Jump to content

Edgar Morin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edgar Morin
Born
Edgar Nahoum

(1921-07-08) 8 July 1921 (age 103)
Paris, France
Alma materUniversity of Paris
Notable workLa méthode (1977–2004, 6 vols.)
Spouse
Violette Chapellaubeau
​
​
(m. 1945)​
SchoolContinental philosophy
Antireductionism
Constructivist epistemology[1]
Anti-foundationalism[2]
InstitutionsCNRS, École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)
Main interests
Epistemology
Complexity theory[2][3]
Sociology
Notable ideas
Complex thought[4] Chaosmos[5]
Criticism of structuralism[6]
Criticism of Ludwig von Bertalanffy's systems theory[7] autos (auto-(geno-pheno)-eco-re-organization)[8]

Edgar Morin (/mɔːˈræn/; French: [ɛdɡaʁ mɔʁɛ̃]; né Nahoum; born 8 July 1921) is a French philosopher and sociologist of the theory of information who has been recognized for his work on complexity and "complex thought" (pensée complexe),[15] and for his scholarly contributions to such diverse fields as media studies, politics, sociology, visual anthropology, ecology, education, and systems biology. He holds two bachelors, one in history and geography and one in law,[16] and never did a Ph.D.[16] Though less well known in the anglophone world due to the limited availability of English translations of his over 60 books, Morin is renowned in the French-speaking world, Europe, and Latin America.[17]

During his academic career he was primarily associated with the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris.

Biography

[edit]

At the beginning of the 20th century, Morin's family migrated from the Ottoman city of Salonica (Thessaloniki) to Marseille[18] and later to Paris, where Edgar was born. He is of Judeo-Spanish (Sefardi) origin.[19]

When the Germans invaded France in 1940, Morin assisted refugees and joined the French Resistance.[20] As a member of the French Resistance he adopted the pseudonym Morin, which he continues to use. He joined the French Communist Party in 1941.

In 1945, Morin married Violette Chapellaubeau and they lived in Landau, where he served as a lieutenant in the French Occupation army in Germany.

In 1946, he returned to Paris and gave up his military career to pursue his activities with the Communist Party. Due to his critical posture, his relationship with the party gradually deteriorated until he was expelled in 1951 after he published an article in L'Observateur politique, économique et littéraire. In the same year, he was admitted to the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS).

Morin founded and directed the magazine Arguments [fr] (1954–1962). In 1959 his book Autocritique was published. The book was a sustained reflection on his adherence to, and subsequent exit from, the Communist Party, focusing on the dangers of ideology and self-deception.

Edgar Morin at a colloquium in Rio de Janeiro, 1972.

In 1960, Morin travelled extensively in Latin America, visiting Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Mexico. He returned to France, where he published L'Esprit du Temps, a work on popular culture.

That same year, French sociologist Georges Friedmann brought him and Roland Barthes together to create a Centre for the Study of Mass Communication that, after several name changes, became the Edgar Morin Centre of the EHESS, Paris.[21]

Also in 1960 Morin and Jean Rouch coauthored the film Chronique d'un été, an early example of cinéma vérité and direct cinema.

Beginning in 1965, Morin became involved in a large multidisciplinary project, financed by the Délégation Générale à la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique in Plozévet.

In 1968, Morin replaced the incumbent professor of philosophy, Henri Lefebvre, at the University of Nanterre. He became involved in the student revolts that began to emerge in France. In May 1968 he wrote a series of articles for Le Monde that tried to understand what he called "The Student Commune." He followed the student revolt closely and wrote a second series of articles in Le Monde called "The Revolution without a Face," as well as coauthoring Mai 68: La brèche with Cornelius Castoriadis and Claude Lefort.[22]

In 1969, Morin spent a year at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. Jonas Salk invited him under the recommendation of Jacques Monod and John Hunt, with the sole imposed condition of learning. It was there, in this "breeding ground for Nobel Prizes" that he familiarized himself with systems theory. He read Henri Laborit, James Watson, Stéphane Lupasco, Bronowski, and was introduced to the thought of Gregory Bateson and the "new problematic in ecology".[23]

In 1983 he published De la nature de l’URSS, which deepened his analysis of Soviet communism and anticipated the perestroika of Mikhail Gorbachev.

