Bernard Stiegler

Bernard Stiegler (; 1 April 1952 – 5 August 2020) was a French philosopher. He was head of the Institut de recherche et d'innovation (IRI), which he founded in 2006 at the Centre Georges-Pompidou. He was also founder of the political and cultural group Ars Industrialis in 2005. In 2010, he established the philosophy school, pharmakon.fr, held at Épineuil-le-Fleuriel. He co-founded Collectif Internation, a group of "politicised researchers" in 2018. His best known work is Technics and Time, 1: The Fault of Epimetheus.

Stiegler has been described as "one of the most influential European philosophers of the 21st century" and an important theorist of the effects of digital technology. Growing up, he took an interest in politics, aligning with beliefs from left-wing politics and the French Communist Party (PCF) by the time he was 16. He dropped out of high school and instead took part in student revolts against then president Charles de Gaulle. However, in 1976, he left the Communist Party.

Following his departure from the political scene, Bernard would spend his 20s working a wide variety of jobs, including farming, office work, being a shop clerk, and manual labor, as well as owning a jazz bar. and obtained his Habilitation in 2007 at the université Paris Diderot-Paris 7 under the direction of Dominique Lecourt. He was a Director at the Collège international de philosophie, and a professor at the Université de Technologie at Compiègne, as well as a visiting professor at Goldsmiths, University of London. He held the positions of Director General at the Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA), and Director General at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM).

In June 2005 Stiegler founded a political and cultural group, Ars Industrialis, the manifesto of which calls for an "industrial politics of spirit." The manifesto was signed by Stiegler and the other co-founders of the group, George Collins, Marc Crépon, Catherine Perret and Caroline Stiegler. An updated manifesto was released in 2010.

On 1 January 2006 he became Director of the Department of Cultural Development at the Centre Georges-Pompidou. He was Director of the Institut de recherche et d'innovation (IRI), which was created at his initiative in April 2006.

On 18 September 2010 Stiegler opened his own philosophy school (called pharmakon.fr) in the small French town of Épineuil-le-Fleuriel, in the department of Cher across multiple disciplines. The school ran a public course for people in the region, a seminar for doctoral students and junior researchers conducted by video conference, and a summer academy that involves activists, researchers, artists, writers and both groups as well as interested inhabitants from the surrounding area. At a philosophical level, the school was engaged in research, critique and analysis in line with Stiegler's pharmacological approach.

Personal life and death Stiegler was at one time involved in a relationship with Catherine Malabou. Later he married Caroline Stiegler (née Fayat), who had been his lawyer.

Stiegler had a daughter Barbara Stiegler born 1971, who is also a philosopher and professor at the Université Bordeaux-Montaigne.

Stiegler died by suicide on 5 August 2020. Stiegler is survived by his wife, Caroline Stiegler, and four children. Le temps de cerveau disponible (2010), directed by Jean-Robert Viallet, a documentary about television in which Stiegler is the main participant. Après la gauche (2011), directed by Jeremy Forny, a documentary about the problems of the political Left, featuring Stiegler.

Awards Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters (2016)