''Esprit'' is a French

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and lett ...

. The magazine also deals with current events. It is based in Paris.

History and profile

Founded in October 1932 by

Emmanuel Mounier Emmanuel Mounier (; ; 1 April 1905 – 22 March 1950) was a French philosopher, theologian, teacher and essayist. Biography Mounier was the guiding spirit in the French personalist movement, and founder and director of ''Esprit'', the magazine w ...

, it was the principal review of

personalist Personalism is an intellectual stance that emphasizes the importance of human persons. Personalism exists in many different versions, and this makes it somewhat difficult to define as a philosophical and theological movement. Friedrich Schleierm ...

intellectuals of the time. From 1957 to 1976, it was directed by Jean-Marie Domenach. Paul Thibaud directed it from 1977 to 1989. Since 1989 Oliver Mongin has been the director of the magazine. The philosopher

Paul Ricœur Jean Paul Gustave Ricœur (; ; 27 February 1913 – 20 May 2005) was a French philosopher best known for combining phenomenological description with hermeneutics. As such, his thought is within the same tradition as other major hermeneutic ...

often collaborated with it. ''Esprit'' is a member of the Eurozine network.

Personalism and the non-conformists

In the 1930s, ''Esprit'' was the main mouthpiece of the Personalists and of the non-conformists of the 1930s. A presentation of the magazine by its authors in 1933 stated that it opposed the "compromission" of spiritual values with the established order (which Mounier called "established disorder") and aimed at denouncing their "exploitation by the powers of

Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money ar ...

, in the social regime, in the government, in the press, etc.Prospectus de présentation de la revue "Esprit"
, presented by Alain-Gérard Slama, on-line course of

Sciences-Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

, 18 May 2007 " ''Esprit'' opposed partial reforms and aimed at a global rebuilding of the basis of the social edifice. It targeted as opponents " individualist materialism", claiming that the "capitalist jungle was its ultimate product"; "collectivist materialism", which linked both

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

and

Capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...

, despite their oppositions, in the "same metaphysics"; and the "false

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase ...

," which seemed to share the same opponents, but in reality turned towards the "tyrannic idolatry of inferior spiritualities: racist exaltation, national passion, anonymous discipline, devotion to the state or the leader" or plain "safeguard of economic interests." The magazine posited itself for the "rebirth" of a "community of personalities," in opposing of both liberal individualism and collectivism, in one word, mass society:

"Tout homme, sans exception, a le droit et le devoir de développer sa personalité." (Any man, without exception, has the right and the duty to develop his personality.)

Post-War

''Esprit'' broke with part of its legacy following the Liberation of France, and involved itself in

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights ...

movements. The review criticized the systemic use of torture during the Algerian War, publishing for examples articles by Pierre Vidal-Naquet. It would also influence in the 1970s the "

Second Left The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

," gathered around the Unified Socialist Party (PSU).

References

External links

''Esprit'' home page
*Issue
from 1932 to 1939
an
from 1940 to 1993
in Gallica, the digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France 1932 establishments in France French-language magazines French Third Republic Literary magazines published in France Magazines established in 1932 Magazines published in Paris Political magazines published in France Non-conformists of the 1930s {{France-lit-mag-stub