Twentieth-Century French Philosophy Key Themes and Thinkers

To understand the evolution of recent French thought, both the philosophical debates and the figures behind them must be examined. This unique book addresses positions such as vitalism, neo-Kantianism, phenomenology, existentialism, Marxism, structuralism, and feminism, and provides concise biographies of the influential philosophers who shaped these movements, including entries on over eighty thinkers. The discussion and cross-referencing of ideas and figures, together with an appendix on the distinctive nature of French academic culture, provide readers with an unparalleled resource for coming to grips with recent French philosophy in a single engaging and concise text.

Alan D. Schrift is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Grinnell College Center for the Humanities. He is the author of Nietzsche and the Question of Interpretation: Between Hermeneutics and Deconstruction (1990), Nietzsche's French Legacy: A Genealogy of Poststructuralism (1995), Modernity and the Problem of Evil (2005), and the editor of six collections of essays, including The Logic of Gift: Toward an Ethic of Generosity (1997).