Miguel Abensour (; 13 February 1939 – 22 April 2017) was a French philosopher specializing in political philosophy. He was emeritus professor of

political philosophy Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, ...

at the

Paris Diderot University Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (french: Université Paris Diderot), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 197 ...

( Jussieu) and a former president of the

Collège international de philosophie The Collège international de philosophie (Ciph), located in Paris' 5th arrondissement, is a tertiary education institute placed under the trusteeship of the French government department of research and chartered under the French 1901 Law on associ ...

Research and works

Abensour has written for the revues ''Textures'', ''Libre'', and ''Tumultes''. Director of the collection ''Critique de la politique'' (published by Payot & Rivages) since 1974, he was notable in contributing to the reception of the

Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School (german: Frankfurter Schule) is a school of social theory and critical philosophy associated with the Institute for Social Research, at Goethe University Frankfurt in 1929. Founded in the Weimar Republic (1918–1933), dur ...

in France.

Robert Maggiori The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, hono ...

« L’utopie de Miguel Abensour »
, ''Libération'', 11 juin 2009. In his works and numerous articles, he has sought to reconcile

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

, understood as "democracy against the state", with the idea of

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island societ ...

, conceived from

Emmanuel Levinas Emmanuel Levinas (; ; 12 January 1906 – 25 December 1995) was a French philosopher of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry who is known for his work within Jewish philosophy, existentialism, and phenomenology, focusing on the relationship of ethics t ...

's criticism of

Martin Buber Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism ...

's idea of interpersonal relations: the

I and Thou ''Ich und Du'', usually translated as ''I and Thou'', is a book by Martin Buber, published in 1923, and first translated from German to English in 1937. Premise Buber's main proposition is that we may address existence in two ways: # The attit ...

relationship opposed to the I and It. He has also published numerous articles on

Claude Lefort Claude Lefort (; ; 21 April 1924 – 3 October 2010) was a French philosopher and activist. He was politically active by 1942 under the influence of his tutor, the phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty (whose posthumous publications Lefort late ...

, Saint-Just,

utopian socialism Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...

( Pierre Leroux,

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

), Blanqui, and members of the

. An anthology and critique of his works was published in 2006 by Sens & Tonka, ''Critique de la politique. Autour de Miguel Abensour'', edited by Anne Kupiec and Étienne Tassin.''Critique de la politique. Autour de Miguel Abensour''
''Journée de la philosophie à l'

Unesco The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

'', 2004.

Works

*''Instructions pour une prise d'armes. L'éternité par les astres. Hypothèse astronomique et autres textes d'

Auguste Blanqui Louis Auguste Blanqui (; 8 February 1805 – 1 January 1881) was a French socialist and political activist, notable for his revolutionary theory of Blanquism. Biography Early life, political activity and first imprisonment (1805–1848) Bl ...

établis et présentés par Miguel Abensour et Valentin Pelosse'', Paris, Tête de Feuilles, 1973; re-edited by Sens & Tonka in 2000. *''De la compacité : architecture et régimes totalitaires'', Paris, Sens & Tonka, 1997. *''L'Utopie de

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish ...

'', Paris, Sens & Tonka, 2000. nglish translation: ''Utopia from Thomas More to Walter Benjamin'', Minneapolis, Univocal Publishing, 2017 *''Le Procès des maîtres rêveurs'', Arles, Sulliver, 2000. *''La Démocratie contre l'État :

Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

et le moment machiavélien'', Paris, Le Félin, 2004. nglish translation: ''Democracy against the State: Marx and the Machiavellian Moment'', Cambridge, Polity, 2011 *''Rire des lois, du magistrat et des dieux : l'impulsion Saint-just'', Lyon, Horlieu, 2005. *'' Hannah Arendt contre la philosophie politique ?'', Paris, Sens & Tonka, 2006. *'' Maximilien Rubel, pour redécouvrir Marx'', in collaboration with Louis Janover, Paris, Sens & Tonka, 2008. *''Pour une philosophie politique critique'', Paris, Sens & Tonka, 2009. *''L'Homme est un animal utopique / Utopiques II'', Arles, Les Editions de La Nuit, 2010. *''Le Procès des maîtres rêveurs (nouvelle édition augmentée) / Utopiques I'', Arles, Les Editions de La Nuit, 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abensour, Miguel 1939 births 2017 deaths 20th-century French philosophers French political scientists Academic staff of the University of Paris French male non-fiction writers