Nicole shares with Hobbes the view that the state of nature is a war of all against all andthe view that there is a natural duty not to offend others' feelings of self-worth. The latter view can be understood as a conception of recognition of others' basic needs. Nicole uses this idea to defend the political conception of succession through birth which avoids conflicts that would arise over injured feelings of self-worth. How persuasive is Nicole's suggestion? His analysis of how hierarchies distort the imagination of the high-ranking and the lower-ranking is relevant for this question. Distorted esteem for the qualities of the high-ranking turns out to be detrimental to the basic needs of the lower-ranking and the high-ranking. This motivates Nicole's alternative conception of recognition as insight into shared human weaknesses-an insight that requires self-cultivation in the sense of rethinking one's attitudes towards oneself and others.
This article looks at the representation of nature through an examination of contracts agreed with joiners and scene painters. After a brief consideration of spectacular works produced between the 1630s and 1660s, it focuses on three machine plays by Thomas Corneille and Jean Donneau de Vis & eacute; produced at the H & ocirc;tel Gu & eacute;n & eacute;gaud in the mid-1670s: Circ & eacute; and L'Inconnu (both 1675) and Le Triomphe des dames (1676), considering how their production was affected by the limitations on the use of stage music imposed to favour the Acad & eacute;mie royale de musique. Finally, an examination of the contracts relating to Le Triomphe des dames not only throws new light on the re-use of decors and machinery, but also allows the identification of the scene shown in a design for a fan preserved in the Biblioth & egrave;que-Mus & eacute;e of the Com & eacute;die-Fran & ccedil;aise as being from the final act of the play.
