Books & Ideas is the English-language mirror website of La Vie des Idées, a free online journal which has gained a large readership and established itself in France as a major place for intellectual debate since 2007.
Can one philosophize as a feminist when the history of philosophy is so gendered? Yes—but this requires paying close attention to the positions that traverse and often constitute it.
Étienne Anheim and Paul Pasquali examine a key moment in interdisciplinary dialogue: Pierre Bourdieu’s translation and editing of the art historian Erwin Panofsky.
Bernard Manin sees Montesquieu as a political philosopher who was attentive to the plurality of political forms and the way that such pluralism can, in moderate regimes, prevent the abuse of power. This is why it is important, he explains, to keep reading this Enlightenment philosopher.
About: Pierre Charbonnier, Vers l’écologie de guerre, La Découverte
About: Geneviève Verdo, Des peuples en mal d’union. Aux origines de l’Argentine, Flammarion
About: Denis Crouzet, Paris criminel. 1572, Les Belles Lettres
The female silhouette – understood as the body’s visible form and socially perceived appearance – has long been shaped by social norms. In the age of social media, these norms are intensifying, prompting, in response, the rise of so-called “body-positive” movements.
A rumour is circulating in some African countries: the French state is organising penis thefts to offset declining fertility. The rumour, spread by Russian propaganda, has become fake news.
The American sociologist Harrison White made a vital contribution to the development of social network analysis. Besides his work in this field, his theoretical synthesis and his understanding of social formations have influenced a variety of fields such as the sociology of art and economic sociology.
Is there still room for hope at the White House?
Our Books and Ideas dossier on the American presidential elections will make no forecasts - instead it will look back on four years of Democratic leadership at the White House and four years of right-wing radicalization inside and outside of the G.O.P. Whoever wins will have to deal with the Tea Party, and the record shows it will not be easy for anyone.
Books & Ideas is going on holiday for the summer, and will resume its publication schedule in September. In the meantime, we present you with a weekly roundup of our most recent essays and reviews. Our second summer selection features portraits of prominent intellectual figures: Albert Camus, René Dumont, Ronald Dworkin, Joan W. Scott and Max Weber.
Umberto Eco is best known to the general public for his novels and critical works in which he developed his theory of reception. Who realizes, however, that this aspect of his work is only one part of a general semiology organized around a philosophy of signs?
By asserting that structuralism is a fruitful approach to kinship relations or the difference between the sexes, Françoise Héritier radically renewed anthropological methodology. Her life’s work has also shown us that scientific commitment goes hand-in-hand with societal involvement.
What distinguishes a blank canvas from an empty frame? A simple object from a readymade? What is this mysterious gap that art digs as it separates from life? Such are the questions posed by Arthur Danto, a major figure of contemporary art theory.
Depuis une dizaine d’années, les programmes d’éducation musicale sont souvent justifiés par l’idée qu’ils pourraient favoriser les apprentissages scolaires. L’évaluation d’un programme d’apprentissage intensif du violon dans l’éducation prioritaire invite pourtant à nuancer ces attentes.
D. Boullier cherche à comprendre ce que deviennent nos capacités de penser, de juger, de créer et d’agir à l’heure de l’expansion tous azimuts de l’IA générative. Bien que de nature anthropologique, cette révolution ne doit pas se faire contre l’humain.
Dans une synthèse ambitieuse et parfois déroutante, H. Bozarslan retrace la circulation des pratiques révolutionnaires de gauche à droite et cherche, dans les « révolutions de droite », une clé de compréhension des autoritarismes contemporains.
À propos de : Vincent Azoulay, Ostracisme ! Du bon usage de l’arbitraire en démocratie, éditions de l’EHESS
À propos de : Steeves Demazeux, Misère de la psychiatrie, Puf
À propos de : Thomas Brisson, La désoccidentalisation des savoirs, La Découverte
