The aim of the present paper is to examine certain philosophical issues which have set the tone of the philosophical reflection in eighteenth century France in relation to a specific case study: that of the "wild child" known as Victor of Aveyron. Found in 1800 in central France, Victor was later transferred to the Parisian Institute of the DeafMutes, where he became the object of educational activities of JeanMarc Itard, a medical expert known for his works on the problem of hearing loss. Through a brief critical examination of the most notorious philosophical texts dealing both with the question of wild children and deafness (namely by Rousseau, Diderot and Condillac), we attempt to show that the specificity of Itard’s educational method consists in an application of the sensualist approach towards the human individual (as it is exemplified especially in the work of Condillac) on a concrete human subject, considered as a tangible proof of the inexistence of innate ideas. On this basis, we sketch several broader questions concerning the status of anomaly in the eighteenth century philosophical thought (namely, wild children and deafness), as well as some hypotheses on education and its fantasmatic aspects in general., Josef Fulka., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
The study draws on research on interrogation records connected with vice crime in the Jindřichův Hradec estate in the years 1670-1710. In 142 cases handled, criminal fornication was by far the most prevalent crime (114 cases, 80.3%), and, as a result of subsequent extra-marital pregnancy, it was the easiest offence to prove. However, the women offenders, who were usually between 20 and 30 years of age (66.9%), did not have to worry just about punishment from the authorities, as a woman was above all at risk of losing her honour. Therefore, in those days women used various defensive strategies that were intended to ensure them the least possible damage to their honour and could even help them to restore it. Most often a woman defended herself with the claim that prior to sexual intercourse her partner had offered her marriage. If that claim proved true, the woman’s behaviour was regarded to some degree as legitimate. Another possible defensive strategy was to accuse the man of rape or throw blame on someone else. Both men and women tended to cite their alleged drunkenness as a mitigating circumstance. The riskiest strategy was when women chose to conceal their pregnancy. The discovery of a dead child led to accusations of infanticide and potentially also a trip to the gallows. However, many women and men accused of criminal fornication never served their sentences. To what extent this was owing to the various supportive documents from relatives and friends, interceding on their behalf, is a question for future research.