Contemporary French Thought: Fifty Years (Volumes 1 and 2)

Author: Gao Xuanhang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-11-01
Features: Since the emergence of modern civilization, French thought has held a unique position in the treasure trove of world culture due to its profound philosophical foundations. Similarly, a review of the development of contemporary French thought over the past five decades reveals that it continues to serve as a crucial foundation for the development of contemporary world civilization and its theoretical thought. Introducing contemporary French thought to China, as stated by the president of the French Philosophy Society, Jacques Dant, is "unparalleled in finding anyone better to depict it." If the 18th-century Enlightenment in France was once the theoretical source and "philosophical introduction" for the intellectual revolution of modern capitalist society and culture, then at the pivotal moment when human history enters the 21st century, contemporary French thought has once again honorably become the primary driving force behind the radical reconstruction of Western culture and a "philosophical introduction." The contemporary French thought movement that took place from the second half of the 20th century to the end of the century was not merely a simple continuation or imitation of the "second Enlightenment," but rather, its creativity and thoroughness were nothing short of a genuine "anti-Enlightenment," a "post-Enlightenment" that challenged the direction of the "second Enlightenment." Contemporary French thought has almost become an important spiritual pillar and intellectual foundation for all the major transformations that have occurred in Europe and the entire Western culture and its fundamental theories in the contemporary era. During this period, various theoretical trends such as psychoanalysis, existentialism, neo-Marxism, semiotics, hermeneutics, structuralism, post-structuralism, deconstruction, constructivism, neo-feminism, and postmodernism emerged one after another, forming a free and creative landscape of intellectual discourse. Contemporary French thought is a collective intellectual product created and continuously enriched by a group of outstanding French thinkers and excellent French intellectuals. The significant historical significance embodied by the luminous names of Lévi-Strauss, Lacan, Roland Barthes, Foucault, Derrida, Lyotard, Baudrillard, Bourdieu, Ricoeur, and Deleuze, as well as their contributions to the entire world civilization, are self-evident. This book aims to present the evolution of French thought from the mid-20th century to the beginning of the 21st century, including its themes of thought, modes of thinking, debates, reconstructions, and the formation and practical effects of various inspiring and important intellectual perspectives that emerged from it. Over more than two decades of living, studying, and researching in France, the author has been deeply immersed in French thought and culture, interacting with French thinkers. Introducing contemporary French thought to China, as stated by the president of the French Philosophy Society, Jacques Dant, is "unparalleled in finding anyone better to depict it."