In 2002 Morin participated in the creation of the International Ethical, Scientific and Political Collegium. Also that year, he made a trip to Iran with Dariush Shayegan.

Following a meeting at a music festival in Fez, Morocco, in 2009, Morin became close with sociology professor Sabah Abouessalam. The couple married in 2012.[24] He collaborated with her on the text, L'homme est faible devant la femme (Presses de la Renaissance, 2013), and in 2020 on Changeons de voie - Les leçons du coronavirus (Denoël, 2020).

Morin's work has become increasingly accessible to the English-speaking world, notably with the 2022 publication of The Challenge of Complexity: Essays by Edgar Morin, which compiled 32 essays, including some that were translated into English for the first time. Morin worked on this collection with sociologist Amy Heath-Carpentier at the age of 101.[25]

Recognition, honours and legacy

[edit]

Morin did not embrace the French postmodern or poststructuralist movements, instead pursuing his own research agenda. As a result, US academics did not transport his theories into disciplinary discourses in same fashion as they did Foucault's, Derrida's and Galinon-Mélénec's. However, Morin's work spans scholarly and popular literature, and he has appeared on the cover of multiple publications including Sciences Humaines[26] and a special issue of Le Monde.[27]

In addition to being the UNESCO Chair of Complex Thought, Morin is known as a founder of transdisciplinarity. As of 2013 he holds honorary doctorates in a variety of social science fields from 21 universities: Messina, Geneva, Milan, Bergamo, Thessaloniki, La Paz, Odense, Perugia, Cosenza, Palermo, Nuevo León, Université Laval in Québec, Brussels, Barcelona, Guadalajara, Valencia, Vera Cruz, Santiago, the Catholic University of Porto Alegre, the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, and Candido Mendes University in Rio de Janeiro.[28]

Several academic institutions have been named in his honour, with research centres based on his transdisciplinary methods and philosophy. These include:transdisciplinary methods and philosophy.[28][29]

Morin is the subject of several biographies as well as documentary films and TV shows. His work has been influential in southern Europe, Latin America, Francophone Africa, and more recently China and Japan.[29]

His 100th birthday in 2021 was celebrated in France, Italy, and Latin America, and several collections of essays were published in his honour.[29][31]

Morin was elevated to the dignity of Knight Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, in the Honours List of Bastille Day 2021 by French President Emmanuel Macron.[29]

Works (selection)

