Bernard Bourgeois (; September 2, 1929 – March 26, 2024) was a French

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 ...

. He was a member of

Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, and he was its president in 2014. He was a specialist in the history of modern

German philosophy German philosophy, meaning philosophy in the German language or philosophy by German people, in its diversity, is fundamental for both the analytic and continental traditions. It covers figures such as Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Immanuel Kant, ...

, from

Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, et ...

Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

, and in particular

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...

, several of whose works he translated into the French language. His fields of study include

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

and

dialectics Dialectic (; ), also known as the dialectical method, refers originally to dialogue between people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to arrive at the truth through reasoned argument. Dialectic resembles debate, but the ...

reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...

and

political law Political law (or political activity law) is an established legal practice area encompassing the intersection of politics and law. Political law comprises election law, voting rights law, campaign finance law, laws governing lobbying and lobbyists, ...

, the

philosophy of history Philosophy of history is the philosophy, philosophical study of history and its academic discipline, discipline. The term was coined by the French philosopher Voltaire. In contemporary philosophy a distinction has developed between the ''specul ...

, the relationship between religion and philosophy, and

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

Biography

Bernard Bourgeois graduated from the

École normale supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

in 1951. He received his agrégation in philosophy in 1954. After his military service as a rifle officer in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

(1954–1957), he taught at the

Lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically Anglicization, anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home t ...

from 1957 to 1963. He then taught at the Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences humaines de Lyon. He obtained his doctorate from

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

in 1972, and went on to become a professor at the University of Lyon 2, then the University of Lyon-III until 1989. In March 1979, he was elected vice-president of teaching at Lyon-III, and expressed his concerns about the university's situation. In 1989, he was elected professor at the

Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University (), also known as Paris 1 (or Paris I) and Panthéon-Sorbonne University (or, together with Sorbonne University and Sorbonne Nouvelle University, simply as the Sorbonne), is a Public university, public rese ...

. At the same time, he assumed numerous institutional responsibilities as dean of the Faculty of Lyon, member of the Conseil national des universités, member of the French Commission for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. From 1991 to 2010 he chaired the

Société française de philosophie Groupe Lactalis S.A. (doing business as Lactalis) is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier S.A. Lactalis is the largest dairy pr ...

. He was also director of the ''

Revue de métaphysique et de morale The ''Revue de métaphysique et de morale'' is a French philosophy journal co-founded in 1893 by Léon Brunschvicg, Xavier Léon and Élie Halévy. The journal initially appeared six times a year, but since 1920 has been published quarterly. I ...

'', and has been a member of the Board of Directors of "Fondation Ostad Elahi – éthique et solidarité humaine" since its creation in 2000. As an

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

, he was elected on December 2, 2002, to the

Académie des sciences morales et politiques An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in the philosophy section, to Olivier Lacombe's chair. He was delegated to the Séance solennelle des Cinq Académies in 2008, and presided over the Académie in 2014..

Bourgeois and Hegel

Bernard Bourgeois's work on Hegel's philosophy is situated within the problematics of twentieth-century French philosophy inaugurated by

Jean Wahl Jean André Wahl (; 25 May 1888 – 19 June 1974) was a French philosopher. Early career Wahl was educated at the École Normale Supérieure. He was a professor at the Sorbonne from 1936 to 1967, broken by World War II. He was in the United Sta ...

and

Alexandre Kojève Alexandre Kojève (born Aleksandr Vladimirovich Kozhevnikov; 28 April 1902 – 4 June 1968) was a Russian-born French philosopher and international civil service, civil servant whose philosophical seminars had some influence on 20th-century Frenc ...

, and continued with

Jean Hyppolite Jean Hyppolite (; 8 January 1907 – 26 October 1968) was a French philosopher known for championing the work of G. W. F. Hegel, and other German philosophers, and educating some of France's most prominent post-war thinkers. His major works in ...

. At the time, Hegel was a dominant philosophical figure around whom several philosophical currents –

existentialism Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and valu ...

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839� ...

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

and soon

deconstruction In philosophy, deconstruction is a loosely-defined set of approaches to understand the relationship between text and meaning. The concept of deconstruction was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who described it as a turn away from ...

