Of Habit

by Félix Ravaisson-Mollien

Félix Ravaisson's seminal philosophical essay, Of Habit, was first published in French in 1838. It traces the origins and development of habit and proposes the principle of habit as the foundation of human nature. This metaphysics of habit steers a path between materialism and idealism in one of the best and most sophisticated treatments of the topic. Ravaisson's work was pivotal in the development of European thought and has had a significant influence on such key thinkers such as Proust, Bergson, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Derrida, and Deleuze.

This edition makes this important work available to an English-speaking audience for the first time. Clare Carlisle and Mark Sinclair provide a comprehensive introduction to Ravaisson's life, works, and enduring influence that clearly situates Ravaisson's text within the European philosophical tradition. The translation also includes a thorough commentary on the text that illuminates its arguments and its context.

Genres: Philosophy, Essays, Nonfiction, Classics, Metaphysics

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1838

About the author

Jean Gaspard Félix Ravaisson-Mollien was a French philosopher and archaeologist. He was a student of Schelling and a teacher of Bergson. His philosophy fits in the tradition of French Spiritualism. He was influenced by Maine de Biran re-actualized the Aristotelian Metaphysics and critique of eclectism of Victor Cousin in La philosophie en France au XIXe siècle. He did not occupy a university chair, but he was the conservator of the department of antiquities at the Louvre, president of the jury of the Aggregation of philosophy in France and Inspector General of Libraries.

Reviews

[Aivaras Žukauskas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Expected a mundane read, got a still original attempt at bridging idealism and materialism, body and mind. Great success, despite the swampy wording for an uninitiated schmuck like me.

[Gareth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating read that takes you far further than you would think to begin with. Ravaisson's PhD thesis spans many spheres of philosophical debate, simultaneously taking on Hume and Immanuel Kant, and looking to show how habit is what enables us to cross the boundary between phenomena and noumena.

[Taire Cuevas · Rating 4 out of 5]

" Hence habit is not an external necessity of constraint, but a necessity of attraction and desire. It is, indeed, a law, a law of grace...it is the final cause that increasingly predominates over efficient causality and which absorb the latter into itself."

I enjoyed this book very much.