Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays

This reader makes the key essays of 19th century French philosopher Félix Ravaisson available in English for the first time. In recent years, Ravaisson has emerged as an extremely important and influential figure in the history of modern European philosophy. The volume contains the classic 1838 dissertation Of Habit, studies of Pascal, Stoicism and the wider history of philosophy together with the Philosophical Testament that he left unfinished when he died in 1900. The volume also features Ravaisson’s work in archaeology, the history of religions and art-theory, and his essay on the Venus de Milo, which occupied him over a period of twenty years after he noticed, when hiding the statue behind a false wall in a dingy Parisian basement during the Franco-Prussian war, that it had previously been presented in a way that deformed its original bearing and meaning. Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays contains an introductory intellectual biography of Ravaisson, which contextualises each of the essays in the volume. It also features an annotated bibliography of suggested further reading. This book will grant scholars and students alike wider access to his distinctive contribution to the history of philosophy.

Table of Contents:
Note on the Texts Note on the Translators Editor’s Introduction 1. Of Habit 2. 'Contemporary Philosophy 3.Essay on Stoicism 4. The Art of Drawing According to Leonardo da Vinci 5. On the Teaching of Drawing 6. The Venus de Milo 7. Greek Funerary Moments 8. Mysteries: Fragment of a Study of the History of Religions 9. Pascal’s Philosophy 10. Metaphysics and Morals 11. Philosophical Testament Conclusion Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Félix Ravaisson (1813-1900) was France’s most influential philosopher in the second half of the 19th-century, and held a number of prestigious posts, including that of Curator of Classical Antiquities at the Louvre. His work was pivotal in the development of modern French philosophy, and it has been celebrated by philosophers such as Bergson and Heidegger. Mark Sinclair is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, and Associate Editor of the British Journal for the History of Philosophy. He is the co-translator of Félix Ravaisson's Of Habit (Continuum, 2008).

Review :
With the publication of this volume, the availability of Ravaisson's highly original writing is vastly expanded for readers of English. In fact, some of the essays included have been scarce, little-known, or difficult to obtain even in the original French editions (i.e. expensive and fragile) … By reintroducing Ravaisson in such a grand collection, this publication may even rekindle interest in certain lost concepts: the spirit, grace, and artistic beauty. The book may also assist in a renewed conversation among the fields of philology, art history, philosophy, and the history of religions. Mark Sinclair has made a comprehensive selection of material from the writings of this important but neglected 19th century French philosopher. The selection spans the years 1838 to 1901 and provides insight into the impressive range of Ravaisson’s interests, including the path-breaking study of habit and thought-provoking essays on Stoicism, on the art of drawing, on religion, on Pascal, and on the relation between metaphysics and morals. Sometimes said to be the ‘French Schelling’ Ravaisson emerges as a tremendously erudite and original thinker in this volume, which should serve to reawaken interest in his work and its legacy in vitally important ways. The volume greatly enriches our understanding of seminal developments in modern French philosophy and it will appeal to a broad readership in the humanities and social sciences. Research on 19th century French philosophy will no doubt be transformed with the publication of this comprehensive selection of Ravaisson’s work. Mark Sinclair and his team of translators have done a fantastic job in bringing these essays into English, and the extensive editorial apparatus makes a rigorous and cogent case for Ravaisson’s significance and legacy. Historians of philosophy should be overjoyed to now have this resource at their disposal. Félix Ravaisson was among the most important and influential philosophers in France in the 19th century. This timely volume fills a significant gap in 19th century philosophical scholarship by presenting English translations, most for the first time, including his brilliant doctoral thesis Of Habit as well as essays on art and art history, archaeology, pedagogy, and the history of religions.