Ghislain Deslandes is a

philosopher 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 ...

born in

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

(

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) on the 16th of August 1970. His interdisciplinary discourse spans such topics as

management science Management science (or managerial science) is a wide and interdisciplinary study of solving complex problems and making strategic decisions as it pertains to institutions, corporations, governments and other types of organizational entities. It is ...

leadership studies Leadership studies is a multidisciplinary academic field of study that focuses on leadership in organizational contexts and in human life. Leadership studies has origins in the social sciences (e.g., sociology, anthropology, psychology), in huma ...

and postmodern theology. At ESCP Business School, he is full professor and a member of the Law, Economics and Humanities department and he is best known as the academic director of the Media programme since 1997, a pioneer in Europe in the fields of media economics and

media management Media management is a business administration discipline that identifies and describes strategic and operational phenomena and problems in the leadership of Mass media, media enterprises. Media management contains the functions strategic management ...

. He received the EFMD-FNEGE Best Essay award in 2015 and the 1st ESCP Research award in 2019. He is also a former program director at the Collège International de Philosophie (CIPh) and a full member of the Société Française de Philosophie.

Research work

His inaugural research focuses on the philosophical affinities between

Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal (19June 162319August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer. Pascal was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. His earliest ...

and

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danes, Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical tex ...

, highlighting a sense of unity presented as an ''Antiphilosophy of Christianity''. His work also explores issues in

business ethics Business ethics (also known as corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics, that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business c ...

communication studies Communication studies (or communication science) is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differ ...

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

stakeholder theory The stakeholder theory is a theory of organizational management and business ethics that accounts for multiple constituencies impacted by business entities like employees, suppliers, local communities, creditors, and others. It addresses morals ...

by contrasting the ideas of these two authors with those of others in the Western philosophical tradition. His approach to organisational phenomena allows him to revisit the field of

by formulating the contours of a postcritical

hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication. ...

that both reduces the overemphasis on the objective dimension of work and brings its affective dimension back at the center of attention.

Media management

His research has contributed to the consolidation of a European orientation, especially through his involvement in the activities of EMMA, to media organization studies. His initial work presents

less as a new academic discipline than as a multi-paradigm field of research that challenges the universalist approaches to

. Hence his special interest for the place of

ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

, CSR and organizational identity in managing media companies and

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

businesses.

Philosophy of management

Drawing on various sources of

continental philosophy Continental philosophy is a group of philosophies prominent in 20th-century continental Europe that derive from a broadly Kantianism, Kantian tradition.Continental philosophers usually identify such conditions with the transcendental subject or ...

his work highlights the fact that

in business cannot be taught or understood as any other management "knowledge". In the

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

, the "oikonomos" was not only dedicated to take advantage of existing assets but also to master his/her self and to care for the society as a whole. At the Collège international de philosophie, he developed a research program which aimed to extend the efforts made by researchers in order to discuss the commonly-held epistemic and political aspects of modern

management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

. The program emphasized "the crisis of the foundations faced by

in its ethical/philosophical aims", a crisis that can be defined as ''desaffectio societatis'', and which seems to concern managers more and more.

Leadership studies

From an interpretation of

and Paul Ricoeur’s analysis of power, he suggests new concepts to discuss the question of leadership responsibility, rethinking the usual way of considering it : practical wisdom, skeptical humanism or "double thought". It leads him to show that power cannot be separated from a dialectic of abilities and disabilities; this approach is at the root of several contributions about the strategic "vision" and gender issues using the works of

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; ; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the S ...

and

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 ...

, and about the ''beau geste'' as a critical behavior in organizations.

Continental philosophy of religion

In this field, he applies the notion of antiphilosophy as defined by

Alain Badiou Alain Badiou (; ; born 17 January 1937) is a French philosopher, formerly chair of Philosophy at the École normale supérieure (ENS) and founder of the faculty of Philosophy of the Université de Paris VIII with Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault ...

to a comparative philosophical analysis of Kierkegaard and Pascal. He examines the unique position occupied by these two authors in light of their idiosyncratic understanding of the relationship between faith and philosophical doubt. He also explores the connections between this position and more recent currents of thought, with particular reference to John Caputo,

Gianni Vattimo Gianteresio Vattimo (; 4 January 1936 – 19 September 2023) was an Italian philosopher and politician. Biography Gianteresio Vattimo was born in Turin, Piedmont. He studied philosophy under the existentialist Luigi Pareyson at the Universit ...

and Michel Henry. This perspective is also largely discussed in his essay focusing on the idea of "beginning" in Lequier's philosophy.

Bibliography

Books

* ''Humanities and Organizations in Dialogue : Hermeneutic Inquiries'',

Rowman & Littlefield Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an American independent academic publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns ...

, 2024. * ''Postcritical Management Studies : Philosophical Investigations'',

Springer Springer or springers may refer to: Publishers * Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishing group founded in 1842 in Germany formerly known as Springer-Verlag. ** Springer Nature, a multinationa ...

, 2023. * ''The Idea of Beginning in Jules Lequier's Philosophy'',

, 2023. * ''Antiphilosophy of Christianity'',

, 2021.

Academic publications (selection)

* Digitalisation and the Need for a "Humanistic" Turn in Media Management, Journal of Media Business Studies, with S. Gourevitch, 2024. * Branching-off in the Anthropocene era,

Organization Studies (journal) ''Organization Studies'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the field of organization studies. The journal's editors-in-chief are Renate Meyer and Paolo Quattrone. It was established in 1980 and is published by SAGE Publicati ...

, 2021. * Understanding the Human in Stakeholder Theory: a Phenomenological Approach to Affect-based Theory,

Management Learning ''Management Learning'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the field of management five times per year. The journal's Editor-in-chief, editors are Emma Bell (Keele University) and Todd Bridgman (Victoria University of Well ...

, with M. Painter and M. Perezts, 2020. * Formal and Informal Benevolence in a Profit-Oriented Context,

Journal of Business Ethics The ''Journal of Business Ethics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Springer. The Journal of Business Ethics is one of the journals used by the Financial Times for in compiling the Business Schools research rank. The Journal of Bus ...

, with G. Mercier, 2019. * European Management Teaching and Research: Reflections on the Life and Work of A. Blanqui, European Management Journal, 2019. * Escape from freedom: Revisiting Erich Fromm in the light of Contemporary Authoritarianism,

, 2018 * Talent Management: The Good, the Bad, and the Possible,

European Management Review ''European Management Review'' is a quarterly peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the European Academy of Management. The journal covers a broad range of management topics, publishing both empiric ...

, with M. Painter-Morland, S. Kirk and C. Tansley, 2018. * Weak Theology and Organization Studies,

, 2018. * Authentic Leading as Relational Accountability: Facing up to the Conflicting Expectations of Media Leaders, Leadership (journal), with M. Painter-Morland, 2017. * The Leader as Chief Truth Officer,

, with J. P. Bouilloud and G. Mercier, 2017. * Reconceptualizing CSR in the Media Industry as Relational Accountability,

, with M. Painter-Morland, 2016. * There are no Codes, Only Interpretations. Practical Wisdom and Hermeneutics in Monastic Organizations,

, with G. Mercier, 2016. * The dynamics of Organizational Identity from a Ricoeurian Perspective, Journal for Communication and Culture, 2015. * The Aesthetics of Leadership: Beau Geste as Critical Behaviour,

, with J. P. Bouilloud, 2015. * Gender and Visionary Leading: rethinking "Vision" with Bergson, Deleuze and Guattari,

Organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences) is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

, with M. Painter-Morland, 2014. * Power, Profits, and Practical Wisdom: Ricoeur's perspectives on the Possibility of an Ethics in Institutions, Business and Professional Ethics Journal, 2012. * The Care-of-Self Ethic with Continual Reference to Socrates: Towards Ethical Self-Management, Business Ethics: A European Review, 2012. * Turkish auteur cinema and European identity: Economic influences on aesthetic issues, Journal of European Popular Culture, with J. Maixent, 2012. * Corporate Culture versus Organizational Identity: Implications for Media Management, Journal of Media Business Studies, 2011. * In Search of Individual Responsibility: The Dark Side of Organizations in the Light of Jansenist Ethics,

, 2011. * Indirect Communication and Business Ethics: Kierkegaardian Perspectives, Business and Professional Ethics Journal, 2011.

External links

* Biographical information, ESCP website. * "Wittgenstein and the Practical Turn in Business Ethics", Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organizational Studies, 16(1), pp 48–56.http://ejbo.jyu.fi/pdf/ejbo_vol16_no1_pages_48-54.pdf

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deslandes, Ghislain 1970 births Living people 21st-century French philosophers Kierkegaard scholars People from Angers Phenomenologists French philosophers of culture French philosophers of religion French philosophy academics