Nicolas Malebranche et Bernard Lamy: deux perspectives sur l'imagination

In an attempt to trace the historical origins of Malebranche's reputation as an opponent of imagination, mainly in connection with style and eloquence, the author of this paper maintains that most of the arguments subsequently used against Malebranche may already be found in Bernard Lamy's La Rhétorique ou l'art de parler. Although Lamy might have been influenced by Malebranche, his approach to the use of passions and imagination relies rather on a theory of language and communication (arguably drawing on Cordemoy and Mersenne) than on Malebranche's account of the physiological effects of imagination. Therefore, the opposing views of Malebranche and Lamy on this question could be seen as premises for the French debates on the right and wrong use of the imaginative faculty that emerged at the turn of the 17th century.