In this classic work, now appearing in English for the first time, Claudia Moatti analyses the intellectual transformation that occurred at the end of the Roman Republic in response both to the political crisis and to the city's expansion across the Mediterranean. This was a period of great cultural dynamism and creativity when Roman intellectuals, most notably Cicero and Varro, began to explore all areas of life and knowledge and to apply critical thinking to the reassessment of tradition and the development of a systematic new understanding of the Roman past and present. This movement, linked to the development of writing, challenged old forms of authority and adhesion, belief and behaviour, without destroying tradition; and for this reason this rational trend can be described not as a cultural but as an epistemological revolution whose greatest achievement, Professor Moatti argues, was the development of the system of Roman law.

La fable mystique

The Birth of Critical Thinking in Republican Rome

Les trois heritages de Michel de Certeau. Un projet eclate d'analyse de la modernite (E. Maigret). ; ; L'heritage de Michel de Certeau est a ce point disperse dans des champs de recherche, des disciplines et des pays differents qu'il semble impossible de conferer une unite a son œuvre. L'histoire de la mystique, l'epistemologie de l'histoire, la socio-anthropologie des religions, la sociologie de la culture, les Cultural Studies, la recherche sur les nouvelles technologies, sont impregnees de ses concepts et de ses resultats mais ne les relient pas entre eux. Cet article passe en revue les multiples ecrits de Michel de Certeau et certaines de leurs receptions afin de montrer qu'un projet d'analyse de la modernite se degageait d'eux. Ce projet debute avec l'etude de la mystique comme manifestation de la secularisation et avec l'etude de la secularisation comme invention d'un espace autonome de pratiques culturelles. Il souligne que la dimension epistemologique ne peut etre separee de l'etude empirique, surtout dans le cas du « populaire » (qui decrete ce qu'est le « populaire » ?). Une nouvelle theorie des croyances et des pratiques, et des liens qui les unissent, complete un projet qui tente de cerner les changements apportes par la modernite.

Les trois héritages de Michel de Certeau. Un projet éclaté d'analyse de la modernité

Le sacré dans l'image photographique. Etudes sémiotiques

Preface Acknowledgments Chapter One American Popular Piety and Continental Spirituality: The Ecumenical Contexts of Nineteenth-Century Holiness Camp Meetings Chapter Two The Reputation of Madame Guyon: Personalities, Politics, and Religious Controversy under Louis XIV Chapter Three The DA (c)nouement of the Quietist Drama and Early Intermediaries to Protestant Circles Chapter Four Madame Guyon and the Pietist Mind-Set: The Transmission of Quietism to German-Speaking Pennsylvania Chapter Five The Praxis of Piety: Quaker and Methodist Mediation of the Works of FA (c)nelon and Madame Guyon Chapter Six Persons of Eminent Piety and Writers of Spiritual Wisdom: FA (c)nelon, Madame Guyon, and Their American Readership, 1800-1840 Chapter Seven From Experimental Religion to Experimental Holiness: Contexts of Thomas Upham's Reinterpretation of Madame Guyon, 1840-1860 Chapter Eight The Turn to Devotional Literature: Readers of FA (c)nelon, From Boardman, Stowe, and Bushnell to Twentieth-Century Evangelicals Chapter Nine The Legacy of Madame Guyon from 1850 to 2000: From Romantic Sentimentalism to the Charismatic Movement Epilogue Notes Bibliography

Experimental Theology in America: Madame Guyon, Fénelon, and Their Readers

This article examines how and why criminal proceedings were brought against alleged cases of Catholic mysticism in several European countries during modernity. In particular, it explores how criminal charges were derived from mystical experiences and shows how these charges were examined inside the courtroom. To bring a lawsuit against supposed mystics, justice systems had to reduce their mysticism to 'facts' or actions involving a breach of the law, usually fraud. Such accusations were not the main reason why alleged mystics were taken to court, however. Focusing on three representative examples, in Spain, France and Germany, I argue that 'mystic trials' had more to do with specific conflicts between the defendant and the ecclesiastical or secular authorities than with public concern regarding pretence of the supernatural. Criminal courts in Europe approached such cases in a similar way. Just as in ecclesiastical inquiries, during the trials, judges called upon expert testimony to debunk the allegedly supernatural. Once a mystic entered the courtroom, his or her reputation was profoundly affected. Criminal lawsuits had a certain 'demystifying power' and were effective in stifling the fervour surrounding the alleged mystics. All in all, mystic trials offer a rich example of the ways in which modern criminal justice dealt with increasing enthusiasm for the supernatural during the 19th century.

background

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0952695118761499

La fable mystique

Citations

The Birth of Critical Thinking in Republican Rome

Les trois héritages de Michel de Certeau. Un projet éclaté d'analyse de la modernité

Le sacré dans l'image photographique. Etudes sémiotiques

Experimental Theology in America: Madame Guyon, Fénelon, and Their Readers

Mysticism in the courtroom in 19th-century Europe.

Related Papers (2)

Histoire et psychanalyse entre science et fiction

L' écriture de l'histoire