''Cosmos. Une ontologie matérialiste'' () is a 2015 book by the French philosopher
Michel Onfray. Onfray designated it as the first part in his trilogy ''Brève encyclopédie du monde''.
Summary
Michel Onfray uses the death of his father in 2009 and a discussion about the night sky as the starting point for a reflection on the
cosmos. He lays out a personal
philosophy of nature by covering a number of subjects. The subjects include animals and
human uses of animals,
winemaking,
oral poetry
Oral poetry is a form of poetry that is composed and transmitted without the aid of writing. The complex relationships between written and spoken literature in some societies can make this definition hard to maintain.
Background
Oral poetry is ...
,
African masks
Traditional African masks play an important role in certain traditional African rituals and ceremonies.
Masks serve an important role in rituals or ceremonies with varied purposes like ensuring a good harvest, addressing tribal needs in times ...
,
cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself.
Cross-dressing has play ...
,
astronomy,
Giuseppe Arcimboldo,
land art
Land art, variously known as Earth art, environmental art, and Earthworks, is an art movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, largely associated with Great Britain and the United StatesArt in the modern era: A guide to styles, schools, & mov ...
and
repetitive music.
Reception
Flammarion Flammarion may refer to:
* Camille Flammarion (1842–1925), French astronomer and author
* Gabrielle Renaudot Flammarion (1877–1962), French astronomer, wife of Camille Flammarion
* Flammarion engraving by unknown artist; appeared in a book by C ...
published ''Cosmos'' on 18 March 2015.
In ', described its first 25 pages, which are about Onfray's father, as "dazzling", and the book overall as "a little bumpy".
She said the book revolves around a
pagan
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
worldview, with few references to philosophers, and "surprising" detours to subjects such as African
animism,
Romani culture, Japanese
haiku and
Buddhism.
Portevin wrote that the book's "great
Nietzschean 'yes to life'" by necessity also comes with "aggressive rejections".
of ''
Le Monde diplomatique
''Le Monde diplomatique'' (meaning "The Diplomatic World" in French) is a French monthly newspaper offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs.
The publication is owned by Le Monde diplomatique SA, a subsidiary com ...
'' wrote that ''Cosmos'' adds to the difficulty in recent years to pin down Onfray, who came to prominence as a proponent of
atheism
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
and
left-wing politics. Pieiller wrote that Onfray's atheism here competes with a vague spirituality, his
rationalism with a celebration of instinct, and his
libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
attitude with a respect for traditions. By seemingly prioritising vitality over
reason and civilisation, Pieiller said the book sometimes echoes a sensibility found in the works of
Maurice Barrès
Auguste-Maurice Barrès (; 19 August 1862 – 4 December 1923) was a French novelist, journalist and politician. Spending some time in Italy, he became a figure in French literature with the release of his work ''The Cult of the Self'' in 1888. ...
,
Ludwig Klages
Friedrich Konrad Eduard Wilhelm Ludwig Klages (10 December 1872 – 29 July 1956) was a German philosopher, psychologist, graphologist, poet, writer, and lecturer, who was a two-time nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In the Germanospher ...
and
Oswald Spengler.
By June 2015, ''Cosmos'' had sold in more than 80,000 copies. This made it Onfray's third best selling book to date, after ''
Atheist Manifesto'' (2005) and ' (2010).
Legacy
At the publication of ''Cosmos'', Onfray announced it was the first book in a trilogy he calls ''Brève encyclopédie du monde'' ().
It was followed by the standalone books ''Décadence'' () in 2017 and ''Sagesse'' () in 2019.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Publisher's website{{in lang, fr
2015 non-fiction books
Books by Michel Onfray
Éditions Flammarion books