André Tosel
{{Short description|French philosopher}}
{{Infobox person
| name = André Tosel
| image =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = 15 June 1941
| birth_place = Nice, France
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2017|3|14|1941|6|15}}
| death_place = Nice, France
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| education =
| alma mater = École Normale Supérieure
| employer = University of Nice Sophia Antipolis
| occupation = Philosopher, academic administrator
| party = French Communist Party (1972–1984)
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}}
André Tosel (15 June 1941 – 14 March 2017) was a French Marxist philosopher and academic administrator. He taught Philosophy at the University of Franche-Comté and Pantheon-Sorbonne University until he became a full professor of philosophy at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis. He served as its vice president from 1992 to 1998, and as the director of its Center for the History of Ideas from 1998 to 2003. He was the author of several books about Marxism and Marxist theorists.
Early life
André Tosel was born on 15 June 1941 in Nice, France.{{cite news|last1=Jérôme|first1=Philippe|title=André Tosel : "Il se manifeste une multitude de résistances au capitalisme"|url=https://www.humanite.fr/andre-tosel-il-se-manifeste-une-multitude-de-resistances-au-capitalisme|accessdate=March 16, 2017|work=L'Humanité|date=July 24, 2013}} He was raised as a Roman Catholic, and he took a leadership position in the Jeunesse Étudiante Chrétienne at university. He graduated from the École Normale Supérieure, where he was mentored by Louis Althusser. He earned the agrégation in Philosophy in 1965. Tosel joined the Maoist Internationalist Movement during the May 1968 events. He was awarded a PhD in Philosophy in 1982.
Career
Tosel taught Philosophy at the University of Franche-Comté in Besançon and Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis in Nice, where he was the vice president from 1992 to 1998. He also succeeded Dominique Janicaud as the director of the Center for the History of Ideas from 1998 to 2003.{{cite news|title=André Tosel, philosophe niçois de renom, nous a quittés|url=http://www.nicematin.com/vie-locale/andre-tosel-philosophe-nicois-de-renom-nous-a-quittes-121427|accessdate=March 15, 2017|work=Nice Matin|date=March 14, 2017}} He was elected as a member of the governing board of its college of arts in 2002, and he retired as professor emeritus in 2012.{{cite web|title=André Tosel|url=http://data.bnf.fr/11926855/andre_tosel/|website=Bibliothèque nationale de France|accessdate=March 16, 2017}}
File:Centre universitaire mediterraneen.jpg
Tosel was the author of many books about Marxism and Marxist theorists. He wrote about Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, but also Baruch Spinoza, Antonio Gramsci and Hegel, Immanuel Kant, and György Lukács.{{cite news|last1=Barbancey|first1=Pierre|last2=Chaillan|first2=Pierre|title=Disparition. André Tosel, ou l'action avec Marx, Spinoza et Gramsci|url=https://www.humanite.fr/disparition-andre-tosel-ou-laction-avec-marx-spinoza-et-gramsci-633395|accessdate=March 15, 2017|work=L'Humanité|date=March 15, 2017}} He was a contributor to Actuel Marx and La Pensée. He was a member of the Société française de philosophie.
In his research, Tosel was a critic of consumerism.{{cite journal|last1=Giovannangeli|first1=Daniel|title=Finitude et politique : André Tosel et Gérard Granel|journal=Les Temps Modernes|date=2017|volume=692|issue=1|pages=156–176|doi=10.3917/ltm.692.0156|via=Cairn.info}} He argued that capitalism was inherently violent as it rested upon servitude and poverty through debt. He argued in favour of emancipation from the "passive revolution" of globalised capitalism through resistance, or the advocacy of workers rights, feminism, postcolonialism, multiculturalism, and the rejection of neo-colonialism.
According to philosopher Yvon Quiniou, Tosel played a critical role in disseminating Marxist theories in academic circles.{{cite news|last1=Quiniou|first1=Yves|title=Hommage à André Tosel|url=https://www.humanite.fr/hommage-andre-tosel-633406|accessdate=March 16, 2017|work=L'Humanité|date=March 15, 2017}}
Personal life, death and tributes
Tosel was married with children.{{cite news|last1=Le Hyaric|first1=Patrick|title=Disparition d'André Tosel : La pensée progressiste est en deuil.|url=https://www.humanite.fr/disparition-dandre-tosel-la-pensee-progressiste-est-en-deuil-633356|accessdate=March 16, 2017|work=L'Humanité|date=March 14, 2017}} He was a member of the French Communist Party from 1972 to 1984, and he re-joined the party in 2012, when he became associated with the Left Front.
Tosel died on 14 March 2017 in Nice.
