social democratization in the eighteenth. This son of a Brittany merchant from the little village of Dinan rose to social prominence in the aristocratic salon circles of Paris and to literary pre­ eminence, as attest contemporary memoirs, the success of his novels, histories and moral writings as well as his official positions - a member of two academies, Royal Historiographer, Perpetual Secretary of the French Academy -a feat nearly impossible in the stratified society of seventeenth­ century France. Moreover, not only was Duclos, the exceptional con­ versationalist, a persona grata among the Parisian social elite, but he was also aligned with the progressive philosophical forces, a friend or ally of the foremost mid-century men of letters. Indeed, as Karl Toth has so ably demonstrated, Duclos perhaps more than any other important writer 1 of his day can be considered the true representative of his Age. 1 Karl Toth, Woman and Rococo in France (London, 1931), p. 29. For amplified documentation on the character and life of Duclos consult the following sources: Louis Simon Auger, "Notice sur Duclos," Oeuvres completes de Duclos, Paris, 1806. Emile Henriot, "Un honnete homme au XVIIIe siecle -Duclos," La Nouvelle Revue (oct. -nov. 1910), XVII, pp. 553-64; (nov. -dec. 1910) XVIII, pp. 124-33. Leo Le Bourgo, Un homme de lettres au XVIII" siecle, Duclos, sa vie et ses ouvrages (Bordeaux, 1902).

The aim of these studies is to show how Pascal's moral outlook reflects the influence on his thought of the basic doctrine of the three orders. It is made clear at the outset how the three orders form the framework of Pascal's scale of values, with the different orders representing at once categories of moral value and orders of being.

Also labeled a staunch Tory and a firm believer in the institution of monarchy, Shelden showed no compunction whatever about lecturing the king on his duties or in boldly epposing the royal wishes when his lectures were ignored.

The present study had its origins long ago in a doctorate thesis presented at the University of Cambridge. Probably every section of this study owes something to his work, hints of the importance of the influence on Nicole of St Fran~ois de Sales proving particularly fruitful.

Diplomatic negotiation of our day is a curious mix of national endeavor within the bloc concept.

Apreface is best written last, after a book is done and its author may look back to survey what he hopes he has accomplished and what he must admit he has not. In hindsight virginity by itself has seemed a very large field to till, but with that reflection also comes a sense of misgiving, the awareness that a really comprehensive treatment of that subject would somehow have to encompass an enormous ter­ rain, the whole length and breadth of Christianity's attitude toward sexuality from the earliest times down to the high Middle Ages. It could be argued that no small book could cover so much ground, and I would be the first to agree. As its subtitle is meant to suggest, the present work is, in at least two senses of the word, an essay: both an initial and tentative effort to get at the meaning of an extremely important but as yet unprobed medieval belief in the perfective value of the virginal life; and an interpretive study of a complex subject from a limited point of view, specifically, that in which the virgin appears in devotional literature as the bride of Christ.

I. Introduction to the Argument and its History Prior to the 17th and 18th Centuries.- II. The Immortality of the Soul in the 17th and 18th Centuries.- III. The Unity of Consciousness in the 17th and 18th Centuries.- IV. Personal Identity in the 17th and 18th Centuries.- V. The Simplicity Argument and its Possible Role in the History of Idealism.

Alienation, ecstasy, death, rebirth: in the poetry of Michelangelo, Donne, and d' Aubigne these archetypal themes make possible the ultimate formulation of new poetic symbolizations of self and world.

I. Introduction to Duclos.- II. A definition of the Maxim in Duclos¿ novels.- III. The Maxims in Histoire de Madame de Luz.- IV. The Maxims in the Confessions du Comte de***.- V. The Maxims in M¿ires sur les Moeurs de ce Si¿e.- VI. The Maxims in the novels of Duclos: A conclusion.

All who are at all familiar with Smith's life and writings recognize that he was a philosopher by profession and that all his writings were conceived and executed as works of philosophy.

In the sixteenth century, the universities of northern Italy, Padua above all, had nurtured an intellectual ferment of considerable significance to the rise of the new science, and they continued to be penetrated by the influence of that science throughout the seventeenth century.

THE SENSE OF BEAUTY: A FIRST APPROXIMATION It is generally acknowledged that during the first half of the eighteenth century a profound change was wrought in the theory of art and natural beauty.

The past few years have seen a revival of interest in Thomas Reid's philosophy. Woozley gave us the first modern reprint of Reid's Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man - in fact the first edition of any work by Reid to appear in print since the Philosophical Works was edited in the nineteenth century by Sir William Hamilton.