Scholarly record

1968: THE TURN TO NEW PHILOSOPHY IN FRANCE

Anna Kostikova

Abstract

Topicality. The question of self-identification of contemporary national philosophy remains insufficiently studied. This paper specifies the tradition of philosophizing in France – the most influenceable national philosophy in Europe. In the year of 50th anniversary of May-1968 the report attempts to apply the historical reconstruction to the analysis of main ideas of the so-called “French theory”. The aim is to propose an analysis model for postmodern philosophy in France as a continuous tradition of consistent appeal to reason: from its "discovery" by Descartes through the Enlightenment project to the political engagement in the twentieth century. Hypothesis. The "modernity" in France begins with the end of the 60-ies - with the understanding of "student May" and the political legacy of classical philosophy and French existentialism, with a discussion of J.-F. Lyotard and J. Habermas on the grounds of contemporary culture, which was simultaneously in a correspondence of the French education project and the German University. Discussion: Today, when all the founders of the so-called philosophy postmodern – M. Foucault, G. Deleuze, J. Derrida, J. Baudrillard – from annoying academic philosophical community of authors became the object of study of history of philosophy, understanding of the innovations offered by modern French philosophy, it seems to the French themselves more objective. This the newest "paradigm" of philosophy paradoxically turns out to be the beginning of the destruction of the paradigm way of thinking. No more hierarchy and chronological succession. And, as a result, the essence of the modern French position is to abandon the scientist's perception of philosophy as changing "less progressive" or "less scientific" philosophical concept to "more scientific” and "more progressive". No philosophical concepts absolutely opposite: and, for example, the logical positivism of the Vienna circle gets absolutely Deleuzian interpretation (A. Soulez), and ideas of analytical philosophy are inscribed in a very "French” phenomenological understanding of the event (A. Badiou), or progress (J. Bouvresse), or subject (R. Descombes). Method: comparative analysis of philosophical reflections on May-68 and its intellectual history. Results: development of methods for the analysis of contemporary philosophy. Conclusions: Postmodern is not opposed to the preceding modernist philosophizing in the traditional sense of the word, all the achievements of modernity are reconceptualized in the French postmodern. The self-esteem history of ideas preserves the same missionary pathos of a special role of the engaged intellectual: unlike previous manifestos of philosophy of the 20th century, in the 21st century, the French philosophy declares: " Yes! Philosophy may be whatever you want it to be" (A. Badiou).

Publication details

Back to publication list