Francesca Francoeur

This article examines the emphasis placed on illusion in Émilie du Châtelet’s Discourse on Happiness. It first considers its specificity by differentiating it from error and analyzing the four types of illusions that the Marquise du Châtelet discusses, then addresses how illusions manifest themselves and what power we have over them. Secondly, it posits that illusions are of the utmost necessity for bliss, although illusions cannot make us happy by themselves if the other conditions of happiness are not met. This study, lastly, tackles two difficulties within Mme du Châtelet’s work. It argues that the contradictory action of reason on illusions can be resolved if reason only inspects illusions when unhappiness arises. It also proposes that the concept of illusion makes it possible to make sense of the Marquise’s paradoxical definition of happiness.