Georges Toussaint Léon Palante (20 November 1862 – 5 August 1925) was a French philosopher and sociologist.
Palante advocated aristocratic individualist ideas similar to
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...
and
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the prod ...
. He was opposed to
Émile Durkheim
David Émile Durkheim ( or ; 15 April 1858 – 15 November 1917) was a French sociologist. Durkheim formally established the academic discipline of sociology and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science, al ...
's
holism
Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book ''Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED Onl ...
, promoting
methodological individualism
In the social sciences, methodological individualism is the principle that subjective individual motivation explains social phenomena, rather than class or group dynamics which are illusory or artificial and therefore cannot truly explain marke ...
instead.
Life
![Palante Villa Hillion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Palante_Villa_Hillion.jpg)
Palante was born in
Saint-Laurent-Blangy
Saint-Laurent-Blangy () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
Saint-Laurent-Blangy is a light industrial suburb and river port on the northeast side of Arras, at the junction of the N50, ...
in the
Pas-de-Calais
Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...
on 20 November 1862. His father Emile Palante was an accountant from
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
. Palante's older brother Emile died when he was only five years old. He studied successively at the college of Arras where he excelled in Latin, then at
Lycée Louis-le-Grand
The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on rue Saint-Jacques in central Paris. It was founded in the ...
where he earned his bachelor's degree.
He obtained a Bachelor of Arts at the
University of Douai
The University of Douai (french: Université de Douai) ( nl, Universiteit van Dowaai) is a former university in Douai, France. With a medieval heritage of scholarly activities in Douai, the university was established in 1559 and lectures started ...
. In 1885, he began his career as professor of philosophy at
Aurillac
Aurillac (; oc, Orlhac ) is the prefecture of the Cantal department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aurillacois'' or ''Aurillacoises''.
Geography
Aurillac is at above sea leve ...
, where he met his future wife Louise Genty, whom he married three years later. The couple had a daughter named Germaine in 1890. Between 1886 and 1888, he studied in Châteauroux. In 1888, he received his
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.
Palante separated from his first wife in 1890 and was appointed to teach at the Lycée de
Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc (, Breton: ''Sant-Brieg'' , Gallo: ''Saent-Berioec'') is a city in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.
History
Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who Christianised the region in the 6th c ...
,
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
, then in the following years at
Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...
,
La Rochelle
La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...
and
Niort
Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; oc, Niòrt; la, Novioritum) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres.
The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the u ...
. In 1893, he translated a work by
Theobald Ziegler and began to publish articles. He returned in 1898 to the Lycée de Saint-Brieuc, at which he worked for the remainder of his teaching career. Meanwhile, he continued to work on his philosophical ideas, publishing articles and essays in journals. Palante published collections of his articles in various books, notably ''Combat pour l'individu'' (''Fight for the Individual'') in 1904 and ''La Sensibilité individualiste'' (''The Individualist Sensibility'') in 1909.
In 1907, Palante completed a draft doctoral thesis at the
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
, but it was never authorized. However, he published the draft under the title ''Antinomies entre l'individu et la société'' (''Antinomies Between the Individual and Society'') in 1912, expanding it two years later under the title ''Pessimisme et individualisme'' (''Pessimism and Individualism'').
In 1908, Palante stood in municipal elections as a socialist candidate, but he was not elected. He took over from
Jules de Gaultier at the philosophy journal ''
Mercure de France
The was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group.
The gazette was published f ...
'', holding the position for thirteen years. In 1916, he befriended the writer
Louis Guilloux
Louis Guilloux (15 January 1899 – 14 October 1980) was a French writer born in Saint-Brieuc, Brittany, where he lived throughout his life. He is known for his Social Realist novels describing working class life and political struggles in the mi ...
. During this period, Palante lived a bohemian lifestyle, drinking heavily and notoriously marking his students' essays in a local brothel.
[Michel Onfray (1989). ''Physiologie de George Palante''. Le Livre de Poche.] He married his second wife Louise Pierre in 1923 and retired from teaching a year later. On 5 August 1925, Palante died from a self-inflicted bullet wound to the head. The reasons for Palante's suicide are not certain, but he is known to have been suffering from
acromegaly
Acromegaly is a disorder that results from excess growth hormone (GH) after the growth plates have closed. The initial symptom is typically enlargement of the hands and feet. There may also be an enlargement of the forehead, jaw, and nose. Other ...
, a condition diagnosed when he was a student. A severe degenerative disease which had no cure at time, it was making his life more and more painful.
Philosophy
A thoroughgoing Individualist, he admired
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...
and showed early interest in the work of
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
. His thinking is also critical towards the mass "herd instinct", which he thought oppresses and prevents individuals from developing fully. However, he did not oppose social networks and insisted that his philosophy did not seek to destroy society for the benefit of the individual, but to help to build new networks of social interaction. In sociology, he objected to the holistic model espoused by
Émile Durkheim
David Émile Durkheim ( or ; 15 April 1858 – 15 November 1917) was a French sociologist. Durkheim formally established the academic discipline of sociology and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science, al ...
.
Political ideology
Initially close to socialist theories, while critical of
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
state socialism
State socialism is a political and economic ideology within the socialist movement that advocates state ownership of the means of production. This is intended either as a temporary measure, or as a characteristic of socialism in the transition fr ...
, he increasingly rejected it as a political ideal, although he did participate in 1908 municipal elections as a socialist candidate.
["Dans la donnée marxiste le socialisme d'État est un régime aussi odieux que le régime actuel. Il ne faut pas l'appeler socialisme d'État, mais capitalisme d'État ( Liebknecht), attendu qu'il veut concentrer tout le capital entre les mains de l'État pour perpétuer l'écrasement d'une classe par l'autre et pour " imposer à la démocratie le double joug de l'exploitation économique et de l'esclavage politique. " (Proposition Liebknecht)." Preface to ''La Question sociale est une question morale'' by Theoblad Ziegler, translated by Palante.] He rejected the label anarchist, but his ideas are nevertheless often regarded as a form of
anarchism
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...
or at least as
libertarianism
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 en ...
. His ideas have some commonality with
classical liberalism
Classical liberalism is a political tradition
Political culture describes how culture impacts politics. Every political system is embedded in a particular political culture.
Definition
Gabriel Almond defines it as "the particular patt ...
, including his definition of the individual and his opposition to various barriers to trade. However, he opposed it in so far as in his view individual being is not determined by rational choice since social determinism is constantly at work. In the economic field, he also objected to capitalists seeking profits to the detriment of the poor and called for a "politics of the belly".
Influence
Louis Guilloux
Louis Guilloux (15 January 1899 – 14 October 1980) was a French writer born in Saint-Brieuc, Brittany, where he lived throughout his life. He is known for his Social Realist novels describing working class life and political struggles in the mi ...
wrote ''Souvenirs sur Georges Palante'' (''Memories of Georges Palante'') and took his inspiration from Palante to model his character Cripure (short for ''Critique de la raison pure''; in English, ''Critique of pure reason'') in his novel ''
Le Sang noir'' (''Dark Blood''). He also puts Palante's ideas into the mouths of characters in other novels.
Palante is quoted in one of the footnotes to
Albert Camus
Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...
' classic treatise''
The Rebel''.
Jean Grenier
Jean Grenier (6 February 1898 – 5 March 1971, Dreux-Venouillet, Eure-et-Loir) was a French philosopher and writer. He taught for a time in Algiers, where he became a significant influence on the young Albert Camus.
Biography
Born in Paris, ...
, who was Camus' philosophy teacher, met Palante and devoted a full chapter to him in his book ''Les Grèves'' (''The Seashores'').
Michel Onfray
Michel Onfray (; born 1 January 1959) is a French writer and philosopher with a hedonistic, epicurean and atheist worldview. A highly-prolific author on philosophy, he has written over 100 books. His philosophy is mainly influenced by such thinke ...
's thesis and first published book ''Physiologie de Georges Palante'' (''Georges Palante's Physiology'') contributed to the renewed interest in his work. The 2002 and 2005 reissues of the book were subtitled ''portrait d’un nietzschéen de gauche'' (''Portrait of a Left-wing Nietzschean'').
Writings
* ''Précis de Sociologie'', Paris, Alcan, 1901.
* ''Combat pour l’individu'', Paris, Alcan, 1904.
*
La Sensibilité individualiste', Paris, Alcan, 1909.
* ''Les Antinomies entre l’individu et la société'', Paris, Alcan, 1912.
*
', Paris, Mercure de France, 1912.
*
', ''Revue du Mercure de France'', 1912.
*
', Paris, Alcan, 1914.
* ''Du nouveau en politique ! Des problèmes nouveaux ! Des partis nouveaux ! Des hommes nouveaux !'', Duperret, 1919.
References
External links
*
Website dedicated to Georges Palante, with online resources
* Some of his articles and excerpts from his books are available at th
*
Eleanor ClarkDeath of a thinker: A Note on the French Novel 1925–40 first published in ''The Kenyon Review'', Summer 1941.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palante, Georges
1862 births
1925 suicides
People from Arras
Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni
University of Paris alumni
French sociologists
French political philosophers
French socialists
Egoist anarchists
19th-century philosophers
20th-century French philosophers
Suicides by firearm in France
French male non-fiction writers
19th-century French male writers