Seminario di Dipartimento (SeRiC): The medical posterity of Montesquieu's climate theory

Partecipanti: Capucine Lebreton - University of Geneva

In De l'Esprit des lois books XIV to XVII, Montesquieu develops his « climate theory », i.e. the idea of an influence of climate on the characters of peoples. Those view are deeply rooted in his medical knowledge, which includes the most recent and innovating medical perspectives, sometimes even with personal experimentation, together with very ancient hippocratic and galenic influences. But Montesquieu's work on climate is not only based on different medical traditions : it soon becomes a tradition of its own, being constantly referred at by XVIII^th-century physicians writing on that topic. I'll explore the originality of Montesquieu's contribution to climate theory and the reasons why his work instantly became an authoritative one among contemporary scientists.

Capucine Lebreton studied philosophy in Paris and Lyon, aud taught philosophy in Paris and Orléans. She’s a research assistant and PhD student in university of Geneva. Her PhD research links Rousseau’s « morale sensitive » to contemporary medical writings dealing with the body’s influence