Between Philosophy and Literature: the subject of sexuality in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's thinking

• Grant number: 18/03681-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): October 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - History of Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Luís Fernandes dos Santos Nascimento
• Grantee: Paulo Ferreira Junior
• Supervisor: Christophe Martin
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris 4), France
• Associated to the scholarship: 16/15632-0 - Between philosophy and literature: the subject of sexuality in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's thinking, BP.DR

Abstract

This internship project is part of a broader research about sexuality in Rousseau's thinking. The research seeks to give a more complete and systematic treatment to the theme and has as background the relationship between philosophy and literature. Our research is divided into three stages: (i) analysis of the sexuality theme in the context of moral and political criticism on the sciences and arts; (ii) analysis of the sexuality theme in an anthropological and political context; and (iii) analysis of the sexuality theme in the context of some literary creations. Step (i) has been completed, step (ii) is in progress, and during the internship at CELLF/Paris-Sorbonne, we intend to carry out step (iii), to analyze the sexuality theme in the works "The Confessions", "Rousseau, Judge of Jean-Jacques", "The Reveries of the Solitary Walker" and "Botanical Writings". We believe that, based on Rousseau's philosophical production and literary creation, we can draw a theory about sexuality, consistent with his moral, political, and literary thinking. During this internship, we wish to investigate the contribution of autobiographical writings to thinking about sexuality, and also to examine how Rousseau's interest in botany may enable us to understand better the sexual question in Rousseau.