French Philosopher Research Articles

Étienne Brown, "Moral Judgement: An Introduction through Anglo-American, German and French Philosophy"

Étienne Brown, "Moral Judgement: An Introduction through Anglo-American, German and French Philosophy"

The Existentialist Dilemma: Analyzing Nihilism, Anxiety, and Self-Identity in French Philosophy at the End of the 20th Century

This academic paper delves into the profound existentialist dilemma that characterized French philosophy at the close of the 20th century. Focused on the central themes of nihilism, anxiety, and self-identity, the analysis navigates the philosophical landscapes shaped by eminent thinkers like Sartre, Camus, de Beauvoir, and Kierkegaard. Each section unravels the existential intricacies, exploring how these themes intertwine and shape the human condition. From defining nihilism in the existentialist context to examining the portrayal of anxiety in literature and philosophy, and investigating the construction of self-identity in the face of existential challenges, the paper provides a nuanced understanding of the existentialist discourse. A critical analysis of pivotal works, including Sartre’s Being and Nothingness, Camus’s The Stranger, de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling, and Kafka’s The Trial, offers insights into how these philosophers grapple with the complexities of existence. The results highlight commonalities and differences among existentialist thinkers, providing a comprehensive examination of the existentialist dilemma in the context of French philosophy.

The Multiplicity of Immanence: Gilles Deleuze’s Understanding and Application of Chinese Thought

Gilles Deleuze spends his whole life exploring the question of what philosophy is by unconventional approaches to establish the ontology of Becoming and he collaborates with Félix Guattari, integrating Chinese thought into his philosophical discourse directly to support the Becoming theory. Different from the tendency to associate Deleuze’s references to Tao with the philosophy of arts or body aesthetics, this paper argues Tao is introduced because of the consistency with the multiplicity of immanence raised by Deleuze who has updated the connotation of Western philosophical concepts with the help of Tao. Therefore, Tao is no longer defined as the ultimate Being claimed by some French sinologists and philosophers, but as an internal field or the Plane. Accordingly, it can be concluded that the immanence without any certainty (the multiplicity of immanence) itself is a kind of nomadic life, which is also the real meaning of Tao. In this way, Chinese philosophy’s function has far more significant than footnotes and evidence in the construction of Deleuze’s theory.

Two Political Itineraries of European Bergsonism: Georges Sorel and Thomas Ernest Hulme

The article examines, through the case studies of Georges Sorel (1847-1922) and Thomas Ernest Hulme (1883-1917), processes of politicization which Henri Bergson’s philosophy underwent in early 20th century Europe. It begins by outlining the paths that brought the two thinkers to read and endorse Bergson’s philosophy. Despite the fact that the former only really accepted the psychological arguments of the Données while the latter engaged much more with Bergson’s metaphysics, both were drawn to the French philosopher in virtue of the anti-determinist elements present in his thought. But when it came to bring this opposition to determinism to bear on political theory, their paths separated: whereas Sorel incorporated Bergsonian ideas in his revision of Marxism, Hulme found himself unable to erect a political theory on the basis of a metaphysics of flux. This significant difference is explained in generational terms. A Bergsonian cosmology of openness and transformation was seen as an excessively relativistic philosophical base for politics by Hulme because of the greater stakes that political commitment demanded from his generation – hence his conviction that politics could only be rooted in eternal, unchanging, absolutes.

К ВОПРОСУ О КЕРИГМАТИЧЕСКОЙ ВЕРЕ

In the article, the main subject of analysis is the phenomenon of faith. Despite the fact that the phenomenon of faith has been sufficiently studied from the point of view of different approaches, not much attention has traditionally been paid to the mechanisms of the subjective act of accepting faith. Since this aspect of the existence of faith requires closer consideration, it is placed at the center of the analysis in the article. The main goal of this work is to substantiate the position that the act of accepting faith has not only psychological aspects, but can be considered as a basic existential characteristic of human existence. Thus, the very understanding of this process in all its manifestations can be fundamentally expanded and extended to all spheres of human life and society. The work examines the basic principles of understanding faith by some Protestant theologians, who placed subjective faith in the center of attention and paid special attention to the moment of acceptance of faith. In this specific context, the ideas of the kerygmatic theology of the Protestant thinker Rudolf Bultmann are considered. To a large extent, the principles of Bultmann’s approach determined the methodology for considering the phenomenon being analyzed. The article introduces and substantiates the concept of «kerygmatic faith». It is shown that this concept has significant methodological and heuristic novelty. To substantiate the productivity of this concept, modern interpretations of faith are used, in particular, the positions expressed by the French philosopher Alain Badiou during his analysis of the role of the Apostle Paul in the formation of the Christian faith. The work outlines a possible line of further analysis of the phenomenon of kerygmatic faith, which involves both the development of the already undertaken interpretation of the ideas of Rudolf Bultmann in a broader ontic and ontological context, and the possibility of supplementing such a view of the phenomenon of acceptance of faith with principles borrowed from the methodology of hermeneutics and psychoanalysis of Jacques Lacan.

Samuel Ramos and Bergson. Philosophy of Intuition and the Project of a New Humanism

The article addresses the reception of Bergson by the Mexican philosopher Samuel Ramos. For Ramos, the work of the French philosopher meant, on the one hand, an overcoming of mechanistic rationalism and materialist monism that did not allow us to see the reality of life and spirit. On the other hand, Bergsonism offered Ramos the outline of a new humanism at a time of historical and cultural crisis. The value of Bergson’s reception by Ramos lies not only in the fact that Ramos highlights these important contributions of the French philosopher. Ramos also reads Bergson from the viewpoint of Ortega y Gasset’s perspectivism, as well as through the lens of phenomenology and the philosophy of values. This means that Ramos starts from his historical and cultural circumstances to integrate critically the most important currents of European philosophy into his own original synthesis, which aims to be a contribution of Mexican thought to universal philosophy.

ПИСЬМО ЯК ТЕРАПІЯ І СЕНС В РОМАНІ АНН-СОФІ БРАСМ “НАШЕ ПОПЕРЕДНЄ ЖИТТЯ” (2014)

Background. The article regards specifics of a fictional narrative on trauma from the perspective of self-writing by a fictional character. Based on a range of concepts of storytelling as a means of constructing one's identity, an instrument of dealing with posttraumatic consequences, and a form of recovering memory lacunes, formulated by literary critics (Ph. Lejeune, J. Derrida, J. Pavlenko), philosophers (P. Ricoeur), as well as sociologists (J.-C. Kaufmann, A. Giddens), it has been attempted to analyze self-writing strategies as a psychanalytical quest performed by characters in a novel by a contemporary French writer Anne-Sophie Brasme Our previous life (2014). Several conclusions have been made on therapeutic, cathartic, and cognitive impacts within different types of self-writing strategies of the female protagonist (namely, diary and novels by her). Methods. The study primarily aims to integrate the concept of narrative identity proposed by a French philosopher Paul Ricoeur who conceives narrative as an instrument of overcoming the gap between basic philosophical categories, in particular selfhood and identity, as well as apply it in relation to the construction of the narrative identity of the heroine-writer, who experiences deep trauma throughout her life. The analysis of the work uses the personal concept of the French sociologist J.-K. Kaufmann, for whom the narrative in the light of writing about oneself is not only a powerful means of storytelling, but also a tool of for building life perspective through making key choices suggested by narration on oneself. These concepts are revealed on the example of the mechanics of writing on oneself of the main character of the novel chosen for analysis against the background of theses assumed by Philip Lejeune, Jacques Derrida, and Anthony Giddens. Results. The study aims to reveal the life path of the female heroine as a writer, who chooses writing as a way of both escaping from reality and experiencing her trauma be rediscovering it throughout writing about traumatic past. It is concluded that as the heroine thrives towards her past, whereas a clearer perspective of her present and future is built, where writing on oneself appears as a precious key guide between those opposed layers of her hearting psyche. Conclusion. Based on the results of the research, several generalizations are made allowing us to reveal the therapeutic and meaning-making role of artistic writing as a powerful mean of living deeply traumatic experience.

Towards an an-archic ethos

The French philosopher Gilles Deleuze has never stated his intention to write or create a work of ethics or moral philosophy, at least not in the traditional sense of the term used to describe a ?genre? of the discipline of philosophy. However, this paper argues that a close attention to Deleuze?s philosophical thought manifests an ethos which calls us to ponder the possibility of creating a way of being that is profoundly anarchic (without an ???? [arch?]), in a sense that it opposes any form of dogmatism and/or hierarchies. In other words, it opposes a notion of ?a ground? or origin - an ???? [arch?]. The examination of this an-archic ethos is manifested through Deleuze?s distinction between ethics and morality and his reading of the works of two of his main philosophical predecessors, Friedrich Nietzsche and Baruch Spinoza.

O CONCEITO DE CURRÍCULO PÓS-CRÍTICO NA EDUCAÇÃO FÍSICA: UMA ANÁLISE GEOFILOSÓFICA

ABSTRACT: This study aims to problematize the concept of post-criticality in curricular uses in the field of school Physical Education. To this end, we used theorizations from both the philosophical and educational fields, as well as their effects on the epistemological discussions of the aforementioned component. As a working method, we took as inspiration the concept of geophilosophy from the French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari (Deleuze; Guattari, 2010). At first, based on its territorialization in the curricular field and its reterritorialization in Physical Education, we highlight the conditions of immanence and the potential of the concept in question and then de-territorialize it, pointing out the risks that accompany classificatory thinking. As a final reflection, we propose a radicalization of the differential process in curricular production, positioning all propositional minority creations in the field of Physical Education as important for a fairer and less violent society, requiring the continuity of work that avoids reductionism and sectarianism.

La notion bergsonienne de politesse et notre temps

This article revisits certain aspects of Henri Bergson’s 1892 speech to a young audience at the Lycée Henri IV on the notion of politeness. The return to such a speech is justified because, as well as shedding light on content little explored by interpreters of the French philosopher, namely his occasional texts, it also makes us reflect on the sense of a growing decline in habits of cordiality and respect in contemporary societies. Without resorting to anachronistic conservatism, we should bear in mind what Bergson points out: true politeness goes beyond the norms of civility, meaning that it is not limited to so-called good manners, but does not simply mean a politeness of spirit, one that would allow us to achieve intellectual flexibility, capable of inserting us into a feeling of empathy towards the position of the other. Complete politeness, Bergson would say, is politeness of the heart, exercised as the highest virtue and based on "great natural goodness.” To this extent, we suspect that this politeness of the heart, presented by the philosopher in 1892, may have some connection with the notion of open morality that would be addressed 40 years later in his last work, Les Deux sources de la morale et de la religion.

Philosophical Anthropology of B. V. Markov. Part 1. Philosophy of the Era of “the Death of Man”

The article is devoted to the study of the Philosophical Anthropology of the recently deceased famous St. Petersburg philosopher Boris Vasilyevich Markov (1946-2023). Thanks to him, Russian Philosophical Anthropology started to develop actively in the 1990s. It is the peculiarities and significance of the philosophy of that period, are analyzed in the article. The writings of French philosophers, primarily the concept of the “death of man” by M. Foucault, were of central importance for the new Russian philosophy and Philosophical Anthropology of that time. The works of the archaeological and genealogical stages by Foucault had a great influence on Markov. The author of the current article examines in detail the significance of Foucault’s concept of the “death of man” and, in general, the understanding of man in Postmodernism for the development of Philosophical Anthropology of B. V.Markov in his works of the 1990s. To do this, the genesis and features of the development of European, primarily French, philosophy of the second half of the 20th century, presented in such concepts as episteme, deconstruction, archeology of knowledge, genealogy of power, language, are critically touched upon and analyzed. Based on these principles, Markov’s philosophical anthropology can be characterized as an archeology and genealogy of power in relation to man in culture, society and everyday life. The author emphasizes that the development of Philosophical Anthropology in the era of the “death of man” was a complex and controversial process, since such critical analytics led to the depersonalization of human being. The research presented in the article seeks to critically reveal the foundations of such an essentially anti-anthropological philosophy. Analysis of philosophy of B. V. Markov allows us to reveal its great significance for the development of domestic Philosophical Anthropology in the era of the “death of man”.

Foucault, Badiou, and the Courage of Philosophy

While regarding twentieth century French philosophy as a protracted conceptual war, Badiou has largely avoided an encounter with Foucault on the philosophical battlefield. According to Badiou, Foucault constructs a history of systems of thought starting from something other than philosophy (linguistic anthropology, postmodern sophism, democratic materialism) and, in so doing, exits the philosophical battleground. The present essay explores the prospect of rapprochement between these two thinkers, drawing attention to their shared concern with the theme of true life. For Foucault and Badiou, the life in truth and for truth compels the subject to invent a new way of being at the site of exception to what there is. Although Badiou remains ambivalent about the Foucauldian notion of the philosophical subject, he ultimately endorses Foucault’s conception of the philosophical life, which calls for courage insofar as it summons the human animal to think differently and become other than what one is.

Infinity and the Possibility of Metaphysics. The Debate on Kant's Antinomies in France (1850s-­1920s)

The article focuses on a neglected chapter in the French reception of Kant: the debate on antinomies. Initially understood, by Victor Cousin's eclecticism, as symbolizing the abstractness of the Kantian system, antinomies were the focus of cogent interpretations in the second half of the nineteenth century. The debate that arose following Charles Renouvier's solution, based on the rejection of the mathematical notion of actual infinity, was intense, involving major philosophers of the time, such as François Evellin, Louis Couturat, Henri Bergson and Léon Brunschvicg. The stakes were decisive: the nature of reason, the relationship between philosophy and science, and the possibility of a positive metaphysics. The Author reconstructs and analyzes the various interpretations, showing how the debate on antinomies played a decisive role in the formation of French philosophy between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Discussion on Social Media Aesthetic War: Maurice Blanchot and the Establishment of Ethics

This short discussion paper proposes a non-traditional view to ethics and war, and aims to highlight new perspectives on how we view and understand war. Images, images, images are everywhere in the virtual sphere of the internet, YouTube, ads, and social media. This process of expressing oneself via the virtual image accelerates the fight for the aesthetic virtual beauty when people are trying to create an image of glorified, ideal, and perfect life. This is a mode of fight which aims to narcissistically show off their grandiosity and desire for recognition, admiration, and fascination, fighting for the viewers and followers. Such mode of hedonistic desire seems to shun ethics away from the screen. However, Maurice Blanchot, a 20th century French philosopher, who was prone to denounce the issues of his contemporary time in a rather obscure and distant way, may give us the opportunity to understand this war of aesthetics in social media and ethics.

Interrogating the Discourse of Racism and Identity Crisis in Mohsin Hamid’s The Last White Man

The present study focuses on the concepts of the Discourse of Racism and the Identity crisis in Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Last White Man. The term ‘discourse’ is propounded by the French philosopher Michel Foucault in his various books. Discourse is an ideology which produces knowledge and meaning about an object. The knowledge is not the truth about the object. It is the constructed knowledge which is propagated by the dominant power. In the study, the novel The Last White Man, will be explored through the discourse of Racism which is a constructed and discursive knowledge that the dark people should be hated and treated as inferior ones. It is beneficial to a certain section of the people (whites) and others (blacks) who go through an identity crisis because of this discursive ideology. In the novel, the characters Anders and Oona go through an identity crisis because of the discourse of racism that blacks are inferior to whites, which is not the reality. It is just the colour which changes, their intelligibility remains the same. Over time the whole neighbourhood is changed. All the people in the beginning feel the identity crisis, but in the end, they accept this change as the notion of racism is all constructed by the dominant white people. It is an ideology (a discourse) which is beneficial to a few. The main idea threaded in the novel is that race should not be given a universal meaning nor be made into a recurrent topic in contemporary writing as biological essentialism is untenable.

Raţiuni existențialiste ale literaturii: Jean-Paul Sartre

In this paper I present some of Jean-Paul Sartre’s observations regarding the liberating role of literature both from individual existential discomfort and from a socio-political point of view. According to the French philosopher, the main reason for writing literature is to convey an urgent, imperative message that all people need. Sartre wrote primarily for the enjoyment of all readers (regardless of political choice) to savor his memorable words and formulas, even when they are reserved about the content, and this profound choice aims at the freedom of the creator as well as that of the receiver.

REFORMIST IDEAS OF FRENCH PHILOSOPHY: LATE TWENTIETH TO EARLY TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

REFORMIST IDEAS OF FRENCH PHILOSOPHY: LATE TWENTIETH TO EARLY TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Marsz Niepodległości, czyli o złożoności i wielowymiarowości tego wydarzenia z perspektywy koncepcji heterotopii Michela Foucaulta

The annual, nationwide “Independence March” taking place on the anniversary of Poland regaining independence has become a phenomenon and the only event of its kind at that time. It brings together – in the physical sense – thousands of Poles. However, it is even more engaging in symbolic terms. The research aimed to analyze the Independence March as a heterotopic space according to Michel Foucault and, more precisely, to refer to four of the six principles of heterotopia proposed by the French philosopher. The first two principles apply to society in general and, therefore, were not analyzed in relation to the event of the Independence March. The remaining four were successfully used to reflect on it more deeply. Research has shown that the “Independence March” is an example of heterotopia, and what distinguishes it from other previously studied spaces with heterotopic features is the simultaneous variability and spatial stability, the range of influence, the multitude of ways of entering its space and the significant function it performs because of its complexity.

Beyond the good and the right: Rethinking the ethics of academic entrepreneurship from a relational perspective

This paper critically reviews the ethical resonance of the academic entrepreneurship (AE) phenomenon in light of contemporary concerns about ethics and responsibility in public engagements with science, technology and the commercialisation of technological discoveries through the creation of university spin-offs. In this context, we address the question of how we can know when we may consider AE as being ethical. We draw on the works on ethics of the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur ̶ one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century ̶ to provide an answer which encompasses but also goes beyond the association of ethics solely with ‘good’ purposes or ‘right’ norms to value it in each situation by paying special attention to how academic entrepreneurs behave in their relationships with others. We conclude that it is the manner and quality of open, generous, meaningful and appropriate ‘self-regulation’ that defines academic entrepreneurs as ethical individuals. The paper helps to improve the understanding of ethics in this field and may also illuminate academic entrepreneurs and university policymakers seeking to improve qualitative outcomes in university spin-offs.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN «POLITICAL POWER» AND «PSYCHIATRIC POWER» IN THE WORKS OF MICHEL FOUCAULT

The article demonstrates a retrospective analysis of the problem of the formation of the concept of power in the scientific activity of the French philosopher Michel Foucault. The transformational socio-political processes of the postmodern era require a radical rethinking of classical theories and concepts. Foucault proposes to look at historical structures and social phenomena in a new way, to modernize them away from superficial explanations and primitive interpretations revealing hidden and less obvious political mechanisms and their functioning. The problems of the 20th century draw the thinker's attention to a deep rethinking of power and strongly recommends abandoning classical canons in order to avoid social problems in the future. M. Foucault's post-structuralist concept of power proves that the variety of types of power generates not only reality and objects of knowledge, but also the «rituals» of their understanding. Contemporaries point out that the philosopher's writings lack a logical process of understanding a problem, but this is why he attracts not only scientists. Foucault's cognitive process is dynamic and discursive. Having associative thinking, the thinker engaged in a pure search, free from any biased attitude. M. Foucault suggests considering power relations in the broadest context, which includes the following power positions: men to women, parents to children, psychiatrists to mentally ill patients, doctors to patients, and authorities to people's lifestyles. However, the philosopher's most interesting explanation of power is medical power, particularly power in psychiatry. M. Foucault interprets power and knowledge in classical psychiatry, the problems of psychiatry of the 20th century and explains the meaning of mental illnesses from the patient's point of view. While studying at the «Ecole Normale» school, where a unique atmosphere reigned, despite his erudition and organizational skills as a leader, M. Foucault began to experience psychological disorders. This is what provoked the future thinker to investigate the power relations between the psychiatrist and the patient. This paper also examines the philosophical paradigm of the formation of psychiatry and the phenomenon of mental illness. Foucault understands mental disorders as alienation from reality, as a desire to exist in a hostile world. Madness, or alienation in the deep sense of the word, becomes the main problem of anthropology.