CFP: Rousseau and the Sciences

In the age of enlightenment, Rousseau looked at the sciences and technics of his time with exceptional and ferocious criticism. Only Botany, pointing to a superficial contemplation, escapes the dark omens of the citoyen de Genève.

After three hundred years of his birth, we would like to know: is the word of Rousseau about science still audible? What sense may have today the pages that Rousseau devoted to the analysis of the Sciences of his time? Were his critic premonitions fulfilled? And how did his work, despite the anti-scientific reproaches that appear here and there, get to be decisive in the emergence of future human sciences, from anthropology to language sciences, from psychology to pedagogy, from economics to politics?

The CFCUL invites proposals for papers exploring the originality and eccentricity of Rousseau's theses about the sciences. We want to celebrate this great name of universal thought to whom we owe immense texts such as the Discours sur les Sciences et les Arts, Discours sur L'origine et les Fondements de L'inégalité armi les hommes, Du contrat social ou Principes du Droit Politique, Émile ou de l'Éducation, Essai sur l'origine des langues, Dialogues, Les reveries du promeneur solitaire...

Proposals should arrive by the 10th of October. They can be sent in Portuguese, French or English. They must include title, author(s), institution(s), phone number and address.

For further information please contact Marcia Belchior ([email protected]) or visit: