French Literature Reviews - 2026
C.-O. Stiker-Métral, Narcisse contrarié. L'amour propre dans le discours moral (1650-1715)
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas
Review in the journal Acta Fabula:
Self-Love through the Lens of Augustinianism, by Éric Tourrette.
Charles-Olivier Stiker-Métral
NARCISSE CONTRARIE. L'AMOUR PROPRE DANS LE DISCOURS MORAL EN FRANCE (1650-1715)
Paris, Champion
Coll. "Lumière classique"
2007
ISBN 9782745315526
816 pages
Publisher's overview:
Self-love, which La Rochefoucauld defines as "love of oneself and of all things for oneself," lies at the core of the reflections of those authors traditionally grouped together as "classical moralists." The Augustinian problematization of this notion, developed by La Rochefoucauld and the moralists of Port-Royal, equates self-love with pride and self-ignorance. This book traces the history of the term self-love in the French language and examines the major "systems of self-love" from the second half of the 17th century—Pascal, Nicole, La Rochefoucauld, Malebranche, Fénelon, among others—before exploring the various rhetorical strategies employed by the moralists to confront the reader with the mirror held up by the discourse of truth.
The seventeenth century in France witnessed a profound preoccupation with the mechanics of human motivation, particularly through the lens of moral philosophy and theology. Writers and thinkers of the period frequently interrogated the boundaries between genuine virtue and disguised self-interest, returning constantly to the multifaceted problem of human pride. This intellectual climate was deeply marked by theological debates surrounding grace, human nature, and the legacy of Saint Augustine, which shaped how authors understood the corrupting influence of the ego on moral judgment and social life alike.
Readers interested in the history of moral discourse and seventeenth-century French literature may find this volume relevant to their pursuits. Self-love, which La Rochefoucauld defines as love of oneself and of all things for oneself, lies at the core of the reflections of those authors traditionally grouped together as classical moralists. The Augustinian problematization of this notion equates self-love with pride and self-ignorance, tracing the history of the term in the French language and examining major systems from the second half of the seventeenth century.