Félix Ravaisson-Mollien

Jean Gaspard Félix Lacher Ravaisson-Mollien (; ; 23 October 1813 – 18 May 1900) was a French philosopher, 'perhaps France's most influential philosopher in the second half of the nineteenth century'. He was originally and remains more commonly known as Félix Ravaisson.

His seminal work was De l'habitude (1838), translated in English as Of Habit. Ravaisson's philosophy is in the tradition of French spiritualism, which was initiated by Pierre Maine de Biran (1766–1824) with the essay "The Influence of Habit on the Faculty of Thinking" (1802). However, Ravaisson developed his doctrine as what he called 'spiritual realism' His most well known and influential successor was Henri Bergson, with whom the tradition can be seen to end during the 1930s; In 1838, he was employed as the principal private secretary to the minister of public instruction, going on to secure high-ranking positions such as inspector general of libraries, and then the curator of classical antiquities at the Louvre. Later in his life he was appointed as the president of the jury of the Aggregation of philosophy in France, 'a position of considerable influence'. Ravaisson, was not only a philosopher, classicist, archivist, and educational administrator, but also a painter exhibiting under the name Laché. Ravaisson also produced a number of other 'noteworthy essays' such as "La Philosophie contemporaine" ("Contemporary Philosophy", 1840); "La Philosophie de Pascale" ("Pascal’s Philosophy", 1887), and "Métaphysique et Morale" ("Metaphysics and Morals", 1893). Upon his death he also 'left unfinished fragments of a major work, which were published posthumously', first as "Testament philosophique" in Revue de métaphysique et de morale ("Philosophical Testament", 1901), then later in extended form as Testament philosophique (Philosophical Testament, 1933).

Year Title Original Publication Details English Title English Publication Details 1834 De la Métaphysique d'Aristote Unpublished competition manuscript.Selections in De la nature à l’esprit, 2001. 1837 Essai sur la Métaphysique d'Aristote [Vol. 1] Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1837. 1838 De l'habitude Sorbonne doctoral thesis (primary).Paris: H. Fournier, 1838. Of Habit (1) Trans. C Carlisle & M Sinclair: Of Habit, London & New York: Continuum, 2008.(2) Updated trans. M Sinclair: Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays, 2016, p. 31–58. 1838 Speusippi de Primis Rerum Principiis Placita Qualia Fuisse Videantur ex Aristotele Sorbonne doctoral thesis (secondary) [In Latin].Translated into French in 2012. 1840 "La Philosophie contemporaine: Fragments de philosophie par M. Hamilton" in La Revue des deux mondes, 1840, p.397–427. "Contemporary Philosophy" Trans. J Dunham: Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays, 2016, p. 59–84. 1845 Essai sur la Métaphysique d'Aristote [Vol. 2] Paris: Joubert, 1845. 1854 De l'enseignement du dessin dans les lycées Paris: Dupont, 1854. "The Art of Drawing According to Leonardo da Vinci"[Part trans.] Trans. M Sinclair: Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays, 2016, p. 145–58 1856 "Mémoire sur le Stoïcisme" in Mémoires de l'Institut Impériale de France, Académie des Inscriptions et Belle-Lettres, vol. XXI, 1857, p. 1-94. "Essay on Stoicism" Trans. A Efal and M Sinclair: Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays, 2016, p. 85-144. 1867 La Philosophie en France au XIXème siècle Paris: Hachette, 1867. 1871 Venus de Milo [Version 1] Paris: Hachette, 1871. 1875 Les classiques de l'art: modèles pour l'enseignemnet du dessin Paris: Rapilly, 1875 1880 "Les monuments funéraires des Grecs" in Revue politique et littéraire. Revue blue, 10 April 1880, vol. XVIII, p. 963-70. "Greek Funerary Monuments" Trans. M Sinclair: Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays, 2016, p. 229-242. 1882 "L'enseignement du dessin d'après M. F. Ravaisson" in Dictionnaire de pedagogie et d'instruction primaire Vol. 1, 1882; Paris: Hachette, p. 671-84. "On the Teaching of Drawing" Trans. T Viola and M Sinclair: Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays, 2016, p. 159-188. 1887 "La Philosophie de Pascale" in La Revue des deux mondes 80, 1887, p. 399–428. "Pascal's Philosophy" Trans. M Sinclair: Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays, 2016, p. 253–78. 1892 "Les mystères. Fragment d'une étude sur l'histoire des religions" in Revue politique et littéraire. Revue blue, 19 March 1892, p. 362-6. "Mysteries: Fragment of a Study of the History of Religion" Trans. M Sinclair: Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays, 2016, p. 243-252. 1892 La Venus de Milo [Version 2] in Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belle-Lettres, vol. XXXIV, Part 1, 1892, p. 145-256.also as off-prints by Klincksieck: Paris, 1892. "Venus de Milo"[Part trans.] Trans. M Sinclair: Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays, 2016, p. 189-228. 1893 "Métaphysique et morale" in Revue de métaphysique et morale 1, 1893, 6–25. "Metaphysics and Morals" Trans. M Sinclair: Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays, 2016, p. 279–94. 1901 "Testament philosophique" [Original] Ed. Xavier Léon in Revue de métaphysique et de morale 9/1, 1901, p. 1–31. 1933 Testament philosophique [Expanded] Ed. Charles Devivaise. Paris: Boivin, 1933. "Philosophical Testament" Trans. J Dunham and M Sinclair: Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays, 2016, p. 295–336. Notes

