Summary
Francoise Waquet, Robert Shackleton: Men of the Pen and Philosophers
The Republic of the Men of the Pen appears as a synthesis of the responses that the men of the pen gave to the situations that happened to them. From that perspective, the Republic of Feather Men is something real. At the same time, it also appeared as a "chimera", entering into a series of imaginary constructions, especially numerous in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which gave a high place to knowledge and scientists. Accordingly, the Republic of Feather People would be only the most beautiful of utopias. This double character of real and ideal will persist; today it is found in the term "scientific community".
Francoise Waquet
In 1750, the Encyclopédie prospectus appeared, although it was dated 1751. It claims that the work is being prepared by a society of men of the pen, par une société de gens de lettres; when the first volume appeared, June 28, 1751, its title page claimed the same thing. What is this society of feather people? Does it suit the philosophes party?
Robert Shackleton
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