Empire et patrie. Politique et esthétique comparées de Hume, Gibbon et Rousseau

Michel Baridon : Empire and nation. The relation of aesthetics to politics in Hume, Gibbon and Rousseau. With the triumph of Harringtonian " Antick balance" over the contract theory of government re-cast by Locke, Britain became a "New Rome in the West", spreading classical values which could be circulated by existing art forms. After 1750 a split occurred among the Philosophes due to the emergence of the peasant class in France and the American crisis. While Hume and Gibbon remained Ciceronians, Rousseau revived the contract theory, played nation against Empire and association against reason. He associated patriotism with a definite horizon and promoted art forms which answered the needs of revolutionary Europe.Baridon Michel. Empire et patrie. Politique et esthétique comparées de Hume, Gibbon et Rousseau. In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°8, 1976. Les Jésuites. pp. 405-422