Hermeneutical implications of literary questions. The case of the works of Saint-Simon

Reading the complete works of Saint-Simon in chronological order, with comments, with knowledge of their scope and with knowledge of the circumstances of their genesis, differs drastically from reading texts by Saint-Simon gathered at random, without any criterion and without any contextualization. Indeed, a contemporary of Saint Simon as well as for a reader from today, will not understand a text in the same way if it is a manuscript meant for the happy few, or if it is, a widely distributed booklet dealing with current events, or even if it is published in a periodical which aims at shaping the public opinion, which is the case of most of Saint-Simon's works from the political period. And precisely, after a period when Saint-Simon wrote for a small circle of persons who belonged to the intellectual and social elite, he adopted a new business model, as far as his publictions were concerned. He then took a role that was new to him : the role of the " publicist-philosopher ". As a consequence, the dominant representation of what a philosopher is or should be has hampered the understanding of his works. Indeed, Saint-Simon, who was partially self-taught, often wrote in collaboration with other thinkers. Besides, his works could be considered as philosophy but also as activism. They aim at producing concrete ideological and scientific effects.