000			02857nam a2200253 a 4500
001			041883
005			20231009193509.0
008			160204s20152015nyu 001 0 eng
020			_a9780465032495
050	0	0	_aB1801 _b.H39 2015
082	1		_a194 HAZ _2
100	1		_aHazareesingh, Sudhir
245	1	0	_aHow the French think : _ban affectionate portrait of an intellectual people _c/ Sudhir Hazareesingh.
260			_aNew York _b: Basic Books _c, 2015
300			_a338 pages _c; 25 cm
500			_aIncludes index.
505	0		_aA yearning towards universality -- The skull of Descartes -- Darkness and light -- Landscapes of Utopia -- The ideals of science -- To the left, and to the right -- The sum of their parts -- Interlude: new paths to the present -- Freedom and domination -- Writing for everybody -- The end of history -- The closing of the French mind -- Anxiety and optimism.
520	3		_aWhy are the French such an exceptional nation? Why do they think they are so exceptional? The French take pride in the fact that their history and culture have decisively shaped the values and ideals of the modern world. French ideas are no less distinct in their form: while French thought is abstract, stylish and often opaque, it has always been bold and creative, and driven by the relentless pursuit of innovation. In How the French Think , the historian Sudhir Hazareesingh tells the epic and tumultuous story of French intellectual thought from Descartes, Rousseau, and Auguste Comte to Sartre, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Derrida. He shows how French thinking has shaped fundamental Westerns ideas about freedom, rationality, and justice, and how the French mind-set is intimately connected to their own way of life - in particular to the French tendency towards individualism, their passion for nature, their celebration of their historical heritage, and their fascination with death. Hazareesingh explores the French veneration of dissent and skepticism, from Voltaire to the Dreyfus Affair and beyond; the obsession with the protection of French language and culture; the rhetorical flair embodied by the philosophes , which today's intellectuals still try to recapture; the astonishing influence of French postmodern thinkers, including Foucault and Barthes, on postwar American education and life, and also the growing French anxiety about a globalized world order under American hegemony. How the French Think sweeps aside generalizations and easy stereotypes to offer an incisive and revealing exploration of the French intellectual tradition. Steeped in a colorful range of sources, and written with warmth and humor, this book will appeal to all lovers of France and of European culture.
546			_aEnglish.
650		4	_aPhilosophy, French
651		4	_aFrance _x-Intellectual life
942			_cMO
999			_c273665 _d273665