André Tosel (15 June 1941 – 14 March 2017) was a French Marxist philosopher and academic administrator. He taught Philosophy at the

University of Franche-Comté The University of Franche-Comté (UFC) is a pluridisciplinary public French university located in Besançon, Franche-Comté, with decentralized campuses in Belfort, Montbéliard, Vesoul and Lons-le-Saunier. It is a founding member of the comm ...

and Pantheon-Sorbonne University until he became a full professor of philosophy at the

University of Nice Sophia Antipolis The University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (french: Université Nice Sophia Antipolis) was a university located in Nice, France and neighboring areas. It was founded in 1965 and was organized in eight faculties, two autonomous institutes and an eng ...

. He served as its vice president from 1992 to 1998, and as the director of its Center for the

History of Ideas Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual his ...

from 1998 to 2003. He was the author of several books about

Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...

and Marxist theorists.

Early life

André Tosel was born on 15 June 1941 in Nice, France. He was raised as a Roman Catholic, and he took a leadership position in the Jeunesse Étudiante Chrétienne at university. He graduated from the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, S ...

, where he was mentored by Louis Althusser. He earned the agrégation in Philosophy in 1965. Tosel joined the

Maoist Internationalist Movement The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) was a clandestine revolutionary communist organization based primarily in the United States. MIM claimed to adhere to a radical ideology called "MIM Thought". MIM listed a sole PO box in Ann Arbor, Michi ...

during the

May 1968 events Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which h ...

. He was awarded a PhD in Philosophy in 1982.

Career

Tosel taught Philosophy at the

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...

and Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

, where he was the vice president from 1992 to 1998. He also succeeded

Dominique Janicaud Dominique Janicaud (; 14 November 1937 – 18 August 2002) was a French philosopher, known for his critical approach to the philosophy of Heidegger.

as the director of the Center for the History of Ideas from 1998 to 2003. He was elected as a member of the governing board of its college of arts in 2002, and he retired as professor emeritus in 2012. Centre universitaire mediterraneen

Tosel was the author of many books about Marxism and Marxist theorists. He wrote about

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Baruch Spinoza, Antonio Gramsci and Hegel,

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...

, and

György Lukács György Lukács (born György Bernát Löwinger; hu, szegedi Lukács György Bernát; german: Georg Bernard Baron Lukács von Szegedin; 13 April 1885 – 4 June 1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher, literary historian, critic, and aesth ...

. He was a contributor to '' Actuel Marx'' and ''La Pensée''. He was a member of the Société française de philosophie. In his research, Tosel was a critic of

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the su ...

. He argued that capitalism was inherently violent as it rested upon servitude and poverty through debt. He argued in favour of emancipation from the "

passive revolution Passive revolution is a transformation of the political and institutional structures without strong social processes by ruling classes for their own self-preservation. The phrase was coined by the Marxist politician and philosopher Antonio Grams ...

" of globalised capitalism through resistance, or the advocacy of workers rights, feminism, postcolonialism, multiculturalism, and the rejection of neo-colonialism. According to philosopher Yvon Quiniou, Tosel played a critical role in disseminating Marxist theories in academic circles.

Personal life, death and tributes

Tosel was married with children. He was a member of 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 Un ...

from 1972 to 1984, and he re-joined the party in 2012, when he became associated with the Left Front. Tosel died on 14 March 2017 in Nice. On his death,

Patrick Le Hyaric Patrick Le Hyaric (born 4 February 1957 in Orléans, Loiret) is a French journalist, politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP), elected in the 2009 European election for the Île-de-France constituency. He is the director of the ne ...

, the editor-in-chief of ''

L'Humanité ''L'Humanité'' (; ), is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organ of the French Communist Party, and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, ''L'Humanité'' would not exist." History and profile Pre-World Wa ...

'', said he was "overwhelmed with sadness" and said Tosel was "like a shining light, a touchstone in this world of ideological counter-punch where everything is hidden by powerful forces who want to take over the entirety of thought and culture." Pierre Laurent, the chairman of the French Communist Party, said he was "very moved" by his death, and he added that Tosel had "a deep understanding of the difficulties faced by progressive forces and a willingness to exchange ideas and share his analyses and convictions, not only with a learned audience, but most importantly with young people and workers."

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tosel, Andre 1941 births 2017 deaths People from Nice École Normale Supérieure alumni Academic staff of the University of Franche-Comté Academic staff of the University of Paris Academic staff of Côte d'Azur University 20th-century French philosophers 21st-century French philosophers French Marxists Marxist theorists French Communist Party members Spinoza scholars