L’Essai de critique sur les sciences, sur les mœurs et sur les arts de Casanova Un dictionnaire raisonné de la sottise humaine ?

­Casanova’s Essai de critique sur les mœurs, sur les sciences et sur les arts could be read, at first glance, as a kind of philosophical dictionary. ­Casanova’s own ideas and obsessions appear everywhere. His ambition is to reveal the essence of human stupidity: he thus presents himself as a “moral teacher” (a tradition which goes back to Seneca and his letters to Lucilius). But what kind of moral teacher is Casanova? This article tries to answer the question.