La critique académique au service du contrôle social dans les projets de l’abbé de Saint-Pierre

When the Abbé de Saint-Pierre participates in 1712-1714 in discussions on the renewal of the activities of French Academy, he advocates rules for literary works. As its political system is developed and after its exclusion of the Academy in 1718, Theatre and Letters, in his projects, must be subordinated to the objectives of the “greater happiness of the greatest number”. He imagines their ­control by the censure and their improvement by rewriting the works of great authors.