Michel Onfray
Michel Onfray
Michel Onfrayis a contemporary French writer and philosopher who promotes hedonism, atheism, and anarchism. He is a highly prolific author on philosophy, having written more than 80 books...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth1 January 1959
CountryFrance
discovered exposed philosophy thus youth
I discovered philosophy in my youth when I read 'wildly,' and thus I was exposed to the world of ideas.
philosophy school discipline
For the establishment, philosophy is both an elitist and an idealist discipline: In high school, it is a compulsory subject; at university, they teach the idealist line. They are conducting a conversation with themselves.
atheist philosophy writing
I am a sworn atheist and therefore from my point of view the Talmud or the Koran don't constitute works of political philosophy but rather writings that stand in utter contradiction to concepts like logic, freedom, feminism, secularism, brotherhood - which are my ideals.
philosophy ideas world
I discovered philosophy in my youth when I read wildly, and thus I was exposed to the world of ideas.
cancer philosophy suffering
If we include hedonistic philosophy in hospitals, the lives of patients suffering from cancer would be much, much better.
amazing art bach connected found people proof religion
I found it amazing people can think that art must be connected to religion. Religion may give art themes, but there would still be art without religion. Bach is not proof that art exists.
conditions environment family
We are fashioned not by our genes, but by our environment - by the family and socio-historic conditions in which we evolve.
religion
Religion is a reassurance - in fact, that's its only purpose.
birth endure existence family god invented jews line official possess threatened worship
We do not possess an official certificate of birth for worship of one God. But the family line is clear: the Jews invented it to endure the coherence, cohesion and existence of their small, threatened people.
form good including lump magical neutrality tolerate toward
We can no more tolerate neutrality and benevolence toward every conceivable form of discourse, including that of magical thinking, than we can lump together executioner and victim, good and evil.
cares committed hard
It's hard for me to imagine a philosopher disconnected from the world, indifferent to the cares of his country, unmoved by poverty, unemployment: I am a committed citizen.
death fear
Death is a false fear. When it is here, you won't be. When it's not, you are here.
afterlife aiming aspiration beyond futility generates hope lose mindless paradise picked prospect sight taken
By aiming for paradise, we lose sight of earth. Hope of a beyond and aspiration to an afterlife engender a sense of futility in the present. If the prospect of getting taken up to paradise generates joy, it is the mindless joy of a baby picked up from his crib.
alone ancient beggars best develop general luxury main people subjects system trying
Philosophy is best practised by people in general and not by philosophers alone. Philosophy is too often a luxury now, but in ancient Greece, carpenters, masons and beggars were the main practitioners. What I am trying to develop is a philosophical system where all the subjects can be taught.