Waterloo or the Plurality of Interpretations
Résumé
The interpretations of Waterloo are part of history no less than the event itself. This article investigates those of Clausewitz and Stendhal in detail before offering a philosophical sketch of the concepts of interpretation and interpretive plurality. It likens Clausewitz to a rational choice theorist, and Stendhal, who expresses himself through his character Fabrice, to a theorist of semantics before their time. Having been selected because of their opposite trends towards unification and dissolution, the two examples will help bring the conclusion that plurality of interpretations is to some extent orderly.