Le livre que vous vous apprêtez à lire a été écrit en 1985 et, pour toutes sortes de bonnes ou mauvaises raisons, est demeuré au fond d'un tiroir jusqu'à aujourd'hui. Son caractère intemporel et universel est basé sur une considération générale de la spiritualité, de la science et de la réflexion personnelle. Aujourd'hui, comme il y a 30 ans, on peut remarquer que «plus ça change et plus c'est pareil» puisque les gens n'apprennent pas, ou si peu, de leurs expériences. Malgré toutes les révolutions culturelles ou technologiques, si nous regardons au plus profond de notre être, nous remarquerons que ce que nous recherchons vraiment c'est la paix intérieure, comme le disent les mystiques de tous temps. Ce petit livre vise justement à vous amener sur des sentiers qui vous permettront de revenir à l'essentiel c'est-à-dire de rechercher à apprendre à vivre à partir de l'intérieur et non de l'extérieur en gardant à l'esprit que ce que vous êtes en conscience s'extériorise dans votre vie au quotidien. Rappelez-vous que le hasard n'existe pas et que, malgré la croyance populaire, nous ne savons pas ce qui est bon pour nous ou ce dont nous avons réellement besoin.

In this major study Rhiannon Goldthorpe takes up the challenge of Sartre's diversity in an original and provocative way. Her detailed and comprehensive exploration of the relationship between the theoretical and literary works pays due attention to their characteristic complexity. The discussion of La Nausée, Les Mouches, Huis clos, Les Mains sales and Les Séquestrés e'Altona, for example, does not present these literary texts as mere 'illustrations' of Sartre's theories of consciousness, imagination and emotion, but as subtle philosophical and linguistic investigations in their own right. In addition, by reference to recently published fragments from Sartre's earlier work, Goldthorpe calls into question existing views of Sartre's intellectual development and provides a new history of the crucial Sartrean concept of 'commitment'.

The Saint-Simonians, whose movement flourished in France between 1825 and 1835, are widely recognized for their contributions to history and social thought. Until now, however, no full account has been made of the central role of the arts in their program. In this skillful interdisciplinary study, Ralph P. Locke describes and documents the Saint-Simonians' view of music as an ideological tool and the influence of this view on musical figures of the day. The disciples of Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, believed that increased industrial production would play a crucial role in improving the condition of the working masses and in shifting power from the aristocratic "drones" to the enterprising men of talent then rising in the French middle class. As a powerful means of winning support for their views, music became an integral part of the Saint-Simonians' writings and ceremonial activities. Among the musicians Locke discusses are Berlioz, Liszt, and Mendelssohn, whose tangential association with the Saint-Simonians reveals new aspects of their social and aesthetic views. Other musicians became the Saint-Simonians' faithful followers, among them Jules Vinçard, Dominique Tajan-Rogé, and particularly Félicien David, the movement's principal composer. Many of these composers' works, reconstructed by Locke from authentic sources, are printed here, including the "Premier Chant des industriels," written at Saint-Simon's request by Rouget de Lisle, composer of the "Marseillaise."