Thomas De Koninck (born 1934 in Leuven,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

) is a philosopher from Québec. After studying at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

(M.A.),

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montm ...

(Ph.D), and

Freie Universität Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

, he became professor at

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

(1960–1964) in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and at

(1964– ) in Québec. A well-known rumor posits that as a child he inspired Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's character

The Little Prince ''The Little Prince'' (french: Le Petit Prince, ) is a novella by French aristocrat, writer, and military pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 an ...

when Saint-Exupéry was living in the house of his father,

Charles De Koninck Charles De Koninck (29 July 1906 – 13 February 1965) was a Belgian-Canadian Thomist philosopher and theologian. As director of the Department of Philosophy at the Université Laval in Quebec, he influenced Catholic philosophy in French Canada a ...

, in Québec City, in 1942.

Books by Thomas De Koninck

*''Urgence de la philosophie : actes du Colloque du cinquantenaire de la Faculté, Université Laval, 1985'', with Lucien Morin (ed.), Québec, Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 1985. *''La question de Dieu selon Aristote et Hegel'', with Guy-Planty Bonjour (ed.), Paris, PUF, 1991. *''De la dignité humaine'', Paris, PUF, "Quadrige", 1995, 2nd ed. in 2002 (Prize "La Bruyère" of the Académie française, 1996) - Spanish translation. * ''Actes du colloque "Sens et Savoir"'' (ed.), ''Laval théologique et philosophique'', vol. 52, num. 2, June 1996, 615 pages. * ''Actes du colloque international Descartes'', with

Jean-Luc Marion Jean-Luc Marion (born 3 July 1946) is a French philosopher and Roman Catholic theologian. Marion is a former student of Jacques Derrida whose work is informed by patristic and mystical theology, phenomenology, and modern philosophy.Horner ...

and Jean-Marc Narbonne (org.), ''Laval théologique et philosophique'', vol. 53, num. 3, October 1997. *''La nouvelle ignorance et le problème de la culture'', Paris, PUF, "Intervention philosophique", 2000 - Portuguese, Turkish, Romanian and Arabic translations. * ''La question de Dieu'' (ed.), ''Laval théologique et philosophique'', vol. 58, num. 3, October 2002. *''Philosophie de l'éducation. Essai sur le devenir humain'', Paris, PUF, "Thémis", 2004 - Portuguese translation. *''La dignité humaine. Philosophie, droit, politique, économie, médecine'', with Gilbert Larochelle (ed.), Paris, PUF, 2005. *''Relire Platon'' (ed.), ''Laval théologique et philosophique'', vol. 62, num. 2, June 2006. *''La crise de l’éducation'', Montréal, Fides, 2007. *''Aristote, l'intelligence et Dieu'', Paris, PUF, Chaire Étienne Gilson, 2008. *''Philosophie de l'éducation pour l'avenir'', Québec, Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 2010. *''Questions ultimes'', Ottawa, Les Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa, "Philosophica", 2012 (Prize of the

Canadian Philosophical Association The Canadian Philosophical Association (CPA; french: Association canadienne de philosophie []) was founded in 1958 as a bilingual non-profit organization to promote philosophical scholarship and education across Canada, and to represent the inter ...

, 2013). *''La foi est-elle irrationnelle ?'', with Louis Roy, Montréal, Fides, 2013. *''À quoi sert la philosophie ?'', Paris/Québec, Hermann/Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 2015. * ''Dignité de la personne et primauté du bien commun'', Saarbrücken, Éditions universitaires européennes, 2016. * ''Beauty obliges. Ecology and dignity'' (english translation), with J.-F. de Raymond, Québec, Presses de l'Université Laval, 2018.

Books and papers on Thomas De Koninck

*Pierre-Alexandre Fradet, ''Le désir du réel dans la philosophie québécoise'', Montréal, Nota bene, coll. Territoires philosophiques, 2022, 246 p. * Thierry Bissonnette, ''Thomas De Koninck, attiseur de consciences'', Montréal, Varia, 2007. *

Jean-François Mattéi Jean-François Mattéi (; 9 March 1941 – 24 March 2014) was a French philosopher and professor of Greek philosophy and political philosophy at the University of Nice A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and ...

and Jean-Marc Narbonne (ed.), ''La transcendance de l'homme : études en hommage à Thomas De Koninck'', Québec, Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 2012 - with contributions of

, Jean-Marc Narbonne,

, Chantal Delsol, Leslie Armour, Luc Langlois, Jean-François de Raymond, Gilbert Larochelle, Yves Charles Zarka, Gabor Csepregi,

Rémi Brague Rémi Brague (born 8 September 1947) is a French historian of philosophy, specializing in Islamic, Jewish, and Christian thought of the Middle Ages. He is professor emeritus of Arabic and religious philosophy at the Sorbonne, and Romano Guardin ...

, Dominique Folscheid et Jean-Jacques Wunenburger. * Sigal Samuel, "Hunting for the Little Prince", ''The Rumpus'', June 14, 2014, online : http://therumpus.net/2014/06/hunting-for-the-little-prince/ * Pierre-Alexandre Fradet, "Un humanisme de l'au-delà : sens commun et puissance spéculative chez Thomas De Koninck", ''Science et Esprit'', vol. 66, num. 3, Falls 2014, pp. 379–394, available online : https://www.academia.edu/8398629/_Un_humanisme_de_lau-delà_sens_commun_et_puissance_spéculative_chez_Thomas_De_Koninck_Science_et_Esprit_66_3_septembre_2014_p._379-394

Honors

* Rhodes Scholarship (1956-1959) *

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (german: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung) is a foundation established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Rese ...

(1972-1973, and 1990) *Prize La Bruyère of l'Académie française for ''De la dignité humaine'' (1996) *Member of the

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/ concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

(1996) *"Popular Prof" in the

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

Guide to Canadian Universities (1999) *Member of l'Académie des lettres et sciences humaines of the Royal Society of Canada (2002) *Prize of excellence in teaching of the

(2002) *Owner of the "Chaire de recherche et d'enseignement La philosophie dans le monde actuel" of the

(2004 - ) *Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

(2005)Fiche sur le site de l'Université Laval
*Owner of the "Chaire Étienne Gilson",

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

(2007-2008) *"Médaille Gloire de l'Escolle" of l'

(2010) *Prize of the

for ''Questions ultimes'' (2013)

References

External links

*Papers of Thomas De Koninck on Philpapers: http://philpapers.org/s/Thomas%20De%20Koninck *Curriculum vitae of Thomas De Koninck: http://www.philomondeactuel.chaire.ulaval.ca/presentation/titulaire/ {{DEFAULTSORT:De Koninck, Thomas 1934 births Living people Canadian philosophers Catholic philosophers Members of the Order of Canada Academic staff of Université Laval Presidents of the Canadian Philosophical Association Université Laval alumni