José Gil (born 15 June 1939 Muecate,

Portuguese Mozambique Portuguese Mozambique () or Portuguese East Africa () were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese overseas province. Portuguese Mozambique originally constituted a str ...

) is a Portuguese philosopher. In his youth he lived in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, but his experiences under António Salazar's 1933-1974

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

ship, made him decide to study in a free country. He moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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where in 1982 he got his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the University of Paris ( Université de Vincennes à Saint-Denis) where he researched on the body as a power field under the supervision of

François Châtelet Michel François Jacques Châtelet (; April 27, 1925 – December 26, 1985) was a historian of philosophy and political philosophy, philosopher and professor in the socratic tradition. He was the husband of philosopher Noëlle Châtelet. Châ ...

. There he attended

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 ...

's classes whose influence on his thinking was decisive. Between 1986 and 1989 he conducted an original research project on the aesthetics of

Fernando Pessoa Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra Pessoa (; ; 13 June 1888 – 30 November 1935) was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, and publisher. He has been described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th c ...

, at the Collège International de Philosophie, where he directed a program. He wrote several books prior to 1983 but when "Portugal, Today: Fear of Existing" (''Portugal, Hoje: O Medo de Existir'', Lisboa: Relógio d'Água) was published in November 2004, there was a massive response. The book describes, in a way considered by some to be very accurate, what is to be Portuguese and how Portuguese people perceive themselves, other people and the world, thus helping to establish what it is to be "Portuguese" and related identities. The fact that the book was a success enabled the Portuguese to share a public awareness of the problem which may be relevant to helping to solve it. The following month, December 2004, ''

Le Nouvel Observateur (), previously known as (2014–2024), (1964–2014), (1954–1964), (1953–1954), and (1950–1953), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, ' is one of the three most prominent French news magazines ...

'' named him one of the 25 Great Thinkers of the contemporary world along with

Richard Rorty Richard McKay Rorty (October 4, 1931 – June 8, 2007) was an American philosopher, historian of ideas, and public intellectual. Educated at the University of Chicago and Yale University, Rorty's academic career included appointments as the Stu ...

Peter Sloterdijk Peter Sloterdijk (; ; born 26 June 1947) is a German philosopher and cultural theorist. He was a professor of philosophy and media theory at and Rector from 2001 to 2015 of the University of Art and Design Karlsruhe. He co-hosted the German tel ...

Toni Negri Antonio Negri (; ; 1 August 1933 – 16 December 2023) was an Italian political philosopher known as one of the most prominent theorists of autonomism, as well as for his co-authorship of ''Empire (Hardt and Negri book), Empire'' with Michae ...

and

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...

. For several years he has taught courses on

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

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

Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...

Universidade Nova de Lisboa NOVA University Lisbon (, ), or just NOVA, is a Portuguese public university whose rectorate is located in Campolide, Lisbon. Founded in 1973, it is the newest of the public universities in the Portuguese capital city, earning its name as the " ...

, Department of

Philosophy 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 also writes for several Portuguese and foreign magazines. The academic year 2008/ 2009 brought his teaching career to an end. In 2008 he has published two books: one on Deleuze's philosophy (The Imperceptible Becoming of Immanence/ ''O Imperceptível Devir da Imanência'', Lisboa: Relógio d'Água); and a second one, a fictional work, "At noon, the birds" (ao meio-dia, os pássaros, Lisboa: Relógio d'Água).

Works

* 1983: ''La Crucifiée'', Éditions de la Différence. * 1983: ''Un'Antropologia delle Forze'', Einaudi.''in'' José Gil, ''Portugal, Hoje: O Medo de Existir'', Relógio d'Água, Lisboa, Março de 2005 (6.ª reimpressão). * 1984: ''La Corse, entre la liberté et la terreur – Étude sur la dynamique des systèmes politiques corses'', Éditions de la Différence (2.ª edição: 1991). * 1985: ''Métamorphoses du corps'', Éditions de la Différence. 'As Metamorfoses do corpo'', 1980.* 1986: ''A Crucificada'', Relógio d'Água. * 1987: ''

ou a Metafisica das Sensações'', Relógio d'Água. * 1988: ''

ou la métaphysique des sensations'', Éditions de la Différence. * 1988: ''Corpo, Espaço e Poder'', Litoral Edições. * 1990: ''Cemitério dos Desejos'', Relógio d'Água. * 1990: ''Cimetière des Plaisirs'', Éditions de la Différence. * 1994: ''O Espaço Interior'', Presença. * 1994: ''Os Monstros'', Quetzal. * 1995: ''Salazar: a Retórica da Invisibilidade'', Relógio d'Água. * 1996: ''A Imagem-Nua e as Pequenas Percepções'', Relógio d'Água. * 1997: ''Metamorfoses do Corpo'', Relógio d'Água. * * 1999: ''Diferença e Negação na Poesia de Fernando Pessoa'', Relógio d'Água. * 2001: ''Movimento Total – O Corpo e a Dança'', Relógio d'Água. * 2003: ''A Profundidade e a Superfície – Ensaio sobre o Principezinho de Saint-Exupéry'', Relógio d'Água. * 2004: ''Portugal, Hoje: O Medo de Existir'', Relógio d'Água, Lisboa, Novembro de 2004. * 2005: ''Sem Título – Escritos sobre Arte e Artistas'', Relógio d'Água.

Sources

* http://www.relogiodagua.pt/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gil, Jose Portuguese philosophers Living people 1939 births