French Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #645

by Stephen Gaukroger, Knox Peden

French culture is unique in that philosophy has played a significant role from the early-modern period onwards, intimately associated with political, religious, and literary debates, as well as with epistemological and scientific ones. While Latin was the language of learning there was a universal philosophical literature, but with the rise of vernacular literatures things changed and a distinctive national form of philosophy arose in France.This Very Short Introduction covers French philosophy from its origins in the sixteenth century up to the present, analysing it within its social, political, and cultural context. Beginning with psychology and epistemology, Stephen Gaukroger and Knox Peden then move onto the emergence of radical philosophy in the eighteenth century, before considering post-revolutionary philosophy in the nineteenth century, philosophy in the world wars, the radical thought of the 1960s, and finallyFrench philosophy today. Throughout, they explore the dilemma sustained by the markedly national conception of French philosophy, and its history of speaking out on matters of universal concern.ABOUT THE Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, France

152 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 23, 2020

About the author

Stephen Gaukroger is a British philosopher and intellectual historian. He is Professor of History of Philosophy and History of Science at the University of Sydney. Recently he also took up a position as Professor of Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen.

He received his BA (hons) in philosophy, with congratulatory first class honours, from the University of London in 1974, and his PhD, in history and philosophy of science, from the University of Cambridge in 1977. He was a Research Fellow at Clare Hall Cambridge, and then at the University of Melbourne, before joining the Philosophy Department at Sydney in 1981. In 2011, he moved to the Unit for History and Philosophy of Science. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities, a Corresponding Member of l’Académie Internationale d’Histoire des Sciences, and in 2003 was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal for contributions to history of philosophy and history of science. He is presently Professor of History of Philosophy and History of Science, and ARC Professorial Fellow. His work has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Serbian.

Reviews

[Quiver · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing is mostly clear on otherwise difficult topics; various catchphrases of the field are duly mentioned; references for further reading are given (both in the text, pointing to the original texts under discussion; and in the Further Reading section, pointing to summary and introductory compendia).

Otherwise, who is the target audience for this booklet? The OUP site says, in general: 'Whatever your area of study, whatever the topic that fascinates you, the series is an indispensable and accessible guide that will enrich your understanding.' Fascination of an average university-educated adult will not be enough for this particular Very Short Intro. A beginning student of philosophy might benefit from seeing some names and having their fascination stoked, but otherwise it's too fast to teach anything, even an overview unless you're already familiar with sufficiently many terms. A specialist in French Philosophy wouldn't have any use for it.

My best guess is this: the reader will most benefit (in a traditional sense of getting an overview) if they're well-versed in parsing general philosophy, curious about the development of French ideas from Montaigne onwards, and forgiving about summarising jumps, cursory overviews, and expository gaps. That's a pretty narrow audience and not an audience I was expecting A Very Short Intro would be targeting (but then I wasn't expecting much). Personally, I was pleasantly surprised to get the level of exposition that I did!

It can be a quick, helpful read if picked up at the right moment.

[Michael Card · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read a number of the very short introduction series, I have a good feel for what they're about. Some are better thought of as a brief overview and reminder of concepts you've already read about whilst giving you some extra information you may have missed . And others are a great introduction into a subject with further reading suggested at the end. This falls firmly into the ladder. I found the book most interesting when it covered subject matter I was already familiar with, however, when discussing new topics, new writers, new ideas, I felt the text lacked sufficient explanation and often quoted or mentioned ideas not previously discussed, which would be to my imagination frustrating to somebody who purely wanted an introduction to the topic.

[Citesc · Rating 3 out of 5]

No Pascal chapter?