1st Edition

The Artificial Self The Psychology of Hippolyte Taine

By Hilary Nias Copyright 1999

    This book reassesses Taine as the very model of the European intellectual in the second half of the 19th century. The author draws on unpublished manuscripts and letters to reveal a self-disguised, tentative and ironic mentality very like the one Taine described in his psychological writings. These qualities are reflected not only in his own ludic response to his times, but in that of many fellow Second Empire intellectuals. Darwinian evolution, new scientific discoveries, "la Critique" and Impressionism all made a profound impact on Taine's thinking and on his contribution to the moral revival and Nationalism of the Third Republic.

    Introduction; 1: The Formation of a Self; 2: The History of the Self; 3: Germination of a New Psychology; 4: Defeat of a Revolutionary; 5: Deflection and La Critique; 6: Consolidation and the Aesthetic Judgement; 7: De l’Intelligence A Second Empire Self; 8: The Price of Detachment; Conclusion

    Biography

    Hilary Nias