Books

[edit]
  • 1946 : L'An zéro de l'Allemagne, Paris, Éditions de la Cité Universelle.
  • 1947 : Allemagne notre souci, Paris, Éditions Hier et Aujourd'hui.
  • 1948 : Une cornerie, Paris, Éditions Nagel.
  • 1948 : L'Homme et la Mort, Paris, Éditions Corrêa.
  • 1956 : Le Cinéma ou l'homme imaginaire, Paris, Éditions de Minuit.
  • 1957 : Les Stars, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 1959 : Autocritique, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 1962 : L'esprit du temps. Essai sur la culture de masse, Paris, Grasset-Fasquelle.
  • 1967 : Commune en France. La métamorphose de Plodémet, Paris, Fayard.
  • 1968 : Mai 68, La Brèche, Paris, Fayard.
  • 1969 : La Rumeur d'Orléans, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 1969 : Introduction à une politique de l'homme, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 1969 : Le vif du sujet, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 1970 : Journal de Californie, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 1973 : Le Paradigme perdu : la nature humaine, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 1974 : L'unité de l'homme, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 1977 : La Méthode, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 1981 : Pour sortir du XXe siècle, Paris, Nathan.
  • 1982 : Science avec conscience, Paris, Fayard.
  • 1983 : De la nature de l’URSS, Paris, Fayard.
  • 1984 : Le Rose et le noir, Paris, Galilée.
  • 1984 : Sociologie, Paris, Fayard.
  • 1987 : Penser l'Europe, Paris, Gallimard.
  • 1988 : Mais..., Paris, Édition Neo/Soco Invest.
  • 1989 : Vidal et les siens, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 1990 : Introduction à la pensée complexe, Paris, ESF.[32]
  • 1993 : Terre-Patrie, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 1994 : Mes démons, Paris, Stock.
  • 1995 : Les Fratricides : Yougoslavie-Bosnie (1991-1995), Paris, Édition Arléa.
  • 1995 : Une année sisyphe, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 1997 : Comprendre la complexité dans les organisations de soins, Paris, ASPEPS.
  • 1997 : Une politique de civilisation, Paris, Arléa, Paris.
  • 1997 : Amour, Poésie, Sagesse, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 1999 : L'Intelligence de la complexité, Paris, L'Harmattan.
  • 1999 : Relier les connaissances, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 1999 : Une tête bien faite : Repenser la réforme, réformer la pensée, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 2000 : Les Sept Savoirs nécessaires à l'éducation du futur, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 2000 : Dialogue sur la nature humaine, Paris, L'Aube.
  • 2001 : Journal de Plozévet, Bretagne, 1965, Paris, L'Aube.
  • 2002 : Dialogue sur la connaissance. Entretiens avec des lycéens, Paris, La Tour d'Aigues.
  • 2002 : Pour une politique de civilisation, Paris, Arléa.
  • 2003 : La Violence du monde, Paris, Édition du Félin.
  • 2003 : Éduquer pour l’ère planétaire, la pensée complexe comme méthode d’apprentissage dans l’erreur et l’incertitude humaine, Paris, Balland.
  • 2003 : Université, quel avenir ?, Paris, Éditions Charles Léopold Mayer.
  • 2003 : Les Enfants du ciel : entre vide, lumière, matière, Paris, Odile Jacob.
