TY - BOOK AU - Lamartine,Alphonse de TI - Cours familier de Littérature - Volume 12 AV - PN PY - 2012/// CY - Salt Lake City, UT PB - Project Gutenberg KW - Literature -- History and criticism KW - French literature -- History and criticism KW - France -- Politics and government -- 1789-1900 N1 - Release date is 2012-06-02; Produced by Mireille Harmelin, Christine P. Travers and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr); Original publication data not identified N2 - "Cours familier de Littérature - Volume 12" by Alphonse de Lamartine is a literary critique and philosophical discourse written in the mid-19th century. This work is structured as a monthly conversation or lecture series, presenting an in-depth examination of key literary figures and ideas, including John-Jacques Rousseau and the nature of social contracts. Lamartine's eloquent prose discusses the relationship between individual liberty, societal responsibilities, and moral values, offering reflections that are both theological and politically charged. The opening of this volume features a critical discussion of Rousseau's concept of the social contract, which Lamartine deems misleading and potentially harmful. He challenges Rousseau's notion of "freedom," arguing that it leads to anarchy and threatens societal order. Instead, Lamartine advocates for a more spiritual and moral understanding of social contracts, where the responsibilities of individuals to each other and to a higher power take precedence over individual rights. This philosophical debate sets a thought-provoking tone for the rest of the text, revealing Lamartine's intent to explore deeper moral imperatives in the context of literature and society. (This is an automatically generated summary.) UR - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39885 ER -