–crystallized.. Bourgeois saw Hegelianism not as an antecedent of Marxism, but contrary to Marxism as a parenthesis of history, as the philosophy of freedom. He began a polemic against

Francis Fukuyama Francis Yoshihiro Fukuyama (; born October 27, 1952) is an American political scientist, political economist, and international relations scholar, best known for his book '' The End of History and the Last Man'' (1992). In this work he argues th ...

's doctrine of the

end of history The end of history is a political and philosophical concept that supposes that a particular political, economic, or social system may develop that would constitute the end-point of humanity's sociocultural evolution and the final form of human go ...

, which sees

liberal democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...

as the end point of humanity's ideological evolution.Voir ''La Raison moderne et le droit politique'', Paris, Vrin, 2000

Honors

Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Chevalier de l'ordre des Palmes académiques Chevalier may refer to: Honours Belgium * a rank in the Belgian Order of the Crown * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold II * a title in the Belgian nobility France * a rank in the French Legion d'h ...

Publications

* ''L’idéalisme de Fichte'', Paris, PUF, 1968 (réédition Vrin, 1985) * ''La pensée politique de Hegel'', Paris, PUF, 1969 * ''Hegel à Francfort ou Judaïsme, Christianisme, Hégélianisme'', Paris, Vrin, 1970 * ''Le droit naturel de Hegel. Commentaire'', Paris, Vrin, 1986 * ''Philosophie et droits de l’homme'', Paris, PUF, 1990 * ''Éternité et historicité de l’Esprit selon Hegel'', Paris, Vrin, 1991 * ''Études hégéliennes. Raison et décision'', Paris, PUF, 1992 * ''La philosophie allemande classique'', Paris, PUF, 1995 * ''Hegel'', Paris, Ellipses, 1998 * ''Fichte'', Paris, Ellipses, 2000 * ''Le vocabulaire de Fichte'', Paris, Ellipses, 2000 * ''Le vocabulaire de Hegel'', Paris, Ellipses, 2000 * ''L’idéalisme allemand : Alternatives et progrès'', Paris, Vrin, 2000 * ''La raison moderne et le droit politique'', Paris, Vrin, 2000 * ''Hegel. Les actes de l’Esprit'', Paris, Vrin, 2001 * ''Les sciences morales et politiques'' ous la dir. de Paris, Hermann, 2016 * ''Sept questions politiques du jour'', Paris, Vrin, 2017 * ''Penser l’histoire du présent avec Hegel,'' Paris, Vrin, 2017 * ''Sur l’histoire ou la politique,'' Paris, Vrin, 2018 * ''Pour Hegel,'' Paris, Vrin, 2019

Translations

* ''Hegel, Encyclopédie des sciences philosophiques, I : La science de la logique'', Paris, Vrin, 1970 * ''Hegel, Des manières de traiter scientifiquement du droit naturel'', Paris, Vrin, 1972 * ''Hegel, Textes pédagogiques'', Paris, Vrin, 1978 * ''Hegel, Encyclopédie des sciences philosophiques, III : Philosophie de l’esprit'', Paris, Vrin, 1988 * ''Hegel, Concepts préliminaires de l’Encyclopédie des sciences philosophiques'', Paris, Vrin, 1994 * ''Hegel, Préface. Introduction à la Phénoménologie de l’Esprit'', Paris, Vrin, 1997 * ''Hegel, Encyclopédie des sciences philosophiques, II : Philosophie de la Nature'', Paris, Vrin, 2004 * ''Hegel, Phénoménologie de l'Esprit'', Paris, Vrin, 2006 * ''Hegel, Science de la logique, I : L'Être'', Paris, Vrin, 2015 * ''Hegel, Science de la logique, II : L'essence'', Paris, Vrin, 2016 * ''Hegel, Science de la logique, III : Le concept'', Paris, Vrin, 2016

Notes and references

Sources

External links

* Research resources
Académie des sciences morales et politiques
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Persée
* Entries in dictionaries or general encyclopedias

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Who's Who in France
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourgeois, Bernard Chevaliers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques Hegelian philosophers École Normale Supérieure alumni Academic staff of Pantheon-Sorbonne University 21st-century French philosophers 20th-century French philosophers Hegel scholars

Biography

Bourgeois and Hegel

Honors

Publications

Translations

See also

Notes and references

Sources

Further reading

Tributes

Studies

External links