Abstract: A precise summary of all the occurrences of the word « desnaturé » and its various inflexions throughout the Essais shows that most of them are gathered in the third book. By analyzing one by one those occurrences, this paper tries to explain the abundance and significance of the vocabulary of denaturation in the third book, while interpreting it as a testimony of La Boétie’s particular (though implicit) presence in the last book of the Essais.
