Title: Moral and political writings /
Authors: Fénelon, François de Salignac de La Mothe-, 1651-1715; Hanley, Ryan Patrick, 1974-
Year: 2020
Subjects: Fénelon, François de Salignac de La Mothe-,; Fénelon, François de Salignac de La Mothe-, Ethics.; Fénelon, François de Salignac de La Mothe-,; Political science Philosophy Early works to 1800.; Ethics Early works to 1800; Philosophy, French; Philosophy, French; Ethics; Philosophy, French; Political science Philosophy
Abstract: "Fénelon may be the most neglected of all the major early modern philosophers. His political masterwork was the most-read book in eighteenth-century France after the Bible, yet today even specialists rarely engage his work directly. This problem is particularly acute in the Anglophone world, for while Fénelon's works have been published in several excellent modern French editions, only the smallest fraction of his vast and influential corpus has appeared in modern English translation. This volume aims to help remedy this by bringing to English-language audiences the first collection of his moral and political writings in translation. By so doing it hopes to make more widely available the riches of one of the leading voices of resistance to the absolutism of Louis XIV. Fénelon's political thought will thus be of particular interest to students and scholars of French history, as well as to those today engaged in questions of political resistance and reform. But Fénelon's reach also extends to fields well beyond politics and ethics. In the Enlightenment, Fénelon came to be celebrated not only as a humanitarian political reformer but also as a pioneering theorist of education, a prescient student of economics and international relations, and a key voice in contemporary philosophical debates-not to mention his fame as one of the seventeenth-century's most preeminent theologians and spiritualists and masters of French prose. As such, his work will be of interest to students and scholars in fields ranging from philosophy and political science to economics, education, literature, French history, and religion."--
Contents: Introduction -- Fables (selections) -- Dialogues of the dead composed for the education of a prince (selections) -- The adventures of Telemachos (selections) -- Correspondence -- Discourse delivered at the consecration of the Elector of Cologne -- Examination of conscience on the duties of kingship -- Political memoranda -- "On pure love."