Interdisciplinary Seminar 2024-26 'The Politics of the Sociable Self: Theories and Practices (1650-1850)'

The Politics of the ‘Sociable Self’: Theories and Practices (1650-1850)

 

The aim of this interdisciplinary seminar is (1) to explore the formation and evolution of the concept of a ‘sociable self’ during the long eighteenth century (1650-1850); (2) to historicize theories of sociability by grounding them in social practices so as to understand their mutual influence; (3) to examine the role of sociability in the definition of social bonds and civic practices (sense of belonging, social attachment, national affection, public engagement); (4) to explore how these concepts and practices were subject to debate, contest and change.

 

The seminar series will investigate the changing meaning and theorisation of the ‘sociable’ self in various discourses (political and moral philosophy, anthropology, medical science, economic theory …). It will also explore the dissemination of these meanings and theories as well as attempts to put them into practice in different contexts and through different means, such as journalism, clubbing, debating societies, fiction writing, travel writing, and life writing. We will seek to identify key moments and events that triggered changes in how the sociable-self was conceived of and put into practice. The seminar series will also examine the broadening of the meaning of sociability from referring to a personal trait (‘fellowlike’, ‘friendly’) and a natural inclination (to ‘keep company’) to referring to mutually beneficial social interactions and a desire to forge the ‘general interest’. To what extent does the theory of the ‘sociable self’ provide a new perspective to understand the tensions at work between the motives and aspirations of the individual and the constraints and interests of the social group. 

Thinking about the politics of the ‘sociable self’ will also raise questions about the centrality of sociability in Enlightenment culture, the tensions with individuality, the changing representations of solitude, and the embodied, material and emotional aspects of the interpersonal constitution of ‘sociable selves’. The COVID pandemic heightened our awareness of the need for social interactions and social bonds, especially among young and elderly people. The renewal of academic interest in theories of the 'self' and on social attachment attests to the ongoing relevance of this important topic. Moreover, the predominant culture of ‘the self’ in our contemporary societies is inevitably affecting how we imagine and maintain sociability. 

Brainstorming sessions on secondary and primary sources

* SESSION 1

The first session focused on secondary sources which address the construction of selfhood and socialness in the long eighteenth century. The discussions revolved around the four aspects identified in the above description of the seminar: (1) formation of the concept of 'sociable self'; (2) mutual influence theories / practices; (3) definition and structuration of social bonds; (4) debates and evolution of concept.

On the self:

- Dror Wahrman, ‘The Ancien Regime of Identity’, in The Making of the Modern Self. Identity and Culture in Eighteenth Century England, Yale University Press, 2006. PDF version 
- Dror Wahrman, ‘The Modern Regime of Selfhood’, in The Making of the Modern Self. Identity and Culture in Eighteenth Century England, Yale University Press, 2006. PDF version

On the sociable self:

- Larry F. Norman, ‘Modern Identity and The Sociable Self in The Late Seventeenth Century’, Nottingham French Studies, Vol. 47, No.3, Autumn 2008, p. 34-44. PDF version.
- Phil Withington, ‘The Sociable Self’, Society in Early Modern England, Polity Press, 2010. PDF version.

 

* SESSION 2

The second session was devoted to primary sources using a selection of guiding questions:

  1. How does the eighteenth-century culture of sociability grapple with the emergence / formation / development of the ideas of selfhood / personal identity / individuality?
  2. What tensions and paradoxes underlie the dialectics of self vs society?
  3. What did the ‘self’ mean in eighteenth-century theories of sociability? Shaftesbury, Hobbes, Mandeville, Hutcheson, Hume, Smith …
  4. To what extent do emotions and passions serve social affections rather than individual interests? 
  5. Do these theories elaborate a definition of the individual self? A natural conscience other than the God-related soul? Is it made subservient to social affections?
  6. How do these theories deal with self-interest ? How do they make it compatible with social affections? (theories of laughter, wit and ridicule in Hobbes and Hutcheson for instance)
  7. Does sociability act as a regime of contention for the regulation of ill affections (selfishness, frolic …)? and yet, is excess of sociability perceived as a risk of jeopardizing one’s own nature? (Shaftesbury, Montesquieu, Rousseau) 
  8. How are solitude, unsociability, deviancy discussed? 
  9. How does sociability shape gender identity?
  10. How did eighteenth-century new sciences (psychology, neurology, anthropology, chemistry ...) reconceptualize the body and emotions and modify the understanding on self and sociability?
  11. Why and how can Nature provide a temporary relief from the sociable life without questioning the sociable character of mankind?
  12. Is the French Revolution the most important critical moment for the emergence of individuality? What impact did it have on the culture of sociability? Can we identify other critical moments in history during which other social values (heroism, honour, …) emerged and reconfigured ideas of selfhood and sociability?

