Journal of the History of Philosophy

114 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY decide for himself after weighing the evidence presented by the author. Only rarely, and in insignificant cases, might one question a factual statement: is it not more probable that the philosophy in question on p. 80, lines 8-9, is non-Cartesian philosophy? The doctrine of Pajon derived directly from a "liberal" theologian, Testard (and also from Cameron); is there any evidence that Amyraut was less "particularist" than Pajon (p. 154, n. 89)? Aside from DesMaizeaux's evident dislike of the Jurieu faction, is there anything in his biography which suggests prejudice against Calvinist orthodoxy (p. 140, n. 46)? Is it entirely certain that Bayle wrote the R~ponse d'un nouveau converti (p. 221) ? In just a single instance might one take more serious issue with the author: 1687 (the year of Bayle's illness and abandonment of the N.R.L.) would seem to be a far more critical one in Bayle's career than Mine Labrousse suggests; indeed, considering the events which preceded it, and the substantial change in Bayle's work which followed, one might well interpret it as a turning point in his life. It should be added, however, that here again Mine Labrousse's study is so thorough that one has only to re-evaluate the facts she presents in order to modify this perhaps inaccurate perspective. In sum, thanks to Mine Labrousse's admirable volume, Bayle's life has at last been written, and in a manner worthy of the finest traditions of French scholarship. The editors of the Archives internationales d'histoire des iddes (of which this is the first volume) may well take pride in launching their series so auspiciously. Meanwhile the numerous scholars engaged in the Bayle controversy now in progress on both sides of the Atlantic will be sharpening their swords to be ready for the excitement when Pierre Bayle, Volume II, makes its appearance. WALTE~ E. REX University ol Cali]ornia, Berkeley Jean-Jacques Rousseau et la rdalitd de l'imaginaire. By Marc Eigeldinger. (Neuch~tel: Baconni~re, 1962. Pp. 212.) Marc Eigeldinger, poet and critic, has enriched the Rousseau literature with a small, charming, suggestive book which is useful despite an unpromising main theme. Taking his cues from Jean-Paul Sartre and the Surrealist Andr6 Breton, he claims that Rousseau was the first French writer to recognize that "the reality of the imaginary prevails over [l'emporte sur] the reality of the world," and, less startlingly, that "the inner life of the imagination is more fecund than daily existence" with its all too obvious limitations. There is confusion between and within 'Timagination" and "l'imaginaire"; "Timagination " is a "creative," "consoling," faculty of the mind, an "autonomous psychic force," "a profound dimension of existence"; "the imaginary" is an experience, an "imaginary world on the fringe of the sensible world," with a reality and a "space" of its own. But after these vague preliminaries the book successfully turns to weightier business. It tracks the history of the concept of imagination among French thinkers and writers from Cyrano de Bergerac via Descartes, Pascal, Bossuet to Vauvenargues, Condillac, Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau himself. The longest chapter (chap. 3) is devoted to Rousseau's "ambiguous" attitude toward the imagination. His dilemma, according to Eigeldinger, is between recognizing 'Timagination" as a liberating faculty (with heavy undertones of escapism) and having to keep it under control to avoid "la dilation de l'&re," for him the prime source of evil. The chapter ends with good pages on the true character of Rousseau's love of nature. The remaining four chapters are valuable BOOK REVIEWS 115 analytical surveys of important Rousseau themes (though their connection with the main theme is sometimes weak) : Rousseau's attitude to love, his philosophy of language, his notion of a Golden Age and Terrestrial Paradise, and his views of personal immortality . Chapter 4 ("L'amour et le pays des chim~res") shows Rousseau recoiling from love fulfillment, "rejet6 dans I'imaginaire par l'~chec de sa passion," finding satisfaction only in the imagination (hence his fear of "soiling the purity" of the beloved, with some strange consequences for his concept of personality). The chapter on Rousseau's...