Appel à la pitié, questionnement problématologique et paradoxe pathémique

This paper examines texts evoking religious conceptions based on the absence of pity (and, a fortiori, of appeal to pity) towards human beings lowered to the status of enemies, both in DAECH magazine, Dar al-Islam, and in Voltaire’s correspondence regarding the punishments Catholics inflicted to the...

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Main Author: Alain Rabatel
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: University of Tel-Aviv 2020-04-01
Series:Argumentation et Analyse du Discours
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/aad/4087
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author Alain Rabatel
author_facet Alain Rabatel
author_sort Alain Rabatel
collection DOAJ
description This paper examines texts evoking religious conceptions based on the absence of pity (and, a fortiori, of appeal to pity) towards human beings lowered to the status of enemies, both in DAECH magazine, Dar al-Islam, and in Voltaire’s correspondence regarding the punishments Catholics inflicted to the Sirvens. These texts emphasize the importance of problematizing the appeal to pity (which will be done here by looking at indirect argumentation) from the point of view of its content and of its manifestations and analyses, as the link between religion(s) and compassion or pity is not self-evident. The paper examines why there is no appeal to pity in the intolerant conceptions of religion; it then identifies the positive reasons for expressing pity and looks more specifically into the duty of pity. Thirdly, the paper examines an original discursive use of the appeal of pity in a semi-private, semi-public letter written by Voltaire in relation to the Sirven affair. Eventually, it outlines a linguistic problematization drawing on Michel Meyer’s notion of problematological questioning (2017) in relation to the discursive strategies adopted by Voltaire, strategies that unravel a pathemic paradox: the text becomes all the more touching because it contains relatively few pathemes and it spurs to action as the appeal to pity arouses, in addition to compassion, a feeling of indignation towards the iniquities that overwhelm the innocent victims.
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spelling doaj.art-033ff822064c4a02bd0d9bc8e0f2a7892022-12-22T01:07:55ZfraUniversity of Tel-AvivArgumentation et Analyse du Discours1565-89612020-04-012410.4000/aad.4087Appel à la pitié, questionnement problématologique et paradoxe pathémiqueAlain RabatelThis paper examines texts evoking religious conceptions based on the absence of pity (and, a fortiori, of appeal to pity) towards human beings lowered to the status of enemies, both in DAECH magazine, Dar al-Islam, and in Voltaire’s correspondence regarding the punishments Catholics inflicted to the Sirvens. These texts emphasize the importance of problematizing the appeal to pity (which will be done here by looking at indirect argumentation) from the point of view of its content and of its manifestations and analyses, as the link between religion(s) and compassion or pity is not self-evident. The paper examines why there is no appeal to pity in the intolerant conceptions of religion; it then identifies the positive reasons for expressing pity and looks more specifically into the duty of pity. Thirdly, the paper examines an original discursive use of the appeal of pity in a semi-private, semi-public letter written by Voltaire in relation to the Sirven affair. Eventually, it outlines a linguistic problematization drawing on Michel Meyer’s notion of problematological questioning (2017) in relation to the discursive strategies adopted by Voltaire, strategies that unravel a pathemic paradox: the text becomes all the more touching because it contains relatively few pathemes and it spurs to action as the appeal to pity arouses, in addition to compassion, a feeling of indignation towards the iniquities that overwhelm the innocent victims.http://journals.openedition.org/aad/4087argumentum ad misericordiampathemepathemic paradoxpathosproblematological
spellingShingle Alain Rabatel
Appel à la pitié, questionnement problématologique et paradoxe pathémique
Argumentation et Analyse du Discours
argumentum ad misericordiam
patheme
pathemic paradox
pathos
problematological
title Appel à la pitié, questionnement problématologique et paradoxe pathémique
title_full Appel à la pitié, questionnement problématologique et paradoxe pathémique
title_fullStr Appel à la pitié, questionnement problématologique et paradoxe pathémique
title_full_unstemmed Appel à la pitié, questionnement problématologique et paradoxe pathémique
title_short Appel à la pitié, questionnement problématologique et paradoxe pathémique
title_sort appel a la pitie questionnement problematologique et paradoxe pathemique
topic argumentum ad misericordiam
patheme
pathemic paradox
pathos
problematological
url http://journals.openedition.org/aad/4087
work_keys_str_mv AT alainrabatel appelalapitiequestionnementproblematologiqueetparadoxepathemique