André Comte-Sponville
André Comte-Sponville (born March 12, 1952 in Paris ) is a French philosopher . He was a professor at the Sorbonne until 1998 and now works as a freelance writer .
Life
Comte-Sponville studied philosophy at the École normal supérieure and was appointed to the National Ethics Council ( Comité consultatif national d'éthique ) in 2008 . He was best known in Germany for his commitment to atheism .
theses
Comte-Sponville argues against the existence of God , but finds many attitudes of faith essential for human coexistence (see: What does an atheist believe in? ) And thus ties in with the tradition of Theophrastus redivivus , who appeared anonymously in 1659 .
In encouragement to live out of date, he explains theories of classical philosophy and connects them with current topics. In the chapter on love he takes up the ideas from Plato's symposium . From the arguments of Socrates he develops his conception of Eros as the desire of what is deprived. Then he comes to agape via philia (the enjoyable love of what is there) . For him it is represented most ideally in the Christian symbol of the death on the cross, whereby he considers the “pity” of Buddhism to be the more pragmatic variant. Then he argues with Simone Weil : if God, who is “everything”, has allowed our existence out of love, then this can only be done by withdrawing. The agape of God, i.e. his complete devotion to us, abolish him himself. Since there are religious traditions such as Buddhism which, according to Comte-Sponville, can completely do without a god, we too could do without a god.
Work (selection)
- Encouragement to live out of time. A small breviary of virtues and values (2010, first publication 1996), ISBN 3-499-62599-7
- What does an atheist believe in? Spirituality without God (2008), ISBN 3-257-06658-9 (French original edition 2006)
- Can capitalism be moral? (2009), ISBN 978-3-257-06738-5
- Happiness is the goal, Philosophy the way (2010), ISBN 978-3-257-24191-4
- Love, A Little Philosophy , (2014) First essay from: Le sexe ni la mort, ISBN 978-3-257-06890-0
- Sex, Eine kleine Philosophie , (2015) Second essay from: Le sexe ni la mort, ISBN 978-3-257-06924-2
Web links
- Literature by and about André Comte-Sponville in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Comte-Sponville, André |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French philosopher |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 12, 1952 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |