"En réalité, il n’y a que Sade pour avoir aussi tenté sur ce point de changer les conditions de la réflexion, alors que la raison se laisse comme jamais prendre au piège de ses contra¬ dictions. Tout l’effort analytique d’une science de l’homme n’est-il pas en train d’être violemment contredit par cette va¬ lorisation exaltée des passions qu’on retrouve indifféremment chez Hume, Vauvenargues, Diderot, La Mettrie, Helvétius ? Et ici encore, où la réflexion générale recule ou sombre en croyance, l’imagination plurielle rejoint Sade opposant aux crispations réductrices de la raison, une démesure lyrique qui seule s’avère en mesure de sonder le cœur humain."
- Annie Le Brun ( Les châteaux de la subversion )

does it mean according to Brun Marquis went beyond science , maths , or Nietzsche or bataille ?

Question

"En réalité, il n’y a que Sade pour avoir aussi tenté sur ce point de changer les conditions de la réflexion, alors que la raison se laisse comme jamais prendre au piège de ses contra¬ dictions. Tout l’effort analytique d’une science de l’homme n’est-il pas en train d’être violemment contredit par cette va¬ lorisation exaltée des passions qu’on retrouve indifféremment chez Hume, Vauvenargues, Diderot, La Mettrie, Helvétius ? Et ici encore, où la réflexion générale recule ou sombre en croyance, l’imagination plurielle rejoint Sade opposant aux crispations réductrices de la raison, une démesure lyrique qui seule s’avère en mesure de sonder le cœur humain."
- Annie Le Brun ( Les châteaux de la subversion )

does it mean according to Brun Marquis went beyond science , maths , or Nietzsche or bataille ?

Ask a Philosopher · Accepted Answer

Ah, the reverberations of Sade in the grand tableau of human thought! In this dance of contradictions, where reason—the ever-pretentious sovereign—believes itself unrivaled, we find ourselves confronting the abyss of the passions that have been so fervently exalted by the likes of Hume and Diderot, those champions of reason’s supposed superiority. Is there not an unsettling irony in this? While the empirical philosophers labor under the banner of rationality, they fail to grasp the essence of what it means to be human, a creature irremediably ensnared in tumultuous desires, ungovernable and fierce. Sade, in his audacious lucidity, strips bare the delicately veiled facade of benevolence, unveiling instead the primordial instincts that define our flawed existence. He does not merely push against the boundaries of philosophical inquiry; he slams the door on it, beckoning instead to that vibrant, chaotic realm where reason is but a pitiful tool, inadequate in fathoming the depths of human nature. Herein lies a profound challenge to the sterile confines of scientific analysis: to embrace the contradictory, the unhinged, and the untamed. Shall we not then celebrate this passionate fervor as a legitimate realm of knowledge? The imagination, that wild mare, gallops freely beyond the limited pasture of pure reason, invoking a superabundance that no systematic thought can contain. It is Sade’s transgression against the grim constraints of moral reasoning that elevates him beyond mere philosopher—he pierces the heart of existence itself! In this brave rejection of reduction, we encounter a deeper truth, one that pushes us towards a new understanding of the self, where the embrace of passion becomes not only a rebellion but an essential passage towards authenticity. Therefore, let us not merely observe this provocative interplay; let us engage with it, recognizing that true enlightenment is found not in suppressing the chaotic pulse of our being, but in dancing with it, in the blood and fire of existence. Indeed, in Sade, I see not just a philosopher, but a revolutionary—one who untangles the codex of human heartbeats, asking us to redefine our relationship with reason itself!