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The fables of reason : a study of Voltaire's "Contes philosophiques" / Roger Pearson.
LIBRA PQ2125 .P43 1993
Available from offsite location
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Pearson, Roger.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Voltaire, 1694-1778. Contes philosophiques.
- Voltaire.
- Fables, French--History and criticism.
- Fables, French.
- Philosophy in literature.
- Reason in literature.
- Physical Description:
- x, 268 pages ; 22 cm
- Place of Publication:
- Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1993.
- Summary:
- This is the first comprehensive study in English of Voltaire's contes philosophiques--the philosophical tales for which he is best remembered and which include his masterpiece Candide. Pearson situates each story in its historical and intellectual context and offers new readings in light of modern critical thinking. He rejects the traditional view that Voltaire's contes were the private expression of his philosophical perplexity, and argues that it is narrative that is Voltaire's essential mode of thought. His book is a witty, lucid, and scholarly guide to the "fables of reason" through which Voltaire's skepticism undermined the contemporary religious and philosophical explanations of human experience.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references.
- Includes index.
- ISBN:
- 0198158807
- OCLC:
- 26974217
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