Contenu du sommaire : Sincérité

This article attempts to provide an overall interpretation of parrhesia (free speech, frankness or sincerity) in the Classical Period and Hellenistic Period versus the interpretations of philologists and of Foucault in his latest works. During these centuries, it was deployed according to a problematic line that wavered between ethical quality and technical rhetoric. It was deemed a central quality in the democratic city states, but also within monarchies. It relied on a particular grammar of self-expression, anchored in the valorization of a fully self-assured individual.

Does the existence of an “interest in disinterest” rule out all sincerity in philanthropic engagement? Sincerity appears to be a central moral norm, vital for the social recognition of philanthropists. This centrality is reflected in various aspects of philanthropic practices: the use of tax arrangements, publicization of donations, links established with donors, etc. It also features at the heart of the investigation relationship established between philanthropists and the sociologist.

Sincerity, understood as the total engagement of an individual with a view to achieving best performance, appears to be a natural characteristic of sporting events. However, a study of the genesis of this principle shows that this is anything but the case and that its emergence ensued from a competition between the sporting world and that of entertainment, the former valuing the unpredictability of results. Sustained by sportsmen, this enforcement of sincerity promotes certain novel forms of entertainment with new economic rules.

This article examines the principles by which girls and boys come to discriminate between various levels of friendship, and the role played therein by sincerity. First and foremost, it shows that sincerity is not expected as part of every friendly relationship. It is a concern principally in the case of the closest of these relationships, those that matter the most to the children. It goes on to show that sincerity relies in most cases on two requisites: involvement and reciprocity, on the one hand, and “being true”, on the other. All children adhere to both principles, but they address them differently, depending on their gender and social origin.

Édouard Dolléans (1877-1954) is mainly known for his Histoire du mouvement ouvrier (1830 à nos jours) (History of the Workers' Movement, from 1830 to the present) which made his name as a historian. Despite this recognition, he remained on the margins of the historical field, oscillating between the scholar and the politician. How does he, after the Second World War, find himself playing a prominent role in the foundation of the Institut français d'histoire sociale (French Institute of Social History), despite his position and his being sidelined from the University as early as 1944? This article is an attempt to retrace his trajectory by looking back in turn at his historiographical and institutional path, as well as his philosophical and political journey.

This article is based on a collective study carried out by high school and college students among their relatives during the first lockdown in France. We show that intimacy is not used in an ontological way: it is a practical category, used by the researcher with their peers to filter the information provided to the research team. Thus, not only does the use of intimacy preserve the personal life of (apprentice) sociologists, but it is also revelatory of their professional socialization.