Félix Ravaisson: Fragments on Philosophy and Religion

Félix Ravaisson: Fragments on Philosophy and Religion comprises translations from Ravaisson’s notes on the history and philosophy of religion, dating from 1850 to 1900. Addressing the history of religions, ancient Greek thought, Christian theology, and the philosophy of revelation, these texts are brought to an English audience for the first time here, as the editors place the fragments in the context of Ravaisson’s philosophy as a whole. These unpublished fragments show Ravaisson’s lifelong grappling with fundamental questions of theology. They demonstrate that the research into mystery religions, mysticism and the Christian liturgy to which he devoted the end of his long career was not a rupture with the philosophy of his early years. In these texts, Ravaisson elaborated his philosophy of revelation, sacrifice and love, and continued the story he had begun with his study of Aristotle.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements 1. Preface Andrea Bellantone, Catholic University of Toulouse, France translated from the French by Victor Emma-Adamah 2. Editors’ Introduction Simone Kotva (University of Cambridge, UK) Clare Carlisle (Kings College London, UK) and Victor Emma-Adamah (University of Cambridge, UK) 3. Félix Ravaisson: Fragments on Philosophy and Religion Translated from the French by Victor Emma-Adamah 3.1 The Philosophy of Revelation 3.2 Christianity 3.3 Ancient Religion 3.4 Greek Philosophy 3.5 Metaphysical questions 3.6 Philosophical Method 3.7 Nature and Art 3.8 Modern Philosophy 4. Afterword Catherine Pickstock, University of Cambridge, UK Index

About the Author :
Victor Emma-Adamah is a Research Associate at the Unité de Recherche: Culture, Éthique, Religion et Société (UR CERES) of the Catholic University of Toulouse, France. Simone Kotva is Research Fellow at the Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo, Norway and Affiliated Lecturer at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge. She is the author of Effort and Grace: On the Spiritual Exercise of Philosophy (Bloomsbury, 2020). Clare Carlisle is Reader in Philosophy and Theology at King’s College London, UK. She is the author of six books on philosophy and philosophers, most recently Philosopher of the Heart: The Restless Life of Soren Kierkegaard (2019) and Spinoza’s Religion (2021). She is also the co-translator and editor of Félix Ravaisson’s Of Habit (Bloomsbury, 2007) and the editor of Spinoza’s Ethics, translated by George Eliot (2020).

Review :
These late writings by the great Nineteenth French Philosopher Félix Raviasson are not only crucial for understanding his unique theoretical trajectory, but remain extremely illuminating in relation to the history of religion, the meaning of the Bible and the history of Western thought. Above all they tend to show that the questions posed by philosophy cannot be separated from the historical reality of religion. A landmark of the Ravaisson-renaissance, Fragments on Philosophy and Religion paints a vivid picture of the creative power of a restless, searching thinking. Bookended by essays from two of the most influential figures in the contemporary reactivation of French Spiritualism, it is essential reading not just for scholars of nineteenth-century French thought, but for anyone interested in an intellectual practice that resists disciplinary norms and static categories.