Volney before the ruins of Palmyra: what happens and does not happen with time

Abstract

Abstract 

This article shows how the impact of the contemplation of the ruins of Palmyra leads Volney to project the exhumation of the meaning of ruins in general. The ruins then become living beings full of teachings. These include, first, those relating to equality (and freedom and justice); and also, the divinity of its author, that is, man as the unique subject of history, the romantic exaltation of beauty and a weak philosophy of history that records the terrible power of evil over time and that mitigates finally with an allusion to progress and its form of future manifestation: the liberal State, which will no longer cease with time. Our discussion explores the profound contradictions of his discourse: themoralization of his vision of the ruins, which significantly distorts its meaning; the excuse for a colonial policy, which derives from its protection; the ambiguous description as barbarians of those who destroy them, applicable equally to fanatics and enlightened; the naive moralistic vision of the role of evil in history or the contrast between the end of history, embodied in the universal State of Law for which France will act as a guide, and its incisive criticism of real Europe and France.

Keywords: Volney, ruins, rule of law, evil, human nature, natural law, France.