Concepts of ‘Spiritualisme’ in Two Manuscript Essays by Albert Aubert

Abstract

This is a critical analysis of two manuscript essays, dated 1840, by Albert Aubert. They concern the concept of ‘spiritualisme’, in its metaphysical sense, implying the existence of a distinct non-physical reality, as also the concept of secular ‘spiritualisme’, or ‘spiritualisme laïque’, central to the doctrinaire thought of the July Monarchy. The metaphysical aspect is analysed in terms of its historical development, in which Aubert detects a degradation of form, by comparison with the harmonious proportions of ancient Greek sculpture. The secular aspect turns on the role of ‘grands hommes’ in the post-Revolutionary context. The Napoleonic legacy leads Aubert to warn against ostentatious ambition, in favour of the pursuit of the complete man, as extolled in Greek and Roman antiquity, an attitude later reflected in the repudiation of the self-pitying hero, characteristic of second-generation Romanticism.