In search of yourself

La vidéo sera disponible prochainement.

Abstract

The idea that the individual was susceptible to cultivation also drew the attention of XVIIIᵉ century writersto the problem of defining the individual, and to the question of his ability to reinvent himself. In this lecture, I will examine from this angle the two best-known examples, in the XVIIIᵉ century, of reinvention of the " moi " : those of Benjamin Franklin and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In passing, I'd like to point out the strange similarities between these two men. Both, born in Calvinist towns, ran away as teenagers, led itinerant lives, changed careers several times, enjoined their readers to follow a certain way of life, and, finally, wrote the first great modern autobiographies.