Gerbert et la pédagogie des arts libéraux à la fin du dixième siècle

The pedagogy of the liberal arts in France at the close of the tenth century is studied here on the basis of the testimony of the monk Richer about the teaching of his master Gerbert. The equipment and methods employed by Gerbert in his teaching of the trivium and quadrivium are analysed. The pedagogic innovations of this master are closely examined, especially in astronomy with the construction of various spheres, and in arithmetic with the use of the abacus and the introduction of characters made of horn.This approach to education, as conceived by Gerbert when he was scholaster of the archbishopric of Rheims, permits us to conclude that he did not fail to associate teaching with research.     

Pragmatisme Logique et Probabilisme Radical dans la Philosophie Italienne du XXe Siècle

This article sketches the principal characteristics of a philosophical trend which has met with some resistance despite the recognized importance of its representatives. This text illustrates the ideas at the foundation of the logical and methodological pragmatism of Giovanni Vailati and Mario Calderoni. These are ideas which should have surfaced in the international debate about the principle of verification and the concept of analyticity. In addition, the links between these ideas and the development of the subjective conception of probability in the work of Bruno de Finetti are explored.     

L’autobiographie allemande du XVIIIe siècle,interprétée à la lumière de la sociologie de niklas Luhmann

With the help of Luhmann’s theory, this essay tries to define the connection between the boom of autobiographical writing in the late 18th century and the rise of the middle classes. Central to this, is his definition of “career”, with which he describes the individuals’ behaviour in the new functional bourgeois society. Strictly speaking, the individual gains personal and social identity, through his or her spoken or written autobiography as can be seen clearly in Jung-Stilling’s autobiography, which was published bit by bit. The individual hereby improves its prospects of social advancement. On the other hand, K. P. Moritz in hisAnton Reiser describes his hero’s life as the “career” of a failure whose hyperactive imagination interferes with the formation of his identity. Thus autobiographical writing in the 18th century shows itself as the literary autopoiesis of the authors’ concrete individuality.     

Pratiques et censures du rire et de la comédie en Grèce ancienne

A travers l'étude de Platon, Aristote et Plutarque, cet article s'interroge sur les origines du préjugé défavorable à la comédie et au rire, qu ‘on retrouve dans la philosophie ancienne comme dans les travaux de ses commentateurs. Il semble en particulier que la conception du rire comme une manifestation de la mania—la folie dionysiaque—ait isolé les auteurs comiques et les comédiens au sein de la cité classique. Mais en insistant sur le caractère ridicule et laid de la comédie, les philosophes cherchent surtout à en minimiser la portée : en fait, la comédie offre une vision sans complaisance de la cité, et c'est cet aspect subversif qui suscite les attaques et justifie qu'on la considère, enfin, comme un sujet d'étude à part entière.     

La position de la France dans l'industrie européenne des machines à vapeur durant la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle∗

At least from the standpoint of the steam‐engine industry, the nature of industrial relations between France and other countries underwent a significant change during the half century which elapsed between 1860 and 1910. Towards 1860, the major characteristics are dispersion and nationalism; on the other hand, at the beginning of the twentieth century, while there is a new concentration on the national level, it confronts a distinct cosmopolitanism on the international level. To give an idea of this evolution, we will refer to two French works on steam‐engines, dated 1861–62 and 1913 respectively. They are of an essential practical nature and describe a large number of engines which were actually available on the market. Below, we will successively examine the early manufacturers existing through 1861–62, then those dating from 1913 only, and finally the establishments which have endured throughout the whole period under consideration. This study aims at pointing out the clear decadence of the French industry which became increasingly dependent upon foreign sources in the areas of technical creativeness as well as production.     

Les objets de la chose théorie du hasard et surréalisme au xxe siècle

On the basis of the trajectory of something made of paster which had impassioned the statisticians of the years 1880 and which furnished André Breton the very exemple for the notion of a surrealist object, one wonders whether the surrealist theory of chance was born by chance. By translating the issue which Ernest Coumet addressed in 1970 concerning the Pascalian geometry of chance, we investigate here the relationship between the history of science, art history and the history of scientific culture during the last century. In return, we hope to suggest why Coumet's article opened such a wide horizon in the history of the theory of probabilities thirty years ago.     

Qu’est-Ce Quela «Littérature Générale»? La Culture Lettrée au Prisme du Marché du Livre de la Première Moitié du XX e Siècle

The aim of this paper is to shed light on the importance, for cultural history, of a professional concept from the publishing worl, for example « general literature » - a concept which goes against most of the usual forms of classification and division of intellectual output. Through the use of an « indigenous » source from within the publishing domain such as the advertisement notices published in Bibliographie de la France, one can show the coherence of a wide domain which encompasses - but also widely surpasses - the boundaries of literature as commonly conceived. As one category of publishing output, general literature can be characterized during the first half of the XX ^th century by the use of the same material form the 12mo whose profound significance is the intention to reach a « wide educated audience ». Thus, it is by taking into account the structure of this output that, through such a domain as general literature, the publishing market allows the question of the actual existence and aspects of learned culture to be raised.     

Un « Artiste Connaisseur» ? L’Expertise du Restaurateur Dans L’Institution Muséale à la Fin du XVIIIe Siècle

The conservator's expertise is defined in Paris in the museum at the end of the 18(th) century. On the one hand, this article analyses the competences claimed by the conservator in order to give proof of his expertise and to create a professional identity distinct from other implicated actors. On the other hand, this text shows how this expertise is constructed through the collaboration between the curator and the conservator, and underlines the negotiation and porosity of their respective fields of competence.     

Civiliser en Grèce Ancienne Adoucir la Nature et Naturaliser la Force

Ancient Greeks had neither a single notion nor a single word to express the idea of civilization. As a process of living since the origins, civilization appears as a serie of acquisitions or losses that lead to an ambivalent human condition. As a state, it is a blend of three factors: a diet and an education that tame nature; a legal political system and just foreign politics. But in the Greek language, the same word expresses a political system and domination (archê). Dionysius of Halicarnassus by speaking of the Roman domination as a just and natural phenomena, makes it a civilizing power.