Author
Abstract
[eng] Abstract The vocabulary of public deviance worked simultaneously on two different levels : that of legal accuracy (concussion, péculat, exaction), which made it possible to isolate the corresponding practices and to qualify them as crimes ; and that of inclusion within general categories such as abus, lèse-majesté or malversation, which had a strong political or moral dimension. The study of the word "corruption " in the second part of the work shows that it had moral meaning inherited from the Aristotelian tradition. 'Corruption,' with its moral overtones, was initially unrelated to the penal question of public deviance. Rather, it marked the fundamental discrepancy between man and the virtue of justice. [fre] Résumé Par l'examen systématique des dictionnaires de langue française des XVF-Xvnr3 siècles, cet article vise à retrouver les termes selon lesquels les hommes de l'Ancien Régime condamnaient les manquements commis par les agents publics dans l'exercice de leur charge. Ce lexique de la «déviance publique» jouait simultanément sur deux plans: celui de la précision juridique (concussion, péculat, exaction), qui permettait d'isoler des pratiques et de les qualifier de crimes ; celui de la généralisation et de l'inclusion dans des catégories qui, tels l'abus, la lèse-majesté et la malversation, présentaient une forte dimension morale et politique. La deuxième partie, consacrée au mot corruption, montre que ce terme possédait des acceptions morales héritées de la tradition aristotélicienne, ce qui Féloignait du plan strictement pénal pour l'installer sur le terrain théologico-moral: «corruption» signalait avant tout une dissociation capitale, celle de l'homme par rapport à la vertu de justice.
Suggested Citation
Maryvonne Génaux, 2002.
"Les mots de la corruption : la déviance publique dans les dictionnaires d'Ancien Régime,"
Histoire, économie & société, Programme National Persée, vol. 21(4), pages 513-530.
Handle:
RePEc:prs:hiseco:hes_0752-5702_2002_num_21_4_2274
DOI: 10.3406/hes.2002.2274
Note: DOI:10.3406/hes.2002.2274
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