Amphithéâtre Guillaume Budé, Site Marcelin Berthelot
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Abstract

We explore the etymology of the notion of talent, starting with a paradox. Talent was originally a measure of weight, yet its metaphorical transport has led to the enigma of its indefinability. The etymological investigation then turns to modern definitions, starting with the Académie Française's first dictionary of 1694, which proposes a figurative meaning that has remained very stable in subsequent editions: "gift of nature, natural disposition and aptitude for certain things, capacity, skill". By metonymy, the imputed abilities and dispositions are used to qualify the whole person.

The origin of the questioning of the notion and value of talent is well known: the parable of the talents in Matthew's Gospel (25:14-30), whose meanings we examine, drawing in particular on Gianni Mombello's book dedicated to it:

" The parable of the talents is built on two essential themes: the gifts that God has given to men, and the use that men make of these gifts. God's gifts are of two kinds: natural, material or spiritual, and supernatural. Natural and material gifts are man's physical faculties (the five senses); natural and spiritual gifts are intelligence (and reason) and the will. Finally, the supernatural gifts are faith and the "good will", that additional grace which enables man to choose the good and perform meritorious acts for his salvation. These gifts are distributed unequally, according to each individual's capacity to receive them, and unequal is also the use to which they are put. Those who know how to make these gifts "bear fruit" prepare for their salvation; those who leave them inactive prepare for their damnation and the loss of these same gifts. The basic themes of the parable are therefore that of grace and that of free will, which constitute the two essential data of the most difficult problem that Christian speculation has ever had to debate, i.e. the problem of predestination. " [5]

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