La Littérature philosophique sadienne: aspects historiques

Guilherme Grané Diniz

Published in December, 2021

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Sadian Philosophical Literature: Historical Aspects.

Amidst the many dissensions encountered among readers of the works of the Marquis de Sade, an important one concerns the question of whether his literary philosophical writings are to be regarded as radically new and different from those of his time, or as one of the many variations on the canonical roman philosophique. This leads to an associate issue: whether contemporary philosophical readings of De Sade’s works, which tend to see in him a radically innovative philosopher, are or not well founded. In this essay, we intend to try and analyze these questions. We will endeavor to evaluate certain literary resources mobilized in De Sade’s writing and point out the main particularities which mark his use of those. In this way, we will try to draw conclusions about the historical role of De Sade’s literature, both concerning the formal innovations towards which he contributed in philosophical literature and the legacy he left to the philosophy of twentieth century France.