Rethinking the Double Law of Habit with Maine de Biran

The history and the prehistory of the ‘double law of habit’ (DLH) is here reconstructed, from its first formulation like ‘law of habit’ with Joseph Butler (1736) to what is commonly considered its richest version, with Félix Ravaisson (1838), passing through its main intermediate stages (from Turnbull to Maine de Biran). The richness of the Maine de Biran’s DLH version will be shown, which, in its identification of three kinds of habits – of sensibility, judgement and imagination – provides a more convincing model than that of Ravaisson. It is also suggested to reread the DLH in the light of the limitations indicated by Ricoeur a century later.