Yennah, R.2013-01-032017-10-142013-01-032017-10-142010Langues et Littérature : Revue du Groupe d’Études Linguistique et Littéraire (14) 129-148.http://197.255.68.203/handle/123456789/2344One cannot over emphasise the role of the literature and ideas of the age of enlightenment which, far from being purely literary, were involved in the debate on topical issues while at the forefront of the search for solutions to human problems in order to establish the happiness of man on earth. Our topic adopts the same perspective and aims at establishing the relevance of 18th century literature to some topical issues of the 21st century. While in Rousseau’s Social Contract the theory of the Collective Self (the State) is accompanied by the notion of common interest, Diderot’s Supplément au Voyage de Bougainville demonstrates that self-interest is the actual « motive of the State ». Does this not explain the position of the European Union (EU) which, far from sacrificing any of her interests, rather pushes the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between unequal partners? This research aims at establishing the linkage between the philosophy of self-interest in the 18th century literature and the economic and trade issues around which the EU is negotiating today with the ACP countries.enInterestSelfothercollective selfEconomic Partnership AgreementEuropean UnionArticle