Wisdom of life. Love of wisdom. Amazement in front of life.
My favorite modern philosopher is probably Edgar Morin (born in 1921). I’ve read his work called La Méthode – La nature de la nature (book 1), La vie de la vie (book 2), La connaissance de la connaissance (book 3), Les idées (book 4), L’humanité de l’humanité: l’identité humaine (book 5) and L’éthique (book 6). It’s a comprehensive framework to understand our world, I like his cyclical and systemic way to see the world, which he even used to name his books. I’ve also read L’homme et la mort and Les sept savoirs nécessaires à l’éducation du futur. I’ve seen him in a conference at La Sorbonne. A bright mind.
I have a special interest for Les Lumières and the thoughts of Diderot (1713-1784), Voltaire (1694-1778) and Rousseau (1712-1778). By the way I’ve just bought L’héritage des Lumières by Antoine Lilti (1972), an historian, and look forward to reading it.
I’m also a fan of 20th century philosophers, like Camus (1913-1960) and Sartre (1905-1980). Camus’s books like L’étranger and La peste are more relevant today than ever, as well as his 1957 Nobel acceptance speech about the task of his generation “in preventing the world from destroying itself”. Sartre’s books, like L’être et le néant, La nausée, or Huis clos, still resonate with me today.
I’ve read a few books by Luc Ferry (1951), like L’Homme-Dieu ou le sens de la vie, La sagesse des modernes, or Qu’est-ce qu’une vie réussie ?. It’s a constructive way to use philosophy as a way of life to see the big picture and to have a broader perspective on our world.
Finally I like easy-reading books that make you think about life. Books by Laurent Gounelle (1966) for example, such as L’homme qui voulait être heureux, Le jour où j’ai appris à vivre, or Le philosophe qui n’était pas sage, are an entertaining way to reflect on the meaning of our actions and our mindset.