On his death, Patrick Le Hyaric, the editor-in-chief of L'Humanité, said he was "overwhelmed with sadness" and said Tosel was "like a shining light, a touchstone in this world of ideological counter-punch where everything is hidden by powerful forces who want to take over the entirety of thought and culture."
Pierre Laurent, the chairman of the French Communist Party, said he was "very moved" by his death, and he added that Tosel had "a deep understanding of the difficulties faced by progressive forces and a willingness to exchange ideas and share his analyses and convictions, not only with a learned audience, but most importantly with young people and workers."{{cite news|last1=Laurent|first1=Pierre|title=Disparition d'André Tosel : " c'était l'un des grands spécialistes de la philosophie marxiste "|url=https://www.humanite.fr/disparition-dandre-tosel-cetait-lun-des-grands-specialistes-de-la-philosophie-marxiste-633352|accessdate=March 16, 2017|work=L'Humanité|date=March 14, 2017}}
Works
- {{cite book|last1=Balibar|first1=Étienne|last2=Luporini|first2=Cesare|last3=Tosel|first3=André|title=Marx et sa critique de la politique|date=1979|publisher=Éditions Maspero|location=Paris|isbn=9782707110909|oclc=373538523}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Spinoza ou le crépuscule de la Servitude : Essai sur le Traité Théologico-Politique|date=1984|publisher=Aubier|location=Paris|isbn=9782700703665|oclc=708293894}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Praxis : Vers une refondation en philosophie marxiste|date=1984|publisher=Éditions Sociales|location=Paris|isbn=9782209056187|oclc=636784656}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Kant révolutionnaire : Droit et politique|date=1988|publisher=Presses universitaires de France|location=Paris|isbn=9782130432296|oclc=223157649}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=L'esprit de scission. Études sur Marx, Gramsci et Lukàcs|date=1991|publisher=Presses Universitaires de Franche-Comté|location=Besançon|isbn=9782251604381|oclc=911863530}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Marx en italiques : aux origines de la philosophie italienne contemporaine|date=1991|publisher=Trans-Europ-Repress|location=Mauvezin|oclc=657973794}}
- {{cite book|editor-last1=Tosel|editor-first1=Andrv|title=Modernité de Gramsci?|date=1993|publisher=Presses Universitaires de Franche-Comté|location=Besançon|isbn=9782251604817|oclc=925092495}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Du matérialisme de Spinoza|date=1994|publisher=Éditions Kimé|location=Paris|isbn=9782908212778|oclc=29947887}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Démocratie et libéralismes|date=1995|publisher=Editions Kimé|location=Paris|isbn=9782841740147|oclc=36476841}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Études sur Marx (et Engels) : Vers un communisme de la finitude|date=1996|publisher=Éditions Kimé|location=Paris|isbn=9782841740529|oclc=463911536}}
- {{cite book|editor-last1=Menasseyre|editor-first1=Christiane|editor-last2=Tosel|editor-first2=André|title=Figures italiennes de la rationalité|date=1997|publisher=Éditions Kimé|location=Paris|isbn=9782841740888|oclc=955024911}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Un monde en abîme : Essai sur la mondialisation capitaliste|date=2009|publisher=Éditions Kimé|location=Paris|isbn=9782841744695|oclc=743077930}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Spinoza ou l'autre (in)finitude|date=2009|publisher=L'Harmattan|location=Paris|isbn=9782296077249|oclc=495054144}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Le marxisme du 20e siècle|date=2009|publisher=Syllepse|location=Paris|isbn=9782849502365|oclc=879189261}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Scénarios de la mondialisation culturelle|date=2011|publisher=Éditions Kimé|location=Paris|isbn=9782841745449|oclc=718026239}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Essais pour une culture du futur|date=2014|publisher=Éditions du Croquant|location=Bellecombe-en-Bauges|isbn=9782365120555|oclc=906262786}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Nous citoyens laïques et fraternels? : dans le labyrinthe du complexe économico-politico-théologique|date=2015|publisher=Éditions Kimé|location=Paris|isbn=9782841747009|oclc=910510769}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Étudier Gramsci : pour une critique continue de la révolution passive capitaliste|date=2016|publisher=Éditions Kimé|location=Paris|isbn=9782841747337|oclc=952172425}}
- {{cite book|last1=Tosel|first1=André|title=Emancipations aujourd'hui ? : pour une reprise critique|date=2016|publisher=Editions du Croquant|location=Vulaines-sur-Seine|isbn=9782365120920|oclc=966417290}}
References
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Category:École Normale Supérieure alumni
Category:Academic staff of the University of Franche-Comté
Category:Academic staff of the University of Paris
Category:Academic staff of Côte d'Azur University
Category:20th-century French philosophers
Category:21st-century French philosophers