Rethinking European libertinage
Didier Foucault’s book is a good example of recent
developments in the historiography of European libertinage.
It looks at a broad historical period, from the 12th to
the 18th centuries, and overcomes the traditional division
between intellectual and moral libertinage. This essay
discusses his perspective, taking advantage of Jean-Pierre
Cavaillé’s latest historiographical studies, while showing
the risks of a generalized use of terms like libertine, libertinage,
libertinisme in the history of Western philosophy.