Panorama of contemporary French philosophy

Abstract

As a first step to talk about French philosophy, I begin with a paradox: that which is the most universal ¾philosophy¾ is also, at the same time, the most particular. It is what Hegel calls the concrete universal, the synthesis of what is absolutely universal, which is for everyone, and what at the same time has a particular place and moment. Being absolutely universal, it has national and cultural particularities. There are what I would call moments of philosophy, in space and time. Thus, I would like to support a historical and national thesis: there has been or is, depending on the situation, a French philosophical moment that lasted during the second half of the 20^th century and I would like to try to present the link between all these philosophers and literature in this sequence. And I would also talk about the constant discussion, throughout this period, between philosophy and psychoanalysis. Question of origin, question of operations, question of style and literature, question of psychoanalysis, these will be my means to try to identify this contemporary French philosophy.