Article: THE USES OF ABERRANT LITERACY: DELISLE DE SALES AND A "MANUSCRIPT" OF PLATO.

Marginal figures of the Enlightenment not only project their own negative transparencies but, like those of any period, help us see the period as a whole, warts and all. If nothing of the polymathic "philosophe" Delisle de Sales(1) had survived but his tale of receiving from Rousseau, in safekeeping, a precious parcel containing a manuscript of Plato's Republic, this image alone would make us value him, with all it shows of the emotional impact, at that time, of philosophical exchanges that spanned the centuries. But the story of the manuscript does more, allowing us to decipher, in the form of an intellectual genealogy, the inscription of the Enlightenment's daydream of ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!