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Our cookie policy has changed. Review our cookies policy for more details and to change your cookie preference. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. × More from The Economist My Subscription Log in or register Subscribe World politics Business & finance Economics Science & technology Culture Blogs Debate Multimedia Print edition In this section They think, therefore they are Dipped in controversy Life in the round Men at arms Unbearable lightness Happy birthday, Pierre Reprints Related topics United Nations Philosophy Culture and lifestyle Dominique de Villepin France Jun 13th 2015 | From the print edition French intellectualism They think, therefore they are Why the life of the mind is so important in France How the French Think: An Affectionate Portrait of an Intellectual People. By Sudhir Hazareesingh. Allen Lane; 427 pages; £20. To be published in America by Basic Books in September. IN 2003, as America was gearing up for the invasion of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, a tall Frenchman with a thick silvery mane took the floor at the UN in New York. Dominique de Villepin was then France’s foreign minister, and what marked minds was not only his uncompromising antiwar message, but the way he uttered it: his speech was a magnificent rhetorical appeal to values and ideals. In a deep, silky tone, he spoke for an “old country” that has known war and barbarity but has “never ceased to stand upright in the face of history and before mankind”. As the “guardians of an ideal, the guardians of a conscience”, the UN, like France, he declared, had a duty to plead for disarmament by peaceful means. There was something quintessentially French about this speech, argues Sudhir Hazareesingh, a professor of politics at Oxford University, who opens his impressive new book with the scene. Mr de Villepin’s words combined “seductive masculinity and rhetorical verve” in the best tradition of French public oratory and linguistic elegance. The speech also appealed to reason, abstraction and logic, framed by binary oppositions: conflict and harmony; morality and power. It hinted at the wisdom both of old civilisations and of France, the national embodiment of universal truth born of historical trauma. And it was expressed with the confident optimism generated by an enduring French sense of historical superiority. What is it about the French, asks Mr Hazareesingh, that makes them think and speak like this? France is arguably the world’s most selfconsciously intellectual country. Public thinkers are cherished like national treasures, given airtime on television and column inches in Le Monde. Their counsel is even heeded. BernardHenri Lévy, a Tweet 79 Follow The Economist Latest updates » Nigeria's neglected North: Hard times Middle East and Africa | 40 mins ago June 20th 2015 edition: Pick of our week, in audio International | Jun 19th, 23:14 Charleston and public policy: Why gun control is doomed Democracy in America | Jun 19th, 21:37 Politics: English votes for English Tories Britain | Jun 19th, 14:36 Greece's default deadline: One summit closer Europe | Jun 19th, 12:00 Denmark's election: Tacking right Europe | Jun 19th, 09:13 Helping teens think: Take a chill pill Free exchange | Jun 19th, 09:10 More latest updates » Most commented Comment (120) Timekeeper reading list Email Reprints & permissions Print Crimea's annexation Bad memory Greece and the euro: My big fat Greek divorce Greece and Germany: Irreconcilable differences? Violence in America: Charleston’s terror 1 2 3 4 6.5k Like Next in Books and arts X American Baptists Dipped in controversy The evolution of America’s largest Protestant denomination From the print edition Jun 13th 2015

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  • 20/06/2015 Theythink,thereforetheyare|TheEconomist

    http://www.economist.com/news/booksandarts/21654003whylifemindsoimportantfrancetheythinkthereforetheyare?fsrc=scn/fb/te/pe/ed/theythin 1/3

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    Worldpolitics Business&finance Economics Science&technology Culture Blogs Debate Multimedia Printedition

    Inthissection

    Theythink,thereforetheyare

    Dippedincontroversy

    Lifeintheround

    Menatarms

    Unbearablelightness

    Happybirthday,Pierre

    Reprints

    Relatedtopics

    UnitedNations

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    DominiquedeVillepin

    France

    Jun13th2015| Fromtheprintedition

    Frenchintellectualism

    Theythink,thereforetheyareWhythelifeofthemindissoimportantinFrance

    HowtheFrenchThink:AnAffectionatePortraitofanIntellectualPeople.BySudhirHazareesingh.AllenLane427pages20.TobepublishedinAmericabyBasicBooksinSeptember.

    IN2003,asAmericawasgearingupfortheinvasionofSaddamHusseinsIraq,atallFrenchmanwithathicksilverymanetookthefloorattheUNinNewYork.DominiquedeVillepinwasthenFrancesforeignminister,andwhatmarkedmindswasnotonlyhisuncompromisingantiwarmessage,butthewayheutteredit:hisspeechwasamagnificentrhetoricalappealtovaluesandideals.Inadeep,silkytone,hespokeforanoldcountrythathasknownwarandbarbaritybuthasneverceasedtostanduprightinthefaceofhistoryandbeforemankind.Astheguardiansofanideal,theguardiansofaconscience,theUN,likeFrance,hedeclared,hadadutytopleadfordisarmamentbypeacefulmeans.

    TherewassomethingquintessentiallyFrenchaboutthisspeech,arguesSudhirHazareesingh,aprofessorofpoliticsatOxfordUniversity,whoopenshisimpressivenewbookwiththescene.MrdeVillepinswordscombinedseductivemasculinityandrhetoricalverveinthebesttraditionofFrenchpublicoratoryandlinguisticelegance.Thespeechalsoappealedtoreason,abstractionandlogic,framedbybinaryoppositions:conflictandharmonymoralityandpower.IthintedatthewisdombothofoldcivilisationsandofFrance,thenationalembodimentofuniversaltruthbornofhistoricaltrauma.AnditwasexpressedwiththeconfidentoptimismgeneratedbyanenduringFrenchsenseofhistoricalsuperiority.WhatisitabouttheFrench,asksMrHazareesingh,thatmakesthemthinkandspeaklikethis?

