On imposture : Jean-Jacques Rousseau, literary lies, and political fiction / Serge Margel and translated by Eva Yampolsky.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Margel, Serge, author.

Contributor:

Yampolsky, Eva, translator.

Series:

Studies in Continental thought.

Studies in Continental Thought

Standardized Title:

De l'mposture. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Impostors and imposture in literature.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778--Criticism and interpretation.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778--Political and social views.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (88 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Bloomington, Indiana : Indiana University Press, [2023]

Summary:

"Imposture is an abuse of power. It is the act of lying for one's own benefit, of disguising the truth in order to mislead. For Jean-Jacques Rousseau, however, imposture is first and foremost power itself. In On Imposture, French philosopher Serge Margel explores imposture within Rousseau's Discourses, Confessions, and Emile. For Rousseau, taking power, using it, or abusing it are ultimately one and the same act. Once there's power, and someone grants themselves the means, the right, and the authority to force another's beliefs or actions, there is imposture. According to Rousseau, imposture can be found through human history, society, and culture. Using a deconstructionist method in the classic manner of Derrida, On Imposture explores Rousseau's thought concerning imposture and offers a unique analysis of its implications for politics, civil society, literature, and existentialist thought"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: The Staging of an Imposture

Mendacium est fabula, or The Right to Lie by Admission of Innocence: Jean-Jacques Rousseau: From the Fourth Walk to the Epigraph of the Confessions

Introduction

I. Lying in the Confessions: Between Innocence and Injustice

II. An Innocent Liar, a Truthful Man, and a Confessing Witness

Fictions of the Cultural: Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Body Politic of Democracy

I. Nature, Culture, and the Economy of History

II. The Body Politic and the Discourse of Fiction

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

"Originally published as De l'imposture."

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Print version: Margel, Serge On Imposture

ISBN:

9780253065315

0253065313

9780253065308

0253065305

OCLC:

1348287870