Marin Cureau De La Chambre on the Nature of Human Emotions, the Mechanism of Creating Them and Their Significance to Express a State of Mind Using Body Language

Marin Cureau de la Chambre belonged to the group of medicals and philosophers who played a significant role in the development of French philosophy of the seventeenth century. The scholar dealt with the basics of physiognomy and achieved a significant progress in this area. His main work, dedicated to the expression of emotions, provides a comprehensive analysis of human behavior and a classification of feelings. De la Chambre considered himself as a continuator of Aristotle’s works, but his research was in response to the demand of his own era. The author values more highly the realm of emotions and against the tendencies of rationalism, considers human nature almost entirely in their aspects. He considers the body as a medium which helps the soul express all its states of being. Body language is treated as a key to the human psyche. His method is designed to expose the real nature that people are trying to hide behind the conventions and cultural masks. For this purpose de la Chambre deepens his gaze on the context which can be defined as socio-psycho-geographic. The knowledge gained in this way was to be used in human resource management, politics, but also effectively navigating the intricacies of court life. In comparison with Descartes, the medical presents himself as the one who came closer to the knowledge of the “real man”, which, for the other one is clearly lacking. The article presents the main assumptions of de la Chambre’s physiognomy and, where possible, seeks to compare his “Expressions of feelings” with Descartes’ “Passions of the soul”.dr hab. Tomasz Stegliński, Uniwersytet Łódzki, Instytut FilozofiiUniwersytet Łódzki, Instytut FilozofiiAucante V., La philosophie médicale de Descartes, Paris 2006.Chambre M.C. de la, Les Characteres des passions, Paris 1660–1662.Chambre M.C. de la, L’Art de connoistre les hommes, Amsterdam 1669.Chambre M.C. de la, Le Système de l’âme, Paris 1664, 2004.Chambre M.C. de la, Traité de la connoissance des animaux, où tout ce qui a esté dict pour et contre le raisonnement des bestes est examiné par le sieur de La Chambre, Paris 1647, 1989.Darmon A., Les corps immatériels: esprits et images dans l’oeuvre de Marin Cureau de La Chambre, 1594–1669, Paris 1985.Dąbrowska M., Echa fizjonomiki w literaturze rosyjskiej przełomu XVIII i XIX wieku, Slavica Wratislaviensia, CLIII, Wrocław 2011.Descartes R., Listy do Księżniczki Elżbiety, tłum. J. Kopania, Warszawa 1995.Descartes R., Medytacje o pierwszej filozofii, wraz z Zarzutami uczonych mężów i odpowiedziami autora oraz Rozmowa z Burmanem, tłum. M. i K. Ajdukiewiczowie, S. Swieżawski, I. Dąmbska, Warszawa 1958.Descartes R., Człowiek, Opis ciała ludzkiego, tłum. A. Bednarczyk, Warszawa 1989.Descartes R., Rozprawa o metodzie właściwego kierowania rozumem i poszukiwania prawdy w naukach, tłum. W. Wojciechowska, Warszawa 1981.Descartes R., Namiętności duszy, tłum. L. Chmaj, Warszawa 1986.Desjardins L., Portrait et repr´esentation de l’intériorité feminine, w: La Femme au XVII siècle, Actes du Colloque de Vancouver University of British Columbia, 5–7 października 2000, ed. R. G. Hodgson, Tybinga 2002.Desjardins L., Le Corps parlant. Savoirs et représentations des passions au XVIIe siècle, Presses de l’université Laval et Paris, L’Harmattan, Québec 2001.Doranlo R., La médecine au XVIIe sieècle; Marin Cureau de La Chambre, médecin et philosophe, 1594–1669, Paris 1939.Dumora F., Topologie des émotions. Les Caractères des passions de Marin Cureau de La Chambre, „Littératures classiques” 1/2009 (№ 68) (http://www.cairn.info/revue-litteratures-classiques1-2009-1-page-161.htm, dostęp 2015.10.01).Eckhert M.E., Astrology and humors in the theory of man: the works of Marin Cureau de la Chambre and their importance in the cultural evolution of the seventeenth century, USA 1975.Edwards M., Marin Cureau de la Chambre and Pierre Chanet on Time and the Passions of the Soul, „History of European Ideas” 38/2012.Escola M., Marin Cureau de la Chambre: l’ordre du sémiotique (1640–1659), w: tenże, Rhétorique du discontinu, Paris 1995.Foerster I., Marin Cureau de la Chambre (1594–1675): ein Beitag zur Geschichte der psychomoralischen Literatur in Frankreich, Breslau 1936.Le Brun Ch., Conférence sur l’expression des passions, „Nouvelle Revue de Psychanalyse”, nº 21, 1980.Levi A., French Moralists. The Theory of the Passions, 1585 to 1649, Oxford 1964.Pichot A., Histoire de la notion de vie, Paris 1993.Pocard du Cosquer de Kerviler R., Marin et Pierre Cureau de la Chambre (1596–1693); étude sur leur vie et leurs écrits, Le Mans 1877.Riese W., La Théorie des passions à la lumière de la pensée médicale du XVIIe siècle, Bâle et New York, Karger, 1965.Roukhomovsky B., Entre théorie des passions et rhétorique de la conversation : Cureau de la Chambre et «Les Charactères du Ris» (1640), „Recherches & Travaux” 67/2005, s. 25–39 (http://recherchestravaux.revues.org/257, dostęp 01.10.2015).Malinowska M., Cureau de la Chambre i jego teoria temperamentów w odniesieniu do mężczyzny i kobiety, w: Dawne literatury romańskie – żywioły, temperamenty, żywioły, red. Maciej Abramowicz, Paweł Matyaszewski, Lublin 2011.Stegliński T., Pierre Chanet, polemista i filozof instynktu oraz Marin Cureau de la Chammbre – historia pewnego sporu, „Roczniki Filozoficzne”, t. LXIII, nr 1–2015.Valentin M., Les médecins à l’aube de l’Académie française, de Marin Cureau de la Chambre à Jules Pilet de la Mesnardière, Société française d’histoire de la médecine, tom pokonferencyjny, sesja z dnia 12 kwietnia 1986 (http://www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/sfhm/hsm/HSMx1986x020x003/.pdf, dostęp 2015.10.10).Wild M., Marin Cureau de la Chambre on the Natural Cognition of the Vegetative Soul: An Early Modern Theory of Instinct, „Vivarium”, 46/2008.Wright J. P., The Embodied Soul in Seventeenth-Century French Medicine, „The Canadian Bulletin of Medical History”, 8/1991.57-7727/t.t.577