Madeleine de Souvré, marquise de Sablé (1598 to 1678), was a French salonnière and moral philosopher of seventeenth-century Paris. Born into an ancient aristocratic family of Le Perche, she became lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie de Medicis, and later hosted a theological salon where she was patron of La Rochefoucauld and corresponded with Blaise Pascal and Antoine Arnauld. These roles long kept her in the background of early modern French philosophy, but her own maxims offer a distinctive critique of virtue. She argues that virtue is often a mask for vice, usually pride, and that self-interest is the habitual motor behind altruistic action, an unmasking aimed at self-aggrandizement in the court hierarchy. Friendship, in her view, is the exception.
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Source Madeleine de Souvré, marquise de Sablé (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
In Branch
Source Madeleine de Souvré, marquise de Sablé (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
In Tradition
Source Madeleine de Souvré, marquise de Sablé (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Influenced By
Source Madeleine de Souvré, marquise de Sablé (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
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Source Madeleine de Souvré, marquise de Sablé (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)Opening summary, nationalityQuote, Opening summary, nationality
Madame de Sablé has long occupied the background of early modern French philosophy
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Source Madeleine de Souvré, marquise de Sablé (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)Biography, birthQuote, Biography, birth
Madeleine de Souvré was born in 1598 to an ancient aristocratic family in Le Perche, a region in western France.
Sources
1. Madeleine de Souvré, marquise de Sablé (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Title line, death year
(1598-1678)
Opening summary
A prominent salonnière in seventeenth-century Paris, Madame de Sablé has long occupied the background of early modern French philosophy.
Opening summary, tradition
Madame de Sablé has long occupied the background of early modern French philosophy
Opening summary, salon
A prominent salonnière in seventeenth-century Paris
Opening summary, nationality
Madame de Sablé has long occupied the background of early modern French philosophy
Biography, birth
Madeleine de Souvré was born in 1598 to an ancient aristocratic family in Le Perche, a region in western France.
In Branch: Ethics, Opening summary, moral philosophy
These ancillary roles have obscured her original contributions to moral philosophy in her writings.
In Group: Other Ethics Traditions, Opening summary, maxims
In her maxims, Sablé develops a distinctive critique of moral virtue.
Influenced By: Michel de Montaigne, Maxims, skepticism
Echoing Montaigne, whom she had studied during her early career as a salonnière, Sablé often confesses skepticism concerning the claims of human knowledge.
Associated With: Skepticism, Maxims, skepticism
Sablé often confesses skepticism concerning the claims of human knowledge.
In Tradition: Skepticism, Maxims, skepticism
Sablé often confesses skepticism concerning the claims of human knowledge.
View the Source2. Madeleine de Souvré, marquise de Sablé (Wikipedia)
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(1599-16 January 1678) was a French philosopher, writer and salonnière.
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