Une loi de l'Eglise et de l'Etat: Napoleon and the central administration of religious life, 1800 1815

In 1802 the Napoleonic government removed authority over religiousholidays from the Gallican Church. In Old Regime France bishopsdecided which holidays were observed in their dioceses. TheRepublican Calendar had eliminated official recognition of Catholicholidays but not their widespread observance. Napoleon reinstatedthe Gregorian Calendar but not the holidays of the Old Regime.At his request, a papal indult eliminated the weekday observanceof all but four Catholic holidays. The reform drew on the legacyof the Enlightenment, especially Montesquieu. The clergy ofthe Gallican Church oversaw the indult's execution, which wascomplicated by ambiguous wording. Napoleon attempted to mergereligious and political obedience, so the best Christians wouldalso be the best subjects, while making it clear that the governmentwas the dominant power. The Restoration subsequently kept theindult in place, neither adding more holidays nor relinquishingauthority over the matter.     

Une vie de cellule

The «cellular theory», elaborated during the 19^th century by researchers such as Lorenz Oken, Matthias Schleiden, Theodor Schwann and Rudolf Virchov, greatly modified the conception of life that Man had had up to then, since it asserted that the cell is the basic organic unit of all living beings and that every living being stems from a cell. Indeed, the study of the unicellular paramecium shows that a cell must be considered as a complete living form insofar as it illustrates by feeding, growing, defending and reproducing the general fate of all living creatures. Its living-space, generated by its movements, is relative to its needs and therefore to its behaviour.     

Une Note de Max Weber sur les Danseuses Indiennes

The long note which Max Weber devotes to traditional Indian dancers in his study on the sociology of religions in India, Hinduism and Buddhism, is commented upon here through a comparison with one of the first German studies which deals with dance in India, The World history of the dance by Curt Sachs. Three themes are discussed: the relationship between the arts of the body and scholarly knowledge; the specificity of sacred arts, in this case the magical arts and the forms which correspond to them, such as the modes of apprenticeship which assure their transmission (understood as a «hereditary charisma»); the vision of women and the notion of the pure and the impure.     

L'utile de l'entendement et l'utile de l'action

In the xv^th and xvi^th centuries the Humanist movement transformed the curriculum into a form more apt to the needs of the new student population of the arts. In particular, what was the actual utility of mathematics in the new encyclopedia? It is Ramus who gave the most explicit answer: after the fall of aristotelian ontology, nobody could count anymore on the classical distinction between theory and practice, between speculation and action, but it was necessary to introduce a new order founded on the most fundamental human knowledge,mathesis. This is the first and irreplaceable utility of mathematics. The mathematical arts traditionally belonging to mathematics are reformed within this new encyclopedia and the humanist is supposed to know their principles and their utility for action.     

Une morphologie de la circulation des savoirs la revue depuis 1800

The statistical survey of 1 385 french titles, starting with annales, journal or revue, helps to understand the development of “scientific” journals in France from the beginning of the 19^th century until today. This 200 years history provides perspectives about the growth and decline of publishing. It includes scientific titles within the publishing production and underscores the importance of stimulation of the flow of ideas and information, through frequency and growth analysis.     

L'histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire

Barrès, M., Les Diverses Familles spirituelles de la France (Imprimerie nationale, 1997), 215 pp., 170F., ISBN 2 7433 0120 1

Bodin, L., Les Intellectuels existent‐ils? (Bayard Editions, 1997), 202 pp., 130F., ISBN 2 227 13702 9

Gide, A. and Paulhan, J., Correspondance 1918–1951. Cahiers Jean Paulhan IX (Gallimard, 1998), 356 pp., 160F., ISBN 2 07 075119 8

Hanna, M., The Mobilization of Intellect: French Scholars and Writers during the Great War (Harvard University Press, 1996), 292 pp., £25.50, ISBN 0 674 57755 8

Malaquais, J., Journal de guerre, suivi de Journal du métèque (Phébus, 1997), 333 pp., 135F., ISBN 2 85940 463 5

Pagès, A., 13 janvier 1898. J'accuse...! (Perrin, 1998), 293 pp, 119F., ISBN 2 262 012873

Verdès‐Leroux, J., Refus et violences. Politique et littérature à l'extrême droite des années trente aux retombées de la Libération (Gallimard, 1996), 514 pp., 190F., ISBN 2 07 073224 X

Winock, M., Le Siècle des intellectuels (Seuil, 1997), 695 pp., 149F., ISBN 2 02 030063 X     

L'urne et le pot de chambre

Résumé  En 1931, Ludwig Wittgenstein a identifié l'architecte et le critique culturel Adolf Loos comme une des dix personnes qui ont exercé la plus grande influence sur son développement intellectuel. Dans cet article est examinée l'influence de Loos sur Wittgenstein, en particulier son importance dans le projet de Wittgenstein pour la maison de sa sœur, ainsi que celle exercée sur les idées concernant la langue et l'éthique exprimées dans leTractacus. In 1931, Ludwig Wittgenstein identified the architect and cultural critic Adolf Loos as one of the ten people who had exerted the greatest influence on his intellectual development. In this article, I examine Loos's influence on Wittgenstein's design for his sister's house and also on the ideas about language and ethics set out by Wittgenstein in theTractatus. JohnHyman, né en 1960, estfellow au Queen's College d'Oxford. Il a publié de nombreux articles concernant l'épistémologie, la philosophie de l'esprit, l'esthétique et la philosophie de Wittgenstein. Son prochain livre, intituléThe Objective Eye. Colour, form and reality in the theory of art (L'Œil objectif. La couleur, la forme et la réalité dans la théorie de l'art), sera publié par les Presses de l'université de Chicago en 2006.     

Ville compacte et qualité de vie: discussions autour de l'approche canadienne des indicateurs de durabilité

L'expérience canadienne de modélisation par indicateurs de qualité de qualité de vie se renouvelle avec l'émergence de la problématique environnementale. La théorie de la ville compacte établit un lien étroit entre la qualité de vie, les densités résidentielles, la compacité du bâti et la durabilité urbaine. Plusieurs auteurs proposent la forme compacte comme un idéal. Les faibles densités résidentielles sont alors présentées comme un problème environnemental bien que les consommateurs continuent de préférer ce type d'habitat. Les comportements individuels semblent opposer le modèle de durabilité urbaine et la satisfaction résidentielle. Les considérations subjectives devraient être prises en compte à l'intérieur de ce modèle. Cet article discute de la forme urbaine et de la ville compacte à partir d'une lecture des documents programmatiques issus des agences gouvernementales et des centres de recherches.     

La technologie a l'Ecole du Louvre

Séminaires de l'Ecole du Louvre, Science, technique et industrie. Un patrimoine, des perspectives, La Documentation française, Paris 1983, 320 pages.     

Le gaullisme et la crise de l'Etat

The heritage of 1789 left French politicians and political analysts with the complex task of reconciling the two antithetical ideals of the Revolution: the desire to make the nation the sole political arbiter through its representatives with the need to maintain its unity. The history of France from 1789 to de Gaulle reflects France's fearfulness toward a strong executive as well as its fundamental mistrust in the people's capacity to maintain the cohesion of the nation and serve the general will. Here it is argued that de Gaulle overcame these contradictions by retaining French liberalism's emphasis on a dual executive, while the Bonapartist ideal of a strong executive could, erroneously, appear to be de Gaulle's deliberate choice. Finally it is argued that 'cohabitation', the debate surrounding the duration of the presidential mandate and the changing attitude toward France's relationship to the Vichy regime, reveal transformations proper to the French state in the late 20th century as much as a crisis of Gaullism and the loss of its basic meaning.