idéologie

Forms

idéologie f (plural idéologies)^[1]

Etymology

It was coined by the philosopher Destutt de Tracy in 1796, formed from French idéo- + -logie, to replace psychologie.^[2][3][1] The first element is taken from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “form, appearance”) (the source of idée), and the second goes back to λόγος (lógos, “speech, science”).^[3][4] The GLLF dates the coinage to 1797.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Destutt de Tracy used it in 1796, in a memoir on the faculty of thought published by the Institut national, for the science of ideas: their nature, their origin and their relation to the signs that stand for them.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Before 1800 the word was also used of the intellectual movement of Destutt de Tracy and his followers, who carried on Condillac's sensualism; in these senses it belongs to the history of philosophy.^[3][2] About 1800 its opponents, Napoleon among them, gave it the pejorative sense of reasoning about abstractions unconnected with reality, which it has kept.^[3][2] Wiktionary ties the later senses to Napoleon's use of idéologue as a term of abuse for his political opponents.^[1]

In 1842 Reybaud used it for the set of ideas that inspires a government or a party.^[2][3] In this sense it was taken up at the end of the 19th century by Marxism, which set ideology against the economic facts, and it came to mean the ideas, beliefs and doctrines proper to a period, a society or a class.^[3][5] The English ideology is recorded from 1796, from the French word.^[6]

Timeline

• 1796 – Destutt de Tracy coins the word for the “science of ideas”.^[2][3]
• 1796 – English ideology is first recorded.^[6]
• c. 1800 – Pejorative sense “empty theorising”, used by Napoleon among others.^[2][3]
• 1842 – Reybaud uses it of the doctrine that inspires a government or party.^[2][3]
• Late 19th century – Marxist sense “system of ideas of a society or class”.^[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history of philosophy) The science of ideas of Destutt de Tracy and his school, the study of ideas, their laws and their origin.^[5][2]
2. (pejorative) Vague, empty theorising, a nebulous philosophy.^[5][7]
3. The set of ideas, beliefs and doctrines proper to a period, a society or a class.^[5][7]
4. A doctrine that inspires, or seems to inspire, a government or a party, an ideology.^[2][3]

Related words

• idée
• idéologue
• English ideology

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)