- Selection of primary texts to be read and discussed:

  1. Boileau, Nicolas, Dialogue, ou Satire X, 1694; Perrault, Charles, L'apologie des femmes, Paris : Coignard, 1694 ; Montesquieu, Lettres persanes, 1721 ; Montesquieu, ‘Préface’ de L’esprit des lois, 1748. PDF version

  2. Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, (Earl of), The Life, Unpublished Letters, and Philosophical Regimen, ed. Benjamin Rand, London: Swan Sonnenschein, 1900 ; Mandeville, Bernard, ‘A Search into the Nature of Society’, The Fable of the Bees, or Private Vices, Public Benefits (1714) ; Hutcheson, Francis, ‘The natural sociability of mankind’ (1730), in Logic, Metaphysics, and the Natural Sociability of Mankind, ed. James Moore and Michael Silverthorne, Liberty Fund, 2006. PDF version

  3. Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, (Earl of), An Inquiry Concerning Virtue or Merit (1714), Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1904. PDF version

  4. Franklin, Benjamin, Journal of a Voyage (1726) in Franklin Papers, Vol. 1, p. 72 ; Tocqueville, Alexis (de), ‘Anomalies. Spirit of Association and Spirit of Exclusion’, Journeys to England and Ireland (1833-35), Ed. by J.P. Mayer, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1958, p. 87-88. PDF version

  5. Hume, David, Extracts from A Treatise of Human Nature (1734); 'Of National Characters' (1748); 'Of Essay-Writing' (1741-2); An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals (1751); An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748); Smith, Adam, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759). PDF version

  6. Delany, Patrick, Twenty Sermons on Social Duties, and Their Opposite Vices. London: Printed for John and James Rivington, the Bible and Crown in St. Paul's Church era, 1747, p. 410-412. PDF version

  7. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, Second discours sur l’origine, et les fondements de l’inégalité parmi les hommes, Marc Michel Rey, 1762, p. 177-8 ; A Discourse Upon the Origin and Foundation of the Inequality Among Mankind, Dodsley, 1761, p. 180-1 ; Addison’s Essays, ‘On Dreams’, in Selections from the Spectator, London : W. Tegg, 1876, p. 456 ; Wollstonecraft, Mary, LETTERS written during a short residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, 1796. PDF version

  8. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, The Reveries of the Solitary Walker, 1796 (Les Rêveries du promeneur solitaire, 1782). PDF version

  9. Macaulay Graham, Catherine, Letters on Education. With Observations on Religious and Metaphysical Subjects, 1790. PDF version

 

 

THEMATIC SESSIONS

* SESSION 3

Sociability and Animality - 8 November 2024 at Université de Rennes 2, from 17:00 to 19:00 (French time)

- Silvia Sebastiani (EHESS Paris) - A social orang-utan? Enlightenment Debates on the borders of humanity

- Jane Spencer (University of Exeter) - A 'fellowship of sense with all that breathes': the representation of human—animal bonds in eighteenth-century and Romantic writing

Contact: Sophie Mesplède & Kimberley Page-Jones

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82020555050?pwd=KWKNbagsb7C6fXaRirLMobH4akW0Qc.1

ID de réunion: 820 2055 5050

Code secret: 609214

* SESSION 4

Educating the Sociable Self - 29 January 2025 in London at the National Archives, from 16:00 to 18:00 (UK time)

- Géraldine Lepan (Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès) - Le devenir sociable de l’enfant dans l’Emile de Rousseau (provisional title)

- Matthew Grenby (Newcastle University) - Delight in Friendship: managing the sociable self in early British children’s literature

Contact: Michèle Cohen & Mascha Hansen

* SESSION 5

Language and Grammar of  the sociable self - 21 March 2025 at the UBO Brest, from 16:30 to 18:30 (French time)

- Dr. Ross Carroll (Assistant Professor, Dublin City University) - Laughing with (and at) our Fellows: The Search for a Sociable Humour in Eighteenth-century Moral Philosophy 

- Mary Fairclough (Professor, University of York) - ‘We neither laugh alone nor weep alone, why then should we pray alone?’: Contagious sociability and Dissenting public worship, 1770-1800