Léon Brunschvicg (; 10 November 1869 – 18 January 1944) was a French
Idealist
Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, spirit, or consciousness; that reality is entir ...
philosopher. He co-founded the ''
Revue de métaphysique et de morale'' with
Xavier Léon and
Élie Halévy
Élie Halévy (; 6 September 1870 – 21 August 1937) was a French philosopher and historian who wrote studies of the British utilitarians, the book of essays '' Era of Tyrannies'', and a history of Britain from 1815 to 1914 that influenced Bri ...
in 1893.
Life
He was born into a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family.
From 1895 to 1900 he taught at the
Lycée Pierre Corneille in
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
.
[Lycée Pierre Corneille de Rouen - History](_blank)
/ref> In 1897 he completed his thesis
A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...
under the title ' (''The Modalities of Judgement''). In 1909 he became professor of philosophy at the Sorbonne. He was married to Cécile Kahn,Visages du féminisme réformiste - C. Brunschvicg
at bu.univ-angers.fr a major campaigner for
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...
in France, with whom he had four children.
While at the Sorbonne, Brunschvicg was the supervisor for
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...
's master's thesis.
Forced to leave his position at the Sorbonne by the
Nazis
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
, Brunschvicg fled to the south of France, where he died at the age of 74. While in hiding, he wrote studies of
Montaigne
Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne ( ; ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), commonly known as Michel de Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the essay as ...
,
Descartes, and
Pascal that were printed in Switzerland. He composed a manual of philosophy dedicated to his teenage granddaughter entitled ''Héritage de Mots, Héritage d'Idées'' (''Legacy of Words, Legacy of Ideas'') which was published posthumously after the liberation of France. His reinterpretation of Descartes has become the foundation for a new
idealism
Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysics, metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, Spirit (vital essence), spirit, or ...
.
Brunschvicg defined philosophy as "the mind's methodical self-reflection" and gave a central role to judgement.
The publication of Brunschvicg's oeuvre has been recently completed after unpublished materials held in Russia were returned to his family in 2001.
Works (selected)
*', Paris, Alcan, 1897.
*', Paris, Alcan, 1923.
*', Paris, Alcan, 1905.
*', Paris, Alcan, 1912.
*', Paris, Alcan, 1922.
*', Paris, Alcan, 1927.
*', Paris, Hermann, 1939.
*', Paris, Alcan, 1939.
*', Paris, La Baconnière, 1942.
*', Paris, PUF, 1945.
*', 1892–1942, Paris, Minuit, 1948.
*', Paris, PUF, 1949.
*', Paris, PUF, 1950.
*', Paris: PUF, 1951.
*', Paris: PUF, 1954.
*', Paris: PUF, 1958.
;English translations
*Lafrance, Jean-David: "Physics and Metaphysics" and "On the Relations of Intellectual Consciousness and Moral Consciousness" in ''The Philosophical Forum'', 2006, Volume 37, Issue 1, pages 53–74.
Notes
Further reading
*René Boirel, ''Brunschvicg. Sa vie, son œuvre avec un exposé de sa philosophie'', Paris, PUF, 1964.
*Marcel Deschoux, ''La philosophie de Léon Brunschvicg'', Paris, PUF, 1949.
*Gary Gutting, ''French Philosophy in the Twentieth Century'', Cambridge University Press, 2001.
External links
*
Allrefer.com
1869 births
1944 deaths
French Jews
Jewish philosophers
Writers from Paris
École Normale Supérieure alumni
Academic staff of the University of Paris
French historians of philosophy
French epistemologists
Continental philosophers
19th-century French writers
19th-century French philosophers
20th-century French philosophers
Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques
French male writers
19th-century French male writers
Spinoza scholars
{{France-philosopher-stub