Philosophy and the Passions: Toward a History of Human Nature

Literature and Philosophy

by Michel Meyer, Robert F. Barsky (Translator)

The subject of the passions has always haunted Western philosophy and, more often than not, aroused harsh judgments. For the passions represent a force of excess and lawlessness in humanity that produces troubling, confusing paradoxes. Michel Meyer provides new insight into an age-old Does passion torture people because it blinds them, or, on the contrary, does it permit them to apprehend who and what we really are?

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Michel Meyer enseigne à l'Université libre de Bruxelles et à l'Université de Mons. On lui doit plusieurs ouvrages publiés aux PUF, dont Le comique et le tragique (2003), La rhétorique (« Que sais-je ? », 2004), Le philosophe et les passions (2007). Ils font suite à Questionnement et historicité (2000), maître-livre de la problématologie.

Reviews

[Robert Barsky]

Meyer's work on questioning and argumentation make him one of the leading philosophers in Europe. This book, which I translated, is filled with extraordinary insights about the history of how philosophers considered "passion", in particular in its relationship to reason. Filled with ideas about how Christianity has affected crucial philosophical concepts, the evolution of our thinking about passion, and the value of considering passion's mysterious powers, this really is a superb work.