Author: Giovanni Ryffel
Giovanni Ryffel

GIOVANNI RYFFEL

What poetry does

What poetry does

Modern poetry. Incomprehensible? What if a one-thousand-and-five-hundred-year-old author gave us the opportunity to receive the gifts extended by Baudelaire or Bonnefoy? Here are some thoughts on the meaning of the poetic word, based on Augustine of Hippo.
The other and his difference

The other and his difference

Are we sure we want this fabulous encounter with the other «as other»? We have to admit that we are often committed to this notion of otherness. The aim is positive: to promote fraternity and non-violence. Yet the notion of otherness is far from easy. Before we get into a political discussion with broken chairs on our backs, let's see if we can't highlight a few paradoxes which, we hope, will be the occasion for more careful reflection.
The frustration machine

The frustration machine

The individualism that has worried sociologists for some decades now is merely the collective reflection of a highly targeted strategy. Not that advertisers do this in bad faith. Quite simply: it works.
What lies behind a city's wrinkles?

What lies behind a city's wrinkles?

LONG FORMAT ARTICLE | Beauty is promised by tourist agencies as a balm to soothe the neuroses of a life of frenetic offices, fast food and stress. Vacations, then, are the only bright spot in contemporary life: they're almost the exiguous drop in the bucket that the rich man in hell demands. But does the entertainment promised when we visit Porto, Split or Venice allow us to truly taste the beauty we're hoping for? And if we quench our thirst with this water, what will we leave to those who grew up near this source?
Philosophy? One, undisciplined, without art or share

Philosophy? One, undisciplined, without art or share

In the age of the triumph of technology, we love specialization. Happiness can almost be equated with being the only expert in a discipline, even if it's the Rubik's Cube. In this context, philosophy seems to be at a loss: the discipline that used to teach how to ask questions about all other disciplines, is it now nothing more than a vague discourse on a little bit of everything and, ultimately, a little bit of nothing? Should it then betray its original vocation and become just another specialized discipline, as is already the case in many universities?
Intellectuals, we're going to have a blast!

Intellectuals, we're going to have a blast!

ARTICLE LONG FORMAT, Giovanni F. Ryffel | Le monde des scientifiques et celui des humanistes: deux mondes séparés? Les premiers ignorent souvent d’être des intellectuels malgré eux, comme le disait Sartre, tandis que les seconds sont facilement réduits à la seule catégorie de «littéraires», comme si les autres disciplines n’existaient guère. Mais comment en est-on arrivé là? Cette distinction est-elle la seule possible?