  • 2004 : Pour entrer dans le XXIe siècle, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 2005 : Culture et Barbarie européennes, Paris, Bayard.
  • 2006 : Itinérance, Paris, Arléa.
  • 2006 : Le Monde moderne et la question juive, Paris, Le Seuil.
  • 2007 : L'An I de l'ère écologique, Paris, Tallandier.
  • 2007 : Où va le monde ?, Paris, L'Herne.
  • 2007 : Vers l'abîme, Paris, L'Herne.
  • 2008 : Mon chemin, Paris, Fayard.
  • 2008 : Vive la politique ?, Grenoble, Forum Libération de Grenoble.
  • 2009 : Crises, Paris, CNRS.
  • 2009 : La Pensée tourbillonnaire, Paris, Éditions Germina.
  • 2009 : Edwige, l'inséparable, Paris, Fayard.
  • 2010 : Pour et contre Marx, Paris, Temps présent.
  • 2010 : Ma gauche, Paris, Éditions François Bourin.
  • 2010 : Comment vivre en temps de crise ?, Paris, Bayard.
  • 2011 : La Voie : pour l'avenir de l'humanité, Paris, Fayard.
  • 2011 : Conversation pour l'avenir, Paris, L'Aube.
  • 2011 : Dialogue sur la connaissance : Entretiens avec des lycéens, Paris, L'Aube.
  • 2011 : Mes philosophes, Paris, Germina.
  • 2011 : Le Chemin de l'espérance, Paris, Fayard.
  • 2012 : La France est une et multiculturelle. Lettre aux citoyens de France, Paris, Fayard.
  • 2013 : Mon Paris, ma mémoire, Paris, Fayard.
  • 2013 : La rencontre improbable et nécessaire (with Sabah Abouessalam), Paris, Presses De La Renaissance.
  • 2014 : Notre Europe : Décomposition ou métamorphose, Paris, Fayard.
  • 2014 : Au péril des idées, Paris, Presses du Châtelet.
  • 2014 : Enseigner à vivre. Manifeste pour changer l’éducation, Paris, Actes Sud-Play Bac Éditions.
  • 2015 : Avant, pendant, après le 11 janvier, Paris, L'Aube.
  • 2015 : Impliquons-nous ! Dialogue pour le siècle, Paris, Actes Sud.
  • 2015 : Penser global : L'humain et son univers, Paris, Robert Laffont.
  • 2016 : Pour l'esthétique, Paris, Robert Laffont.
  • 2016 : Pour une crisologie, Paris, L'Herne.
  • 2016 : Ecologiser l'Homme, Paris, Lemieux Éditeur.
  • 2017 : Connaissance, Ignorance, Mystère, Paris, Fayard.
  • 2017 : L’Île de Luna, Paris, Actes sud.
  • 2017 : L'Urgence et l'Essentiel, Paris, Éditions Don Quichotte.
  • 2017 : Le temps est venu de changer de civilisation, Paris, L'Aube.
  • 2017 : Où est passé le peuple de gauche ?, Paris, L'Aube.
  • 2018 : Pour résister à la régression, Paris, L'Aube.
  • 2018 : Le Cinéma : Un art de la complexité, Paris, Nouveau Monde Éditions.
  • 2019 : La Fraternité, pourquoi ?, Paris, L'Aube.
  • 2019 : Chronique d'un été, Paris, L'Aube.
  • 2019 : Les souvenirs viennent à ma rencontre, Paris, Fayard.
  • 2020 : Quelle école voulons-nous ? La Passion du savoir (with Jean-Michel Blanquer), Paris, Éditions Odile Jacob.
  • 2020 : Sur la crise : Pour une crisologie suivi de Où va le monde ?, Paris, Éditions Flammarion, coll. Champs.
  • 2020 : Changeons de voie : Les leçons du coronavirus (in collaboration with Sabah Abouessalam), Paris, Éditions Denoël.[33]
  • 2020 : L'entrée dans l'ère écolgique, Paris, L'Aube.[34]
  • 2021 : Frères d’âme, entretien avec Pierre Rabhi under questions of Denis Lafay. Paris, L'Aube.
  • 2021 : Leçons d’un siècle de vie, Paris, Édfitions Denoël.
  • 2022 : Réveillons-nous !, Paris, Éditions Denoël.
  • 2022 : The Challenge of Complexity: Essays by Edgar Morin, Edited by Amy Heath-Carpentier, Liverpool, Liverpool University Press..

