Laïcs désenchantés: Reconstruction

The book begins with the invention of French academical philosophy by Victor Cousin in the beginning of the XIXth century. Cousin is the first actor of the secularization and, as a minister, he established the educational cursus. In addition to that, similar modifications occurred in librairies, the French record office and history (among historians, the most influent is Michelet). The general secularization of society and culture causes odd results, even in the so-called Cartesian medical science. On the contrary, in the field of arts and literature, romanticism since Baudelaire has the opportunity to become main stream. Consequently, the so-called realism has been connected to secular philosophy of sensualism and socialism. Yet an author cannot be materialist and Christian by the same time. A poet, Baudelaire, shows to men of our time that charity excludes it. Nowadays, the revolts again the excesses of legal techniques are a social manifestation of the reluctens again all this secularization. Secular activists are unhappily too often allies of conquering Islamists. Communism is out-of-date, but the European culture is jeopardized and must be reaffirmed. Victor Cousin est la figure qui instaure la s cularisation de la philosophie acad mique fran aise apr s la R volution. Il est aussi le ministre qui nationalise les tudes litt raires et le cursus de l' ducation secondaire et sup rieure. Les institutions du patrimoine, archives, biblioth ques, lieux de m moire, historiographie, suivent. Le discours des sciences, en particulier m dicales, pr tendument cart sien, produit des fictions peu convaincantes. Alors que, au contraire, l' ge du romantisme d'un Baudelaire, le sentiment esth tique l'emporte d finitivement sur le Beau id al dans les arts et dans les lettres; et que le r alisme ne sera que l'esth tique des mat rialistes, et bient t des socialistes. tre ou redevenir chr tien implique d sormais d'y chapper. Aujourd'hui, les r voltes contre la technicit conventionnelle des lois sont le signe de la r sistance ces s cularisations au long cours. Le militantisme la c, lui, ne peut tre qu'insatisfait de se retrouver idiot utile de l'Islam h g monique. Notre culture europ enne en devenir m rite mieux.