Fénelon and the refinement of self-love
| Published date | 01 July 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/14748851211002013 |
| Author | Brandon Turner |
| Date | 01 July 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Symposium on Ryan Hanley’s Fénelon |
Symposium on Ryan Hanley’s F
enelon EJPT
F
enelon and the
refinement of self-love
Brandon Turner
Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
Ryan Patrick Hanley, The Political Philosophy of F
enelon, Oxford University Press: New York, NY,
2020; 324 pp.: ISBN 9780190079635, US$39.95 (hbk)
Franc¸ois F
enelon, F
enelon: Moral and Political Writings, edited and translated by Ryan Patrick
Hanley, Oxford University Press: New York, NY, 2020; 286 pp.: ISBN 9780190079581, US$39.95
(hbk)
Abstract
Drawing on his past work as an interpreter of Adam Smith, Hanley offers an account of
F
enelon’s social and political thought that emphasizes the role (and the dangers) of
pride and self-love in human affairs. F
enelon does not join those, like Mandeville and La
Rochefoucauld, who seek to understand and possibly to control self-love. Instead, he
attempts to wed a far more rigorous and classical approach to the problem of pride—
namely, the refinement of self-love through virtuous practices—to a modern view of the
state and political economy.
Keywords
F
enelon, French political thought, history of political thought, modern political thought,
self-love
Out of concern for space and attention, I will (mostly) leave out the usual con-
gratulations to the author. I would be remiss not to point out, briefly, that Ryan
Hanley’s twin volumes—his new translations compiled in F
enelon: Moral and
Political Writings (MPW), and his own interpretive effort, The Political
Corresponding author:
Brandon Turner, Clemson University, 230D Brackett Hall, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, USA.
Email: bturne2@clemson.edu
European Journal of Political Theory
2021, Vol. 20(3) 575–579
!The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/14748851211002013
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