Introduction
This introduction to Sophie de Grouchy’s Letters on Sympathy is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1 covers Sophie de Grouchy’s life and times, with a short biography, a discussion of women in the French Revolution, and a study of the texts and concepts that were influences on her work, including a section devoted to the reception of Adam Smith in France. Chapter 2 discusses Grouchy’s work with a special emphasis on the’ relationship of the Letters to Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments—the work to which they are a response—, as well as a discussion of other writings by Grouchy. Chapter 3 touches on three main philosophical themes present in the Letters: political philosophy, with an emphasis on the republican aspect of Grouchy’s thought, her legal philosophy and political economy, and her aesthetics.