Ferdinand Alquié (; 18 December 1906 – 28 February 1985) was a French philosopher and member of the

Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

from 1978. In the years 1931 to 1945 he was a professor in various provincial and Parisian lycees, and later at the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier () is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous opera ...

and Sorbonne where he worked until he retired in 1979.

Career

Alquié's career was dominated by the decades-long polemic between himself as a Cartesian and the Spinozian perspective of his rival

Martial Gueroult Martial Gueroult (; 15 December 1891 – 13 August 1976) was a French philosopher. His primary areas of research were in 17th- and 18th-century philosophy as well as the history of philosophy. Biography Gueroult was born on 15 December 1891 ...

. He was vehemently opposed to all forms of philosophical monism and felt that human life is permeated by various forms of

dualism Dualism most commonly refers to: * Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another * P ...

. He was opposed to totalitarianism as well as to Marxism; as a close friend of André Breton, he aligned himself with the surrealist project. He was an instructor of

Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze (18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes o ...

, whom, according to

Michael Hardt Michael Hardt (born 1960) is an American political philosopher and literary theorist. Hardt is best known for his 2000 book ''Empire'', which was co-written with Antonio Negri. Hardt and Negri suggest that several forces which they see as do ...

, he accused of drawing on

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, and other fields, neglecting

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. Deleuze responded by agreeing with Alquié and moreover, he argued that his primary interest was precisely in the metaphysics science needs rather than in the science philosophy needs. Alquié went on to direct Deleuze's secondary thesis, "Expressionism in Philosophy: Spinoza." Also among his students at the Sorbonne was the Finnish feminist philosopher and Descartes specialist Lilli Alanen. Alquié has published many books about Descartes,

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

and

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 ...

, as well as a book on

Nicolas Malebranche Nicolas Malebranche ( ; ; 6 August 1638 – 13 October 1715) was a French Oratorian Catholic priest and rationalist philosopher. In his works, he sought to synthesise the thought of St. Augustine and Descartes, in order to demonstrate the ...

. He was close to the artist

André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...

and wrote ''Philosophy of Surrealism'' (1955), which espoused a view of

surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

as a form of

humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...

that values the vibrant potential of the

unconscious mind In psychoanalysis and other psychological theories, the unconscious mind (or the unconscious) is the part of the psyche that is not available to introspection. Although these processes exist beneath the surface of conscious awareness, they are t ...

Works

*''Leçon de philosophie'', 2 vol., Didier, 1931-1951. *''Notes sur la première partie des '' Principes de la philosophie'' de Descartes'', Éditions Chantiers, 1933. *''Le Problème moral'', Éditions Chantiers, 1933. *''Les États représentatifs'', Éditions Chantiers, 1934. *''Les Mouvements et les actes'', Éditions Chantiers, 1934. *''Plans de philosophie générale'', Éditions Chantiers, 1934; réédition La Table Ronde, "La Petite Vermillon", 2000. *''La Science'', Éditions Chantiers, 1934. *''Les Devoirs et la vie morale (plans de morale spéciale)'', Éditions Chantiers, 1935. *''Notions de psychologie générale'', Éditions Chantiers, 1935. *''Les Tendances et la raison'', Éditions Chantiers, 1935. *''Les Sciences mathématiques, les sciences de la matière et de la vie'', Éditions Chantiers, 1936. *''Les Synthèses représentatives'', Éditions Chantiers, 1936. *''Les États affectifs'', Éditions Chantiers, 1937. *''Les Opérations intellectuelles'', Éditions Chantiers, 1937. *''Le Désir d'éternité'', PUF, 1943. *''Introduction à la lecture de la Critique de la raison pure'', PUF, 1943. *''La Découverte métaphysique de l'homme chez Descartes'', PUF, 1950. *''La Nostalgie de l'être'', PUF, 1950. *''Science et métaphysique chez Descartes'', Les Cours de Sorbonne, CDU, 1955. *''Philosophie du surréalisme'', Flammarion, 1955. *''Descartes, l'homme et l'œuvre'', Connaissance des Lettres, Hatier, 1956. *''L'Expérience'', PUF, 1957. *Édition de textes choisis de l Éthique'' de

, PUF, 1961. *Édition des ''Œuvres philosophiques de Descartes'', 3 vol., Garnier, 1963-1973. *''Nature et vérité dans la philosophie de Spinoza'', Les Cours de Sorbonne, CDU, 1965. *''Solitude de la raison'', Le Terrain vague, 1966. *''La Critique kantienne de la métaphysique'', PUF, 1968. *''Entretiens sur le surréalisme'', W. de Gruyter, 1968. *''Signification de la philosophie'',

Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette Livre, a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachette Fil ...

, 1971. *''Le Cartésianisme de Malebranche'', Vrin, 1974. *''Malebranche et le rationalisme chrétien'', Seghers, 1977. *''La Conscience affective'', Vrin, 1979. *''Le Rationalisme de Spinoza'', PUF, 1981. *''Servitude et liberté chez Spinoza'', Les Cours de Sorbonne, CDU. *''La Morale de Kant'', Les Cours de Sorbonne, 1957. *Édition des ''Œuvres philosophiques de Kant'', 3 vol., Gallimard,

Bibliothèque de la Pléiade The ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' (, "Pleiades Library") is a French editorial collection which was created in 1931 by Jacques Schiffrin, an independent young editor. Schiffrin wanted to provide the public with reference editions of the ...

, 1980, 1984, 1986. *''Études cartésiennes'', Vrin, 1983.

References

* Bell, J. (2011). Between Realism and Anti-realism: Deleuze and the Spinozist Tradition in Philosophy. ''Deleuze Studies''. Vol. 5:1–17. * Peden, K. (2011). Descartes, Spinoza, and the impasse of French philosophy: Ferdinand Alquie versus Martial Gueroult. ''Modern Intellectual History''. Vol. 8(2): 361–390. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alquie, Ferdinand 1906 births 1985 deaths People from Carcassonne Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni Lycée Louis-le-Grand teachers French historians of philosophy 20th-century French philosophers Academic staff of the University of Paris Descartes scholars Spinoza scholars Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques 20th-century French historians French male writers Academic staff of the University of Montpellier