Articles

[edit]
  • "The Noise and the Message". Telos 33 (Fall 1977). New York: Telos Press.

Conferences

[edit]
  • 2005, "Restricted complexity, general complexity".[35]
Honours

Honours

[edit]
Ribbon bar Country Honour
France Grand Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honour
France Grand officier of the National Order of Merit
France Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Portugal Gran Cross of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword
Morocco Commander of the Order of Intellectual Merit
Spain Officier of the Order of Civil Merit

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Daniel Bougnoux and Bastien Engelbach, "Entretien avec Edgar Morin (2) : Science et philosophie", nonfiction.fr, 10 April 2008.
  2. ^ a b Jennifer Wells, Complexity and Sustainability, Routledge, 2012, p. 134.
  3. ^ Steven Vertovec (ed.), Routledge International Handbook of Diversity Studies, Routledge, 2014, p. 373.
  4. ^ Edgar Morin, "On Complexity"
  5. ^ Edgar Morin, Restricted complexity, general complexity, 2005.
  6. ^ François Dosse, History of Structuralism: The sign sets, 1967-present, Volume 2, University of Minnesota Press, 1997, p. 449.
  7. ^ Sacha Kagan, Art and Sustainability: Connecting Patterns for a Culture of Complexity, transcript Verlag, 2014, p. 171.
  8. ^ Morin, Edgar (1992). "From the concept of system to the paradigm of complexity". Journal of Social and Evolutionary Systems. 15 (4): 371–385. doi:10.1016/1061-7361(92)90024-8.
  9. ^ "Edgar Morin, Mes philosophes
  10. ^ Brigitte Chamak, "Le Groupe des Dix"
  11. ^ a b c "Edgar Morin, Mes philosophes[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "Edgar Morin, Mes philosophes [1][permanent dead link],
  13. ^ Morin, Edgar (1997-12-30). "An encyclopaedic spirit". Radical Philosophy. Archived from the original on 2008-06-11. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  14. ^ Julian Bourg (ed.), After the Deluge: New Perspectives on the Intellectual and Cultural History of Postwar France, Lexington Books, 2004, p. 113.
  15. ^ For instance, see Moser, Keith 2018. Rethinking the Essence of Human and Other-Than-Human Communication in the Anthropocene Epoch: A Biosemiotic Interpretation of Edgar Morin’s “Complex Thought”. Humanities 7(2): 57.
  16. ^ a b Edgar Morin ou l'éloge de la pensée complexe, CNRS Le Journal .
  17. ^ Bouiss, Ousama (July 7, 2021). "Edgar Morin, un siècle de sagesse en trois leçons". The Conversation. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  18. ^ Edgar Morin, Véronique Nahoum-Grappe, Haïm Vidal Sephiha (1989), Vidal et les siens, Paris: Seuil.
  19. ^ Morin, Edgar (2009). Vidal and His Family: From Salonica to Paris: The Story of a Sephardic Family in the Twentieth Century. Translated by Cowell, Deborah; Montuori, Alfonso. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-84519-274-7.
  20. ^ Morin, Edgar; Boukhardi, Sophie (January 2004). "Talking to Edgar Morin: Defining dialogue". UNESCO: The New Courier: 8–11.
  21. ^ "Centre Edgar-Morin". iiac. Archived from the original on October 23, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
  22. ^ Van Herpen, Marcel. "PARIS MAY '68 AND PROVO AMSTERDAM '65" (PDF). p. 19. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
  23. ^ "Penser avec Edgar Morin, Lire La Méthode", Robin Fortin, Presses de l'Université Laval.
  24. ^ Catherine Goillau, « L'humanisme selon Edgar Morin », Le Point Références No. 64, July–August 2016, « La Grèce est ses dieux, une leçon de tolérance? Les textes fondamentaux», p. 108 (in French)
  25. ^ "The Challenge of Complexity: Essays by Edgar Morin". Liverpool University Press. doi:10.3828/9781789761658 (inactive 1 November 2024). Retrieved August 23, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  26. ^ Sciences Humaines
  27. ^ Le Monde
  28. ^ a b Montuori, Alfonso (June 2013). "COMPLEX THOUGHT: An Overview of Edgar Morin's Intellectual Journey". MetaIntegral Foundation. Resource Paper.
  29. ^ a b c d Heath-Carpentier, A. (2022). The Challenge of Complexity: Essays by Edgar Morin. Liverpool University Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-78284-761-8. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  30. ^ "Home page". Multiversidad Mundo Real Edgar Morin (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  31. ^ "Edgar Morin a 100 ans, joyeux anniversaire au plus sémillant de nos philosophes" (in French). Télérama. 8 July 2021.
  32. ^ Morin, Edgar (2005). Introduction à la pensée complexe (in French). Paris: Seuil. ISBN 978-2-7578-4200-3. OCLC 61693808.
  33. ^ ""Le monde d'après", selon Edgar Morin". lesechos.fr (in French). 12 June 2020.
  34. ^ Eugène Berg (July–August 2020). "L'entrée dans l'ère écologique d'Edgar Morin". esprit.presse.fr (in French)..
  35. ^ Morin, Edgar (2007). "Restricted Complexity, General Complexity". In Gershenson, C.; D. Aerts; B. Edmonds (eds.). Worldviews, Science, and Us: Philosophy and Complexity. Singapore: World Scientific. pp. 5–29. arXiv:cs/0610049. doi:10.1142/9789812707420_0002. ISBN 978-981-270-548-8. S2CID 13171097.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edgar Morin.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edgar_Morin&oldid=1254900322"
pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy