Alexandre Matheron (1926 – 7 January 2020) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

philosopher specializing in

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...

and modern politics. His 1969 work ''Individu et communauté chez Spinoza'' is "widely regarded as one of the landmarks of Spinoza scholarship."

Biography

Alexandre was the brother of mathematician Georges Matheron. He obtained a bachelor's degree in politics in 1949 and an

agrégation In France, the ''agrégation'' () is a competitive examination for civil service in the French public education system. Candidates for the examination, or ''agrégatifs'', become ''agrégés'' once they are admitted to the position of ''professe ...

in philosophy in 1956. The following year, he began teaching at the University of Algiers. He also left the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

, where he was very active. While in

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, Matheron decided to write his doctoral thesis on Spinoza. In 1963, he returned to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and enrolled at the French National Centre for Scientific Research to complete his doctoral degree under the direction of

Martial Gueroult Martial Gueroult (; 15 December 1891 – 13 August 1976) was a French philosopher. His primary areas of research were in 17th- and 18th-century philosophy as well as the history of philosophy. Biography Gueroult was born on 15 December 1891 ...

. His degree was completed in 1968. His thesis, titled ''Individu et communauté chez Spinoza'' was officially published in 1969. Matheron published another work in 1971, titled ''Le Christ et le salut des Ignorants chez Spinoza''. He was a founder in 1977 of the Association des Amis de Spinoza. He worked as assistant professor at Paris Nanterre University, and then served as professor at

Lumière University Lyon 2 Lumière University Lyon 2 (french: Université Lumière Lyon 2) is one of the three universities that comprise the current University of Lyon, having splintered from an older university of the same name, and is primarily based on two campuses in ...

. He died on 7 January 2020 after a period of ill health. His work was first published in English in 2020 as a collection of essays titled P''olitics, Ontology and Ethics in Spinoza: Essays by Alexandre Matheron.''

Publications

In French: *''Individu et communauté chez Spinoza'' (Paris:

Les Éditions de Minuit Les Éditions de Minuit (, ''Midnight Press'') is a French publishing house. It was founded in 1941, during the French Resistance of World War II, and is still publishing books today. History Les Éditions de Minuit was founded by writer and i ...

, 1969) ISBN 2707303917 *''Le Christ et le salut des Ignorants chez Spinoza'' (Paris: Éditions Aubier-Montaigne, 1971) *''Anthropologie et politique au XVIIe siècle. Études sur Spinoza'' (Paris: Vrin, 1985) *''Études sur Spinoza et les philosophies à l'âge classique'' (Lyon: ENS Lyon, 2011) ISBN 2847882189 In English: * ''Politics, Ontology and Ethics in Spinoza: Essays by Alexandre Matheron'', translated by Filippo Del Lucchese, David Maruzzella, and Gil Morejon. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020) ISBN 147444010X

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matheron, Alexandre 1926 births 2020 deaths 20th-century French philosophers Academic staff of the University of Algiers Academic staff of Paris Nanterre University Academic staff of the University of Lyon Academic staff of the École Normale Supérieure 21st-century Algerian people Neo-Spinozism