Evelyne Buissière
GrenobleMeet Evelyne Buissière, a philosophy teacher who teaches in a literary preparatory class.
Studies, readings, projects... Here is what she has to say!
Could you introduce yourself? What are you currently doing?
I teach classes préparatoires littéraires at Lycée Champollion in Grenoble. It is a genuine joy to push open the door of my classroom and be reunited with my students! Spending your time with young people capable of becoming passionate about the question of substance in Aristotle or the problem of the procedural nature of justice in Rawls is quite extraordinary.
In today's world, where culture is so devalued — both by a society that prizes spectacle and vulgarity, and by politicians who regard reading The Princess of Clèves as pointless or studying Proust as a waste of time — in an age when the label "intellectual" has practically become a term of abuse, my khâgneux restore my faith in the future!
As long as there are young people like them, all is not lost. Passing on to them the desire to think rationally and to question everything — trying to communicate what Hegel called faith in reason
— is the finest profession in the world. When the rise of irrationalism and religious fundamentalism is as threatening as it is today, it is even a matter of urgency to assert the rights of reason and breathe life into the Enlightenment imperative: Dare to know!
I live in Grenoble. It matters to me to live at the foot of the mountains, just a few minutes from magnificent walking trails that offer breathtaking panoramas — quite stimulating for philosophical reflection. I would find it very hard to live anywhere else, except perhaps in an even smaller town deeper in the mountains — Gap, for instance — but there is no literary preparatory class there, alas! Should one ever be created, let my superiors know that I am putting my name forward in advance!
What memories do you have of your studies and your teachers?
I have dazzling memories of the philosophy teachers I had in khâgne, and they had a great deal to do with my choice of career.
First, Jean-Jacques Kirkyacharian, during my khâgne in Grenoble: a formidable intelligence, sometimes unsettling, with a biting irony that was not always easy to follow — but quite brilliant.
And then André Pessel in khâgne at Louis-le-Grand: his classes were like a fireworks display — a jubilation for the mind. I would leave with a thousand ideas in my head, feeling slightly less ignorant and with a thousand avenues to explore, even if I was well aware of lacking the ability to pursue them as he did. I read with great pleasure the book he has just published, In Spinoza's Ethics, and in certain passages I felt as though I were back in his lecture room!
Both were profoundly Spinozist. I never stop trying to emulate them — or at least to pass on to my students all the pleasure of thinking that they were able to awaken in me.
Which philosophical book have you been particularly passionate about? Is there an author you fell in love with at first sight?
The author I always return to is Hegel. Unfortunately, my German is not good enough for me to be a specialist in Hegel at first hand, but Hegelian philosophy is the unsurpassable horizon against which I measure everything. I read the Phenomenology of Spirit during my hypokhâgne, and I can say that my fascination at the time was matched only by my incomprehension! I hope the incomprehension has diminished somewhat — but my fascination has continued to grow.
The works of Bernard Bourgeois have been my indispensable guide into Hegel. Beyond the exceptional precision of his knowledge of Hegelian thought and the elegance of his style — for it must be admitted that well-written works of philosophy are far from common — what strikes me most is the impression that he has truly grasped the spirit of Hegelian thought beyond the letter, and made it his own. His most recent works, in which he analyses current events in the light of Hegelianism, are fascinating.
Have you ever tried your hand at writing? Could you tell us about your work?
I obtained the agrégation and the CAPES in 1985, defended a doctorate in 1991 and then an HDR in 2012. My research focuses on interpretations of Hegelian thought in twentieth-century Italy. I have published an introductory study on the thought of Guido Calogero, a work on Giovanni Gentile, and more recently a short essay, La Dialectique sans la Téléologie, Hegel, Gentile, Adorno. I am currently working on a book on Alexandre Kojève's reading of Hegel — and more specifically on his interpretation of the speculative Hegel.
I make no claim to being a philosopher. I think of myself as a teacher in my pedagogical activity and as a commentator in my research. The Italians have a very apt word that is far less presumptuous than "philosopher" and by which I would happily describe myself: 'studioso' — though there is no real equivalent in French or English. Even without any great ambition, I think it is important to maintain a research activity: if I do not, I quickly become despondent. It is a little like the fuel that keeps the flame alive — the flame I try to pass on to my students!
Thank you, Evelyne, for sharing your story!
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