Table Of Contenti
SOPHIE DE GROUCHY’S LETTERS ON SYMPATHY
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OXFORD NEW HISTORIES OF PHILOSOPHY
Series Editors
Christia Mercer, Melvin Rogers, and Eileen O’Neill (1953– 2017)
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Advisory Board
Lawrie Balfour, Jacqueline Broad, Marguerite Deslauriers, Karen
Detlefsen, Bachir Diagne, Don Garrett, Robert Gooding- Williams,
Andrew Janiak, Marcy Lascano, Lisa Shapiro, Tommie Shelby
*
Oxford New Histories of Philosophy provides essential resources for
those aiming to diversify the content of their philosophy courses,
revisit traditional narratives about the history of philosophy, or bet-
ter understand the richness of philosophy’s past. Examining previ-
ously neglected or understudied philosophical figures, movements,
and traditions, the series includes both innovative new scholarship
and new primary sources.
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Published in the series
Mexican Philosophy in the 20th Century: Essential Readings
Edited by Carlos Alberto Sánchez and Robert Eli Sanchez, Jr.
Sophie de Grouchy’s Letters on Sympathy: A Critical Engagement with
Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Translated by Sandrine Bergès. Edited by Sandrine Bergès
and Eric Schliesser
Women Philosophers of Seventeenth-Century England:
Selected Correspondence
Edited by Jacqueline Broad
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SOPHIE DE GROUCHY’S
LETTERS ON SYMPATHY
A Critical Engagement with Adam Smith’s The Theory
of Moral Sentiments
Translated by Sandrine Bergès
WITH AN INTRODUCTION, GLOSSARY, AND COMMENTARY
BY SANDRINE BERGÈS AND ERIC SCHLIESSER
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3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Condorcet, Marie-Louise-Sophie de Grouchy, marquise de, 1764–1822,
author. | Bergès, Sandrine, editor, translator. | Schliesser, Eric, 1971–
editor, translator. | Container of (expression): Condorcet,
Marie-Louise-Sophie de Grouchy, marquise de, 1764–1822. Lettres sur la
sympathie. English (Bergès and Schliesser) | Container of (expression):
Condorcet, Marie-Louise-Sophie de Grouchy, marquise de, 1764–1822. Lettres
sur la sympathie. French (Bergès and Schliesser)
Title: Sophie de Grouchy’s letters on sympathy / edited [and translated] by
Sandrine Bergès and Eric Schliesser.
Description: New York, NY, United States of America : Oxford University
Press, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018038479 (print) | LCCN 2018040294 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190637125 (online content) | ISBN 9780190637101 (updf) |
ISBN 9780190637118 (epub) | ISBN 9780190637095 (pbk. :alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780190637088 (cloth :alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Condorcet, Marie-Louise-Sophie de Grouchy, marquise de,
1764–1822—Correspondence. | Condorcet, Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat,
marquis de, 1743–1794. | Statesmen’s spouses—France—Correspondence. |
Revolutionaries—France—Correspondence. |
Intellectuals—France—Correspondence. | France—History—Revolution,
1789–1799—Sources. | France—Intellectual life—18th century—Sources.
Classification: LCC DC146. C7 (ebook) | LCC DC146. C7 A4 2020 (print) |
DDC 944.04092 [B]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018038479
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Paperback printed by WebCom, Inc., Canada
Hardback printed by Bridgeport National Bindery, Inc., United States of America
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This book is dedicated with admiration
and gratitude to the memory of:
Eileen O’Neill (1953–2 017)
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CONTENTS
Series Editors’ Foreword ix
Preface and Acknowledgments xiii
About the Authors xv
Note on the Text and Translation xvii
PART I
INTRODUCTION
1. Life and Context 3
1.1. Life 3
1.2. Adam Smith in France 8
1.3. Sources 10
1.4. Women Philosophers in the Revolution 17
2. The Text 23
2.1. Writing the Letters 23
2.2. Summary of the Letters 26
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Contents
2.3. The Letters and The Theory of Moral Sentiments 28
2.4. Other Writings 34
3. Selected Themes 39
3.1. Political Philosophy: Republicanism 39
3.2. Legal Philosophy and Political Economy 44
3.3. Aesthetics 49
PART II
TRANSLATION: LETTERS TO C***,
ON THE THEORY OF MORAL SENTIMENTS
4. Letter I 57
5. Letter II 67
6. Letter III 77
7. Letter IV 89
8. Letter V 105
9. Letter VI 119
10. Letter VII 133
11. Letter VIII 145
Glossary 157
Further Readings 161
Bibliography 165
Index 171
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SERIES EDITORS’ FOREWORD
Oxford New Histories of Philosophy (ONHP) speaks to a new climate
in philosophy.
There is a growing awareness that philosophy’s past is richer and
more diverse than previously understood. It has become clear that
canonical figures are best studied in a broad context. More exciting
still is the recognition that our philosophical heritage contains long-
forgotten innovative ideas, movements, and thinkers. Sometimes
these thinkers warrant serious study in their own right; sometimes
their importance resides in the conversations they helped reframe
or problems they devised; often their philosophical proposals
force us to rethink long- held assumptions about a period or genre;
and frequently they cast well- known philosophical discussions in a
fresh light.
There is also a mounting sense among philosophers that our dis-
cipline benefits from a diversity of perspectives and a commitment
to inclusiveness. In a time when questions about justice, inequality,
dignity, education, discrimination, and climate (to name a few) are
especially vivid, it is appropriate to mine historical texts for insights
that can shift conversations and reframe solutions. Given that
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