An important and increasingly scarce Jesuit contribution to early Enlightenment moral and social philosophy.

 

Buffier, Le P. Claude (1661-1737).  Traité de la Société Civile, et du moyen de se rendre heureux, en contribuant au bonheur des personnes avec qui l’ont vit. 

Paris, Chez Marc Bordelet, rue S. Jacques, vis -à-vis le College des Jesuites, à S. Ignace, 1731.

[18], 272 pp, 201, [9] Contemporary 18^th century full leather, spine raised in bands richly decorated in gilt, handmade marbled leaves.    Bearing the stamp "Herzoglicher S. Meiningischer Bibliothek" '(the former Ducal Court Library Meiningen) on the title page verso.

Binding showing wear, and superficial loss of leather, paper with manuscript shelf number pasted on spine, old notations on end leaves. Minor loss of paper at the edge of four leaves, occasional stains.

Note: 

Claude Buffier, a key proponent of bon sens (“common sense”) philosophy, offers in this treatise a practical and accessible account of civil society grounded not in abstract political systems but in the ethics of everyday life. He argues that individual happiness is inseparable from the happiness of others, and that social harmony depends upon civility, moderation, and the regulation of passion.

Subjects: Enlightenment philosophy, Jesuit moral philosophy, 18th century French book, civil society treatise, rare antique book, early modern philosophy, sociology origins, Voltaire