Laurent-Michel Vacher (26 May 1944 – 8 July 2005) was a French-born,

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

, writer, journalist (''Le Devoir, Hobo-Québec, Chroniques, Spirale'') and teacher (Ahuntsic College, Montreal). He was a proponent of

scientism Scientism is the opinion that science and the scientific method are the best or only way to render truth about the world and reality. While the term was defined originally to mean "methods and attitudes typical of or attributed to natural scientis ...

, rationalism,

positivism Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. G ...

, pragmatism and

materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materiali ...

, a critic of mainstream schools of today's philosophy and the usual history-centered pedagogy in the field of philosophy. He was one of the few contemporary philosophers who possessed sufficient scientific knowledge to fairly assess the unique role of modern science and scientific method as a knowledge-acquiring mechanism; in his opinion, all recent or less recent scientific knowledge should be considered by philosophers in any of their philosophical approaches as the necessary starting point to avoid the mythical speech and the metaphysical empty talk. He often criticised the attitude of some French philosophers concerning what in Francophone literature is labelled somewhat pejoratively as Anglo-Saxon philosophy "Actuality in American philosophy", "The passion of real". (perceived as too ''pragmatist'', ''empiricist'' and ''materialist''), considering it as a damaging "aristocratic" remnant of continental philosophy. He was a

1990 Governor General's Awards Each winner of the 1990 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $10000 and a specially bound edition of his or her book. The winners were selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts. English Langua ...

winner (non-fiction) for his ''L'Empire du moderne''. From the political point of view he was a left-leaning intellectual, considered to be an anti-elitist; concerning the Canadian and Quebec's political issues, he was an anti-nationalist and against the sovereignty of provinces in the (Canadian) federation.

Writings

*''La passion du réel - La philosophie devant les sciences'' (Liber, 2006) *''Histoire d'idées'' (Liber, 1994) *''La science par ceux qui la font'' (Liber, 1998) *''Le crépuscule d'une idole - Nietzsche et la pensée fasciste'' (Liber, 2003) *''L'empire du moderne - Actualité de la philosophie américaine'' (Herbes rouges, 1990) *''Débats philosophiques, Entretiens avec Mario Bunge'' (Liber, 1993) *''Pour un matérialisme vulgaire'' (Herbes rouges, 1984) *''Dialogues en ruine'' (Liber, 1996) *''Une triste histoire'' (Liber, 2001), *''Une petite fin du monde'' (Liber, 2005) *''Pratiques de la pensée - Philosophie et enseignement de la philosophie au cégep'' (Liber, 2002) *''Cinq intellectuels sur la place publique, Découvrons la philosophie'' (with François Hertel)

References

1944 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Canadian philosophers 20th-century Canadian journalists 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian non-fiction writers in French {{Canada-writer-stub