Gaston Berger (; 1 October 1896 – 13 November 1960) was a French

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futures studies or futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities ...

but also an industrialist, a philosopher and a state manager. He is mainly known for his remarkably lucid analysis of

Edmund Husserl Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (; 8 April 1859 – 27 April 1938) was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology. In his early work, he elaborated critiques of histori ...

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� ...

and for his studies on the

character structure A character structure is a system of secondary traits manifested in the specific ways that an individual relates and reacts to others, to various kinds of stimuli, and to the environment. A child whose nurture and/or education cause them to ha ...

Life and career

Berger was born in

Saint-Louis, Senegal Saint-Louis () or Saint Louis (), is the capital of Senegal's Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and north of Senegal's capital city Dakar. It had a population of 254,171 in 2023. Saint-L ...

French West Africa French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...

(now

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

). He received his primary and part of his secondary education in

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

, France, and had to take up a position in an industrial firm. After having performed his military duties in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he became an associate of the owner of the firm. Berger decided to continue his studies. He worked with Rene Le Senne and passed his baccalaureat. He then enrolled in the

University of Aix-en-Provence Aix-Marseille University (AMU; ; formally incorporated as ) is a public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II of Anjou, Count of Provence, petitioned the Pisan Antipope Alexan ...

, where he studied philosophy under

Maurice Blondel Maurice Blondel (; ; 2 November 1861 – 4 June 1949) was a French philosopher, whose most influential works, notably ''L'Action'', aimed at establishing the correct relationship between autonomous philosophical reasoning and Christian belief. ...

. Having passed his licence exam, he obtained a graduation certificate with a thesis on the "Relations between the conditions of intelligibility on the one hand and the problem of contingency on the other hand." In 1926 Berger founded in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, together with some friends, the Société des études philosophiques du Sud-Est and its periodical '. In 1938 he organized the first Congress of French-Language Philosophical Societies. In 1941 he submitted his two PhD theses, the first entitled "Investigations on the conditions of knowledge: Essay on pure theoretics", and the second "The 'Cogito' in Husserl's philosophy." Berger then left his industrial firm and became first a , then a

Maitre de Conferences The following summarizes basic academic ranks in the French higher education system. Most academic institutions are state-run and most academics with permanent positions are civil servants, and thus are tenured (after a one-year probationary perio ...

for philosophy at the University of Aix-en Provence. In 1944 he became full professor. In 1949 he became secretary general of the

Fulbright Commission The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

, in charge of the cultural relations between France and the United States. After managing a fertilizer plant during the 1930s, he created in Paris the ''Centre Universitaire International et des Centres de Prospective'' and directed the philosophical studies department. The term ''prospective'', invented by Gaston Berger, is the study of the possible futures. From 1953 to 1960 he was in charge of the tertiary education at the Minister of National Education and modernised the French universities system. He was elected at 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 1955. In 1957 he founded the journal ''Prospective'' and the homonym centre with . This same year he created the

Institut national des sciences appliquées The Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (, INSA; "National Institute for Applied Sciences") is a French engineering university. There are seven INSA establishments organised as a network and located in major French regional cities Lyon, ...

(INSA) of

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

with the rector Jean Capelle.

Personal life & Legacy

He was the father of the French choreographer

Maurice Béjart Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French dancer, choreographer and Theatre director, opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, tac ...

(1927–2007), a stage name for Maurice-Jean Berger. The university of Saint-Louis, Senegal, where he was born, is named after him.

Main works

* Recherches sur les conditions de la connaissance, Paris, PUF, 1941 * Le Cogito dans la philosophie de Husserl, Paris, Aubier, 1941 * Traité pratique d’analyse du caractère, Paris, PUF, 1950 * Questionnaire caractérologique, PUF, Paris, 1950 * Caractère et personnalité, Paris, PUF, 1954

External links

Biography in French

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Gaston 1896 births 1960 deaths 20th-century French philosophers Phenomenologists French industrialists Futurologists Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques French male writers 20th-century French male writers French people in French Senegal