    Franceisarguablytheworldsmostselfconsciouslyintellectualcountry.Publicthinkersarecherishedlikenationaltreasures,givenairtimeontelevisionandcolumninchesinLeMonde.Theircounselisevenheeded.BernardHenriLvy,a

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    FromtheprinteditionJun13th2015

  • 20/06/2015 Theythink,thereforetheyare|TheEconomist

    http://www.economist.com/news/booksandarts/21654003whylifemindsoimportantfrancetheythinkthereforetheyare?fsrc=scn/fb/te/pe/ed/theythin 2/3

    contemporaryphilosopherwithanoutsizedreputation,iscreditedwitharoleinpersuadingNicolasSarkozy,aformerFrenchpresident,tointerveneinLibyain2011.AsayoungerFrenchgenerationdiscoveredtotheirdefiantdelightatamassmarchinParisaftertheterroristattacksonCharlieHebdoinJanuary,Frenchthoughtisnotonlyaboutdrystufftobefoundinphilosophytextbooksitisacentralpartoftheirnationalidentity.

    MrHazareesinghsinquiryispartlyadensecompendiumofsuchthoughtfromRenDescartesonwards.Itisnotaworkforthecasualreader,andeachchapterissopackedwithreferencesandquotationsthatattimesthenarrativeflowsuffers.ButMrHazareesinghsmainpurposeistoexaminehow,ratherthanwhat,theFrenchthink:theframework,codesandreasoningthathavemarkedthecountrysintellectualexpressionoverthepastfourcenturies.

    TheauthordistinguishesfiveelementstoFrenchthinking.Thefirstisthewayhistoryisusedtostructurereasoning,throughconceptssuchasrupture,revolutionandprogress.Secondisthefixationwiththenationandcollectiveidentity,MrdeVillepinsrhetoricbeingafineexample.Thirdistheintensityofpublicdebateaboutideas(Wegossip,wequarrel,weexpendourenergyinwordsweusestronglanguage,andflyintogreatragesoverthesmallestofsubjects,wroteJulesMichelet,aFrenchhistorian,in1846).Fourthistheimportanceofthepublicintellectualasavehiclefordisseminatingsuchideas.Finally,thereistheinterplaybetweenrationalorderandthecreativeimagination.

    Astheauthornotes,manyformsofexpressionconsideredcharacteristicallyFrenchclassicism,beliefinscientificprogressemergedwellbeforethe1789revolutionunderabsolutemonarchy.But,forMrHazareesingh,mostofthefundamentalargumentsamongtheFrenchcontinuedtorevolveinonewayoranotheraround[the]Revolutionaryheritage.Thelongshadowoftherevolutionshapedthefundamentalnotionofrupture:ideas,artisticmovements,theoreticalconstructsorevenpoliticalmovements,aretobedoubted,critiquedanddestroyed.

    Overtime,thisreflexhasbeenasourceofbothcreativity(thenouvellevaguethenouveauroman)andinstability(the1871ParisCommuneMay1968).Theauthormakesthecaseforlongcyclesofthinkingonboththeleftandtheright:20thcenturycommunismandGaullismechoed,respectively,JacobinandBonapartisttraditions.Heisgood,too,onhowrupturehasbothanimatedandfracturedtheleftoverhistory,withtheprevailingbeliefthatpoliticalchangecouldbemeaningfulonlyifitwascomprehensiveandcleansing.RadicalrhetoricstillinformstheSocialistParty,despiteitssplitfromcommunismbackin1920afterdisagreementoverallegiancetoLeninsThirdInternational.

    MrHazareesinghislessconvincingattheendofthebookwhenexaminingthedeclininginfluenceofFrenchthinkingtoday.HerightlynotesalossofconfidencebytheFrenchinthecreativityoftheirthinkerssincetheeraofJacquesDerrida,MichelFoucault,JeanPaulSartreandAlbertCamus.Andheisscathingabouttodaysculturalconservativethinkers,withtheirlinkstoresurgentethnicnationalism.HealsodocumentsthefadinginfluenceofFrenchthoughtontherestoftheworld,thoughhehasoddlylittletosayaboutthebestcounterexample,ThomasPiketty,aneconomistwhosebook,Capitalinthe21stCentury,recentlytookEnglishspeakingcountriesbystorm.Theauthordismisseshisdisciplineasatechnicalfield.

    Despitetheevidencehemarshalstothecontrary,MrHazareesinghseemstonotwanttobelievethatFrenchintellectualinfluenceisinretreat.Francemaynolongerhavegreatthinkers,hewrites,butatleastitstillhaslotsofpeoplewhothinkandpublishlotsofbookseachyear,asifquantitysomehowmakesupforit.Perhapstheauthorisswayedbyanevidentandunderstandableaffectionforthecountryanditsculture.Butasatisfyingexplanationforthisdecline,andforitsaccompanyingcollectivepessimism,deservesanothervolumetoitself.

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  • 20/06/2015 Theythink,thereforetheyare|TheEconomist

    http://www.economist.com/news/booksandarts/21654003whylifemindsoimportantfrancetheythinkthereforetheyare?fsrc=scn/fb/te/pe/ed/theythin 3/3

    CopyrightTheEconomistNewspaperLimited2015.Allrightsreserved.

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