La loi du père : Étude de l'Entretien d'un père avec ses enfants (Ire partie) - article ; n°1 ; vol.23, pg 9-62

Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie - Année 1997 - Volume 23 - Numéro 1 - Pages 9-62
Pierre Chartier : The Law ofthe Father (part I).
This detailed study of the Entretien d'un père avec ses enfants is aimed at showing that a philosophical reading of this brilliant dialogue, as seen in the subtitle (On the dangers of putting oneself above the laws), can and must be combined with the more domestic reading implied by the title, which is a reconstituted or reinvented memory of Langres evenings. In Diderot's work, the father and the law do more than simply exchange their powers and prestige. The whole work is marked in numerious ways by the decisive double patronage under which it is placed. The first part of the study aims at revealing the conditions of the work' s elaboration, over three years (from 1770 to 1773) and at showing how, as it was rewritten and added to, the casuistical reflection on the three codes is staged in the father's salon, to the advantage of the son, who has returned from Paris with a new prestige. The second part will analyse the fiction of the confrontation between the two, which provides de son with reasons to proclaim himself a philosopher in the eyes of the world, the natural, though ambiguous, father of his works.
Pierre Chartier : The Law ofthe Father (part I).
This detailed study of the Entretien d'un père avec ses enfants is aimed at showing that a philosophical reading of this brilliant dialogue, as seen in the subtitle (On the dangers of putting oneself above the laws), can and must be combined with the more domestic reading implied by the title, which is a reconstituted or reinvented memory of Langres evenings. In Diderot's work, the father and the law do more than simply exchange their powers and prestige. The whole work is marked in numerious ways by the decisive double patronage under which it is placed. The first part of the study aims at revealing the conditions of the work' s elaboration, over three years (from 1770 to 1773) and at showing how, as it was rewritten and added to, the casuistical reflection on the three codes is staged in the father's salon, to the advantage of the son, who has returned from Paris with a new prestige. The second part will analyse the fiction of the confrontation between the two, which provides de son with reasons to proclaim himself a philosopher in the eyes of the world, the natural, though ambiguous, father of his works.
54 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.