Jean-Toussaint Desanti (8 October 1914 – 20 January 2002) was a French educator and philosopher known for his work on both the philosophy of mathematics and

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...

Biography

The son of Jean-François Desanti and Marie-Paule Colonna, he was born in

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica). ...

and studied the

philosophy of mathematics The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that studies the assumptions, foundations, and implications of mathematics. It aims to understand the nature and methods of mathematics, and find out the place of mathematics in people's ...

with

Jean Cavaillès Jean Cavaillès (; ; 15 May 1903 – 4 April 1944) was a French philosopher and logician who specialized in philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of science. He took part in the French Resistance within the ''Libération'' movement and was ar ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was a member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

, associating with

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

and

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( , ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed by P ...

. He joined 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 ...

in 1943 with his wife

Dominique "Dominique" is a 1963 French language popular song, written and performed by the Belgian female singer Jeannine Deckers, better known as Sœur Sourire ("Sister Smile" in French) or The Singing Nun. The song is about Saint Dominic, a Spanish-bo ...

, remaining a member until 1956. In 1950 he participated in the publication of ''Science bourgeoise et science proletarienne '' with

Raymond Guyot Raymond Guyot (November 17, 1903 - April 17, 1986) was a French politician, leader of the French Communist Party. Guyot was born in Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxe ...

, Francis Cohen and Gérard Vassails. This book was part of a campaign by the

to advocate support for

Lysenkoism Lysenkoism (russian: Лысенковщина, Lysenkovshchina, ; uk, лисенківщина, lysenkivščyna, ) was a political campaign led by Soviet biologist Trofim Lysenko against genetics and science-based agriculture in the mid-20th cen ...

. Also in 1956, he published his ''Introduction à l'histoire de la philosophie''. Desanti taught philosophy at 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, Savoi ...

in Paris, at the

Lycée Lakanal Lycée Lakanal is a public secondary school in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. It was named after Joseph Lakanal, a French politician, and an original member of the Institut de France. The school also offers a midd ...

, at the

École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud 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, Sav ...

and 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, ...

. His students included

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...

and

Louis Althusser Louis Pierre Althusser (, ; ; 16 October 1918 – 22 October 1990) was a French Marxist philosopher. He was born in Algeria and studied at the École normale supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy. Althusser ...

. In 1968, he published ''Les Idéalités mathématiques, recherches épistémologiques sur le développement de la théorie des fonctions de variables réelles''. According to Etienne Balibar, Desanti's originality is to be found in his choice to set aside the traditional problems of the criteria or the status of mathematical truth, whether in their Platonic (characterized by the demarcation between the certitude proper to ideal objects and the incertitude of sensible objects) or transcendental (characterized by the definition of the a priori forms of consciousness) forms, in order to attend to another question, that of the "mediations" according to which a "naive" or elementary mathematical theory comes to open itself towards its own generalization and consequent re-foundation in more abstract terms. He died less than three weeks after undergoing

coronary artery bypass surgery Coronary artery bypass surgery, also known as coronary artery bypass graft (CABG, pronounced "cabbage") is a surgical procedure to treat coronary artery disease (CAD), the buildup of plaques in the arteries of the heart. It can relieve chest pai ...

in early 2002 in Paris.

Selected works

* ''Les Idéalités mathématiques. Recherches épistémologiques sur le développement de la théorie des fonctions de variables réelles'' (1968) * ''Phénoménologie et praxis'' (1962) * ''La Philosophie silencieuse ou Critique des philosophies de la science'' (1975) * ''Réflexions sur le temps'' (1982) * ''Philosophie, un rêve de flambeur, conversations avec Dominique-Antoine Grisoni'' (1999) * ''La liberté nous aime encore'' (2001) with Dominique Desanti and

Roger-Pol Droit Roger-Pol Droit (born 1949) is a French academic and philosopher. An alumnus of the École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud, he has written numerous books, most notably ''101 Experiments in the Philosophy of Everyday Life'', which has been tran ...

References

1914 births 2002 deaths French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French philosophers 20th-century French male writers {{France-philosopher-stub