Freedom's moment : an essay on the French idea of liberty from Rousseau to Foucault / Paul M. Cohen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cohen, Paul M. (Paul Michael), 1955-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Liberty--History.

Liberty.

Philosophy, French.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (244 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

What kind of freedom, and what kind of individual, has the French Revolutionary tradition sought to propagate? Paul Cohen finds a distinctly French articulation of freedom in the texts and lives of eight renowned cultural critics who lived between the eighteenth century and the present day. Arranged not according to the lives and times of its protagonists but to the narrative themes and structures they held in common, Cohen's study discerns a single master narrative of liberty in modern France. He captures these radicals, whose tradition bids them to resist the authority of power structures and public opinion. They denounce bourgeois and utilitarian values, the power of Church and State, and the corrupting influence of everyday politics, and they dream of a revolutionary rupture, a fleeting instant of sometimes violent but always meaningful transgression. An eloquent and insightful work on French political culture, Freedom's Moment also helps explain how France, even as it has oscillated between political stagnation and crisis, has held onto its faith that liberty, equality, and fraternity remain within its grasp. Examines the ideas of Rousseau, Robespierre, Stendahl, Michelet, Bergson, Peguy, Sartre, and Foucault.

Contents:

Front matter

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

A Note on Translations

ONE. Introduction

TWO. The Myth of the Consecrated Heretic

THREE. Hell and Other People

FOUR. The Critique of Society

FIVE. The Moment of Freedom

SIX. Conclusion

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [209]-217) and index.

ISBN:

9786611223236

9780226112916

0226112918

9781281223234

1281223239

OCLC:

437247611