Louis Lavelle

Louis Lavelle (French: [lavɛl]; July 15, 1883 – September 1, 1951) was a French philosopher, considered one of the greatest French metaphysicians of the twentieth century.[3] His magnum opus, La Dialectique de l'éternel présent (1922), is a systematic metaphysical work. Lavelle's other principal works include De l'Être (1928), De l'Acte (1937), Du Temps et de l'Eternité (1945), and De l'Âme Humaine (1951).

Louis Lavelle
Louis Lavelle
BornJuly 15, 1883
Saint-Martin-de-Villeréal
DiedSeptember 1, 1951 (1951-10) (aged 68)
Parranquet
Era20th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolContinental philosophy
French spiritualism
Main interests
Metaphysics, ethics
Notable ideas
Classification of values, participation in the Absolute (participation à l'Absolu)

In his works, Lavelle dealt with themes such as axiology, aesthetics, the problem of evil, morality,[4] and freedom of the spirit. Lavelle was a member of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques.

Biography

Louis Lavelle was born in France in 1883 and died there in 1951. He was Professor at the College de France; at the Sorbonne; and lectured at German, Italian, Swiss, Belgian and Dutch universities. In 1947 he was recognized for his many philosophical and religious writings, and named to the Académie des sciences morales et politiques.[5]

Reception

Lavelle's work has not aroused much interest, both in the editorial and academic fields.[6][7][8] Although he was recognized by some of the greatest French philosophers of the 20th century, such as Merleau-Ponty,[9] Gilles Deleuze,[4] Paul Ricœur[6] and Pierre Hadot,[10] Lavelle has not been studied in France. The first articles dedicated to him come from Italian and Brazilian interpreters.[8]

There is also an attempt to spread the Lavellian philosophy, thanks to efforts by names like Alexis Klimov, Jean École, Jean-Louis Vieillard-Baron, Michel Adam and Bruno Pinchard, whose promote annual conferences on the work of the author.[11]

Major publications
Original French

Lavelle's other writings include La dialectique du monde sensible: La perception visuelle de la profondeur (1921), La conscience de soi (1933), La présence totale (1934), L'Erreur de Narcisse (1939), Le Mal et la Souffrance (1940), La Parole et l'Écriture (1947), and Les puissances du Moi (1948).

Selected translations of works by Lavelle
  • There is a complete translation of La présence totale (The Total Presence) by Bruno Campello, and selected chapters of De l’Acte (Of the Act), Du temps et de l’éternité (Of Time and Eternity) and De l’âme humaine (Of the Human Soul), together with a long introduction to the work of Lavelle, can be found in The Act of Presence by Robert Jones. Both is presented in full on the website of the Association Louis Lavelle (http://association-lavelle.chez-alice.fr) under « Traductions ».
Analyses and critiques in English
  • James Collins published the article "Louis Lavelle on Human Participation" in The Philosophical Review vol 56, no. 2 (1947): 156–83.
  • Walter J. Ong works with a sound/sight contrast throughout Ramus, Method, and the Decay of Dialogue: From the Art of Discourse to the Art of Reason (1958, 3rd ed. 2004), which he credits largely to Lavelle: "For a discerning and profound treatment of the visual-aural opposition on which the present discussion turns, the reader is referred to the works of Louis Lavelle, especially La parole et l'ecriture (Paris, 1942), and Jean Nogue, Esquisse d'un système des qualités sensibles (Paris, 1943)" (p. 338n.54).
  • Colin Smith devotes a chapter to discussing Lavelle's work in Contemporary French Philosophy: A Study in Norms and Values (1964, pp. 47–74).
  • Marvin Farber includes an essay by Lavelle in the collection Philosophic Thought in France and the United States: Essays Representing Major Trends in Contemporary French and American Philosophy (1968, pp. 121–35).
Analyses and critiques in French
  • Bechara Sargi, La Participation à l'être dans la philosophie de Louis Lavelle, Éditions Beauchesne, Paris, 1957.

See also

References
  1. Louis Lavelle, "Maine de Biran l'homme et la philosophie." In: Bulletin de l'Association Guillaume Budé, Paris, Dec. 1949, pp. 75–85.
  3. "Intitulé de l'unité documentaire Fonds Lavelle, Louis" (in French). Collège de France.
  4. Gilles Deleuze. Southern Notebooks, XLII (in French) (No 334, April 1955 ed.). p. 499–500.
  5. Louis Lavelle, Evil and Suffering, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1963. Originally published in 1940 as Le mal et la suffrance.
  6. Paul Ricœur apud Tarcísio Padilha (2012). The Total Presence , Essays Gathered. p. 287. ... around Louis Lavelle's work, his perfect style, his Spinozist serenity, a kind of respectful and painful silence that happened in France, the young people don't even read it and the older ones discuss, preferably, less perfect, but more incisive for their taste, which often made them inattentive or disinterested in the philosopher's immense plan of being; it was natural; it is certainly not sustainable; when time has reduced his reputation, the true magnitudes will be reclassified; I am convinced that Louis Lavelle, at the end of this test, will be widely recognized.
  7. Ferreira, Januário Torgal, Title: Anthropological Thought and Louis Lavelle, Editor: Porto : Universidade do Port. Faculdade de Letras, Publication date: 1971, Universidade do Porto, available at
  8. Homenagem a Louis Lavelle no 1º Centenário de seu nascimento, Centro Dom Vital, A Ordem , 1983, Tarcísio Padilha
  9. Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Éloge de la philosophie et autres essais, s. l., Gallimard [1997], p. 17
  10. HADOT Pierre, «Préface» a LAVELLE Louis, L’existence et la valeur, Paris, Collège de France, 1991, p. 12
  11. COLLOQUE LOUIS LAVELLE
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