a Sinclair in Being Inclined: 'In 1834' when 21 years of age, Ravaisson 'was the remarkably young laureate of a competition organized by the Académie des sciences morales et politiques on Aristotle's Metaphysics and its historical reception, with a dissertation - De la Métaphysique d'Aristote - that he would later publish in a revised and expanded form as Essai sur la Métaphysique d'Aristote [Volume 1] (1837). b Sinclair in Being Inclined: 'Long sections of' De la Métaphysique d'Aristote 'with the original pagination in the margins, are published in R. Belay and C. Marin, De la nature à l'esprit (Paris: ENS Editions, 2001), 201–13.' c Revised and expanded version of Ravaisson's 1834 prize winning essay De la Métaphysique d'Aristote. g As well as translating the text, Carlisle and Sinclair also included two extensive supplements by way of an "Editors’ Introduction" and "Editors’ Commentary". In addition, there is a long preface from Catherine Malabou titled "Addiction and Grace". h This publication is a bilingual edition of the text and presents both De l'habitude and the translation by Carlisle and Sinclair (Of Habit) on facing pages of the book. The French version is the Alcan edition of 1933. i Sinclair writes that the translation has been modified since the original translation by Carlisle and himself a few years earlier in Félix Ravaisson Of Habit (London/New York: Continuum, 2008). l See also Sinclair's commentary in "Introduction" in Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays. m See Sinclair's commentary in "Introduction" in Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays. Sinclair points out that this second volume developed (but did not repeat) work from his 1834 prize winning essay De la Métaphysique d'Aristote (1834) which had been revised and expanded in volume one (1837). Sinclair also mentions that a third and fourth volume were planned, but never came to fruition. In a footnote, however, Sinclair continues that Charles Devivaise 'published some of Ravaisson's work towards the third volume as Essai sur la Metaphysique d'Aristote: Fragments du Tome III (Paris: Vrin, 1953)'. n This published text originally appeared as "Rapport addressé à M. le ministre de l'Instruction publique et des cultes" (28 December 1853). o This translation is of the first 'untitled' segment of the text. p Original version presented as a paper to the Académie des Insciptions et Belle-Lettres in 1849 then 1851; this version extended for publication. See Sinclair's commentary in "Introduction" in Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays. Published in 1856 with a cover date of 1877. q See Sinclair's commentary in "Introduction" in Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays. r The first of two versions, the second reworked edition published in 1892. See Sinclair's commentary in "Introduction" in Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays. s Publication details. t Originally written in 1854, and not published for 20 years. See Sinclair's commentary in "Introduction" in Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays. Sinclair also has a footnote with further details. v This article was one of several that appeared under the heading "Dessin"; the volume was edited by Ferdinand Buisson. w See Sinclair's commentary in "Introduction" in Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays. y See Sinclair's commentary in "Introduction" in Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays. z The second of two versions, the first edition was published in 1871, and was subsequently reworked in this much later publication. See Sinclair's commentary in "Introduction" in Félix Ravaisson: Selected Essays. cc Posthumous publications from notes: