André Tosel (15 June 1941 – 14 March 2017) was a French Marxist philosopher and academic administrator. He taught Philosophy at the University of Franche-Comté and Pantheon-Sorbonne University until he became a full professor of philosophy at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis. He served as its vice president from 1992 to 1998, and as the director of its Center for the

History of Ideas Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual hist ...

from 1998 to 2003. He was the author of several books about

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

and Marxist theorists.

Early life

André Tosel was born on 15 June 1941 in Nice, France. He was raised as a Roman Catholic, and he took a leadership position in the Jeunesse Étudiante Chrétienne at university. He graduated from the

École Normale Supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

, where he was mentored by

Louis Althusser Louis Pierre Althusser (, ; ; 16 October 1918 – 22 October 1990) was a French Marxist philosopher who studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy. Althusser was a long-time member an ...

. He earned the

agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

in Philosophy in 1965. Tosel joined the Maoist Internationalist Movement during the May 1968 events. He was awarded a PhD in Philosophy in 1982.

Career

Tosel taught Philosophy at the University of Franche-Comté in

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

and Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million He also succeeded Dominique Janicaud as the director of the Center for the History of Ideas from 1998 to 2003. He was elected as a member of the governing board of its college of arts in 2002, and he retired as professor emeritus in 2012. Centre universitaire mediterraneen

Tosel was the author of many books about Marxism and Marxist theorists. He wrote about

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...

Antonio Gramsci Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , ; ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosophy, Marxist philosopher, Linguistics, linguist, journalist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, Political philosophy, political the ...

and

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...

, and

György Lukács György Lukács (born Bernát György Löwinger; ; ; 13 April 1885 – 4 June 1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher, literary historian, literary critic, and Aesthetics, aesthetician. He was one of the founders of Western Marxism, an inter ...

. He was a contributor to '' Actuel Marx'' and ''La Pensée''. He was a member of the Société française de philosophie. In his research, Tosel was a critic of

consumerism Consumerism is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of industrialized societies. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the ...

. He argued that capitalism was inherently violent as it rested upon servitude and poverty through debt. He argued in favour of emancipation from the " passive revolution" of globalised capitalism through resistance, or the advocacy of workers rights, feminism, postcolonialism, multiculturalism, and the rejection of neo-colonialism. According to philosopher Yvon Quiniou, Tosel played a critical role in disseminating Marxist theories in academic circles.

Personal life, death and tributes

Tosel was married with children. He was a member of the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

from 1972 to 1984, and he re-joined the party in 2012, when he became associated with the Left Front. Tosel died on 14 March 2017 in Nice. On his death,

Patrick Le Hyaric Patrick Le Hyaric (born 4 February 1957) is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP), elected in the 2009 European election for the Île-de-France constituency. He is the director of the newspaper ''L'Humanité'' since 20 ...

, the editor-in-chief of ''

L'Humanité (; ) is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organisation of the SFIO, ''de facto'', and thereafter of the French Communist Party (PCF), and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, would not exist." History ...

'', said he was "overwhelmed with sadness" and said Tosel was "like a shining light, a touchstone in this world of ideological counter-punch where everything is hidden by powerful forces who want to take over the entirety of thought and culture." Pierre Laurent, the chairman of the French Communist Party, said he was "very moved" by his death, and he added that Tosel had "a deep understanding of the difficulties faced by progressive forces and a willingness to exchange ideas and share his analyses and convictions, not only with a learned audience, but most importantly with young people and workers."

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tosel, Andre 1941 births 2017 deaths People from Nice École Normale Supérieure alumni Academic staff of the University of Franche-Comté Academic staff of the University of Paris Academic staff of Côte d'Azur University 20th-century French philosophers 21st-century French philosophers French Marxists Marxist theorists French Communist Party members Spinoza scholars