Each month, Le Regard Libre presents a philosopher whose thinking differs from, or even runs counter to, certain clichés circulating about him or her. In this article, historian of philosophy Daniel Schulthess explains how Adam Smith's famous concept of the «invisible hand» made him one of the fathers of economics and liberal thought. But our guest editor also shows that Smith, in his work, proposes a different vision of human beings and society than the current proponents of «neo-liberalism», as defined in this article.

ARTICLE LONG FORMAT, Danilo Heyer | On entend souvent ce refrain: «il ne faut être ni pessimiste, ni optimiste, mais réaliste!». Soit, gardons-nous d’édulcorer l’avenir. Bien insuffisante se révèle néanmoins cette position pour qui désire savoir si le monde est essentiellement bon ou mauvais; si la vie vaut la peine d’être vécue; si l’existence peut se justifier. Pour ce faire, il y aurait à porter un jugement métaphysique dont ce réalisme est bien incapable. On connaît surtout Arthur Schopenhauer, ce philosophe allemand du XIXe siècle, pour son pessimisme radical. Aurait-il toutefois offert au monde rien qu’une philosophie d’aigri, ainsi qu’on le prétend parfois? Une lecture attentive révèle un étonnant mélange de pessimisme et d’optimisme au cœur d’une philosophie pratique qui s’avère lucide et d’un grand secours pour tout un chacun. En fin de compte, le bonheur serait-il atteignable?

LONG FORMAT ARTICLE, Enzo Santacroce | Nietzsche, the multi-faceted philosopher, was as much reclaimed and hijacked by Nazi ideology as by the anarchist forces driving the students of May '68. How can we explain the fact that the thinking of this brilliant mind has been co-opted by both brown and red? The German philosopher's fragmented and deliberately shocking statements certainly contributed to his misunderstanding. However, his lucid critique of a Western society now living without transcendence is highly topical, in that the only acceptable value today is that of health, understood as the annihilation of suffering. Aware of this decline early on, Nietzsche developed a tonic response based on the will expressed by the body, finally rehabilitated in its desiring dimension.

ARTICLE LONG FORMAT, Antoine Vuille | Each month, a guest editor examines a cliché about a philosopher. For once, this article focuses on a prejudice about philosophy itself. To understand what this discipline is and what it's for, we need to break down two clichés about it: the first concerns its object, the second its method.

Le Regard Libre N° 77 – Enzo Santacroce Série «Les préjugés à l’égard des philosophes», épisode #2 S’il est un philosophe...

Each month, Le Regard Libre presents a philosopher whose thinking differs from, or even runs counter to, the clichés that circulate about him. Historian Olivier Meuwly opens the ball by arguing that Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel did not advocate an authoritarian state. On the contrary, our guest editor locates certain theoretical foundations of liberalism at the heart of the Hegelian system. Direct democracy itself is no stranger to the German's vision, according to the historian.