{"product_id":"9781350630895","title":"Reception of Ancient Philosophers in Early Modern France The Mask of Philosophy","description":"\u003ch3\u003eRe-inventing Philosophy as a Way of Life\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch1\u003eReception of Ancient Philosophers in Early Modern France\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch2\u003eThe Mask of Philosophy\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003ch3\u003eJiani Fan | Keith Ansell Pearson | Michael Ure | Daniel Conway\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003ePhilosophy \/ History \u0026amp; Surveys \/ Ancient \u0026amp; Classical\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOffering a ground-breaking examination of how major French thinkers of the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries addressed the profound intellectual and spiritual crises of their age, this book moves beyond traditional intellectual history to argue that early modern French literature did not merely transmit ancient ideas but actively engaged in a critical dialogue with them.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt its core, the book consists of focused case studies on the appropriation of ancient philosophical schools as a way of life, including Socratic, Platonic, Stoic, Epicurean, Cynic, and Skeptic traditions, in Early Modern French literature. Jiani Fan argues that these French authors used parody, irony, and literary innovation as tools to dismantle classical systems and, in many cases, to clear a path for new Christian, skeptical, or scientific worldviews.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe are guided through Michel de Montaigne's evolution from an Epicurean interest in Lucretian \u003ci\u003eclinamen\u003c\/i\u003e as a model for free will toward a fideist skepticism that rejects philosophical inquiry in favor of divine revelation. Fan then analyzes how the moralists La Rochefoucauld and Pascal deconstructed the classical ideal of \u003ci\u003edouceur\u003c\/i\u003e (sweetness), exposing it not as a marker of Ciceronian \u003ci\u003ehumanitas\u003c\/i\u003e but as a subtle instrument of the Augustinian \u003ci\u003elibido dominandi\u003c\/i\u003e, a tyrannical flattery that enslaves through pleasure rather than reason. Another central chapter investigates Pascal's ingenious portrayal of Plato and Aristotle as \u003ci\u003ehonnêtes hommes\u003c\/i\u003e, courtly figures who employ Socratic irony and Pyrrhonian doubt not in a pure search for truth but as a political strategy to manage the vanity of princes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt its conclusion, this book explores the Enlightenment's culmination of this critical tradition in Diderot's \u003ci\u003eRameau's Nephew\u003c\/i\u003e, where the ancient Cynic practice of \u003ci\u003eparrhêsia\u003c\/i\u003e (frank speech) degenerates into a modern, cynical performance, an “enlightened false consciousness” that reflects the disillusionment of a failed ideal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eJiani Fan\u003c\/b\u003e is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. She received her PhD in Comparative Literature from Princeton University, specialising in French literature and philosophy, German literature and philosophy, and Classics. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Reception of Ancient Philosophy in Early Modern France \u003c\/i\u003e(Bloomsbury, 2026), \u003ci\u003eBetween Shanshui and Landscape: Toward a Comparative Aesthetics of Chinese and Western Poetry and Visual Arts \u003c\/i\u003e(2026) and is currently completing a third book titled \u003ci\u003eNietzsche the Moralist: Moral Psychology and the French Moralists\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e29 October 2026\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9781350630895\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHardback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e232\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWeight (oz): \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e16.0\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51515353071756,"sku":"9781350630895","price":103.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/getimage_01a15c84-aa53-4142-bcd1-cf919801a521.jpg?v=1784692536","url":"https:\/\/fh90cf-fv.myshopify.com\/products\/9781350630895","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}