Jean-Baptiste SAY (1767–1832). Autograph letter, Paris, Marc - Lot 105

Jean-Baptiste SAY (1767–1832). Autograph letter, Paris, March 11, [1819], to Jean-François Thurot; 2¼ pages, in-8 format, with the address bearing a red wax seal bearing his initials. To the philosopher Jean-François Thurot (1768–1832, professor of philosophy at the Sorbonne and the Collège de France). He had read and reflected on his Discourse on Philosophy [Discourse on the Question: What Is Philosophy?, delivered on December 5, 1818, for the opening of the philosophy course at the Faculty of Letters in Paris]: “You have grasped the matter from the right angle and in a way that leads to applicable and useful developments. This is the philosophy of the 19th century, which will advance with far greater certainty than that of the 18th. Our predecessors cleared the way; we alone can cultivate it because we have methods and a surer way of questioning the nature of man and of things.” He found points of convergence there and “others that provide new insights that will be useful to me in the course of my work, such as those relating to the philosophy of an art or a science”…He regrets not being able to discuss this with him, since he has set aside Tuesdays to entertain his friends, and “that is the day you also entertain guests”…